Rounding third

The Downey Nemesis fastpitch team was playing the Huntington Beach Diamond Girls yesterday at the Discovery Sports Complex. This player passed third base and scored a run for her team.

Take me out to the ball game

It is baseball season and evening at Rio San Gabriel Park is brightly lit for a local ball game.

A group of small boys had their own game off to the side.

"We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing."

Humans of Downey (Montreal) - Simon #2

"I was very sad when the Montreal Expos moved away. I usually went to 15 to 20 games a year and now, nothing. Yes, I am very sad. The movie about the Oakland Athletics is just like us. We are a smaller-market ball team and we couldn't hold on to them. Our team was a mixture of players from all over the world. The players were examples for the youth. Now that the team has moved to Washington D.C., fewer and fewer children are playing baseball. They play hockey and soccer but almost no one plays baseball anymore. That is sad, really sad.

"I'm hoping that another team will come here. The Blue Jays use our stadium for spring training. We fill the stadium for the two games they play here. I think we get a smaller amount of tourists because Americans want to visit a city that has a baseball team."

~ Simon

Humans of Downey - Dario

"A person I consider as a hero in my life would be my dad. I have come to understand how important a father figure is in a person's life. I'm in social work, and I know that a strong male figure is key to a person's success in life. My dad, since we were very young, was showing me how to do the right thing, to go to school and get a good education. He would say, 'Be better than me. Take advantage of the situations.' Now my mindset is school, a good education, and choose the right way and hopefully it will turn out well.

"When I was younger, my dad wanted me to be a professional baseball player. I wasn't into it as much as he was but I wanted to please him. So in the 6th and 7th grades I made him buy all this expensive gear. I later regretted this part of the story. I love baseball to this day but I just wasn't that good. That was one time when my dad and I disagreed about my future. He had almost been drafted into the minor leagues and later, he realized that he had wanted me to follow in his footsteps. But it just wasn't me.

"Later, I became involved in music and now do it professionally. My dad is my biggest fan. I hear him say to his friends, 'Oh yeah, my son has played at the House of Blues and the Conga Room.' You can tell there is a sense of pride in him."
~ Dario

Humans of Downey - Tim and Vanessa

"One of my earliest memories I have is in the early 80s my grandparents had season tickets so we used to go frequently to see the Dodgers. I remember having Dodger dogs and being part of the 'True Blue Club,' that's the kid's Dodger fan club. When we'd go to the Dodger games I got to see my heroes: the pitchers and batters, Hershiser, Fernando, Ron Cey. Those are some of the early memories I have.

"My grandmother used to bring a brass cowbell to the games. Our seats were on the top deck and she would ring it during the game. This was before they banned noise makers. She had been a Dodger fan for a long time so whenever something good was happening she would ring that bell. Also, eating Dodger dogs and putting the peanut shells underneath the seats. In 1988, I got to see the Dodgers win the World Series. I saw Kirk Gibson's fist pumps. I saw the parade and the whole city come together. Those were great memories. Let's hope they do it again this year."
~ Tim

Humans of Downey - Leroy

"My happiest memories growing up were when I was playing baseball. I loved to play baseball. Back then we lived in Shreveport, Louisiana. I played shortstop mostly, although I could play any position. I was not a power hitter but went for base hits instead. I played until I was around 22, and then I tapered off. Later, I had a friend that coached Pony League and I helped him out.

"Now my exercise is walking. I walk a couple of miles 6 days a week. I start on Columbia Way, go down to Imperial Hwy. I go east to Caring Way where I turn left. Then I complete the circle, going around the baseball fields."
~ Leroy

Practice makes perfect

Practice. Patience. And drills. That's what it takes to teach new skills. These young girls have just finished some infield drills and are wrapping up with some stretching exercises. Fun stuff!

Time to warm up

These guys were warming up, getting ready to play. When little kids wanna play, they are easy to motivate. They contort their bodies and stretch so that they can be warmed up, ready to hit home runs. It doesn't take much more to motivate them to win.

The coaches, somehow, are a different story. As much as I'm sure they want to win, I don't see them spending much time warming up.

"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?" 
~ Vince Lombardi

Humans of Downey - Peter

"I've been volunteering for the Downey Junior Athletic Association (DJAA) for the past 16 years and I probably volunteer my time about 38 hours a week. I just love watching the kids play. Now my grandsons are born, I'm going to have them play. One of them is going to start next year and I'll enjoy watching him play.

"I played in DJAA in the 70s, then my son played. He was on the Cardinals. When my grandsons play, that will be three generations that have grown up being trained by DJAA."
~ Peter

Humans of Downey - Joe

"I served in the military, in the army. My son is serving in the military also. I was a supply specialist and served at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Fort Lee, Virginia. It taught me discipline, self-respect, and camaraderie. It has helped me in my coaching and being an umpire.

"The hardest part of being an umpire is dealing with the parents. I guess that's it really. The kids are cool but the parents get a little too into it."
~ Joe

Personal note: It turns out that Joe was one of my son's coaches back when he was on the Tigers in the Downey Junior Athletic Association (DJAA). It's a small Downey world.

Humans of Downey - Daniel and Isaiah

"I coached for 15 years and I won a championship almost every year. But the main thing is is to be able to see those little nuances that most people don't see. I describe it like this, it's kind of like Michelangelo the painter, you are born with the talent to draw or paint. It's the same thing in a ball player. I see things in sports, I see things that make an excellent athlete. It's hard to describe.

"For instance, I tell my grandson, Isaiah, there's very few American ballplayers in the pros as opposed to say Caribbean players. The number one detriment to the American player is the level swing. You see, when you have an object coming straight at you and your bat has to meet it straight, that's very hard to do. But if you do like the Caribbean players or some of the American players like Chris Bryant, you drop the bat down on the ball. It's like a tennis swing, You're not supposed to swing like this, level with the ground, you're supposed to drop the barrel and lift it.

"That's what the kids aren't doing. If you look at every kid out there, they're swinging level. I taught my grandson, 'Don't swing level. This is the swing you should have. The bat goes down and your hands come up. That way, your bat is doing the work.'

"They don't understand that here in America, very few ball players make it. Even though we have a collegiate system that turns out maybe 1,000 ball players each year, they still don't outperform the Caribbean players. And it's because of the level swing."
~ Daniel

Strike one

Yesterday I shared with you the opening of the exercise equipment donated by the Kiwanis club here in Downey. Going a little further back in Furman Park are the baseball diamonds used by the Downey's Northeast Little League. Several games were going on as I took some pictures. It certainly took me back to when I played Little League. Boy, was I terrible. I was lucky Tee-ball had a "no cut" rule.

How was your sport life as a child?

The boys of summer

Okay, so it's still the middle of winter. But these guys will be out of school by the time summer rolls around so they need to get their practice in now.

The Warren High School freshmen baseball team practices at the ballparks next to the Columbia Space museum. Seeing them makes me think back on my days of all the practice before getting to play in a game. I knew I would never be a Willie Mays, but I sure loved playing the game.



Getting to wear the cap meant you were part of the team.

Field of dreams

With all of the wedding prep and cleanup leading up to last weekend, my backlog of Downey Daily photos is nearly exhausted. It's a good thing that I took a lot of pictures the previous weekend at Rio San Gabriel Park and the nearby riverbed. Hopefully, life returns to normal now and this is the last you'll see of the park for a while.

There's no one on the field on this Saturday evening. In its emptiness, it reminds me of scenes from the movie Field of Dreams. But I didn't wait around to see if any mythical baseball heroes showed up.

Practice

One of the things I like about Furman Park is all the activity going on. This day, I watched these young boys practice. They were working really hard, but they were also having fun.



"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference."
~ Tommy Lasorda

Snack shop

The Discovery Sports Complex in Downey has two baseball diamonds and a soccer/football field. Between the two baseball diamonds is the snack shop run by D.J.A.A. (Downey Junior Athletic Association). They have the usual snack shop fare of sunflower seeds, candy, chips, bubble gum, water and juices. But they also have a man-sized barbecue for hot dogs and hamburgers.

Going by tonight reminded me of my Little League days of getting a snow cone after every game, of working on the scoreboard for the main field and getting paid with a hot dog and coke, of hoping the baseball card package I just bought for 10 cents had somebody good in it. Actually, it was a treat if I just knew someone in the pack. Isn't it fascinating how some crushed ice and flavored syrup can be just the thing for a hot July afternoon.

What was your favorite item at the snack shop?

The gift of joy

Dodger Stadium is only 15 miles northwest of Downey. My church volunteers during the baseball season to dispense the giveaway items to ticket holders. Working with the public lets us see all the different types of people. There are those that just want more stuff. They'll even sacrifice their integrity for another free item. They get their free item, then come back saying we didn't give them one when they went through the line, would we give them one now?

Then there are those, like this lady, that are pleased with the free gift we give them. And as you can see it gives us joy also. How do you serve others? Does it bring you joy?

The summer game

What's better than playing baseball on a warm Sunday afternoon? Kickin' back in the shade and watching others play baseball.

"Baseball, to me, is still the national pastime because it is a summer game. I feel that almost all Americans are summer people, that summer is what they think of when they think of their childhood. I think it stirs up an incredible emotion within people."
~Steve Busby, in Washington Post, 8 July 1974

A stormy night

Over the Dodger Stadium, less than 20 miles north of Downey, the clouds loom ominously before the game Wednesday night. Thankfully, it didn't rain until after the Dodgers won and I was safely on my couch at home.

Practice makes perfect

Triple Play Batting Cages, Downey's "first and only indoor batting cage facility," opened a few weeks ago just south of Independence Park.

This Friday night, all the cages were filled with kids working on their skills and dreaming of the big leagues.