December 4, 2010
Winterball players brave chill to benefit children
Annual game helps collect Toys for Tots
by PR/Wire Report/
Winterball players Rob McDonough, Smokey Moore and James Barnes
As baseball’s Hot Stove League heats up, amateur ballplayers from around Greater Boston braved 41-degree temperatures and a few flurries Saturday to play a full nine innings of baseball to benefit needy children.
Dozens of participants aged 14-60 turned out for the 10th annual Winterball Baseball game at Maplewood Park in Malden, Mass. The Snowmen defeated the Snowflakes, 10-8, but the really winner was Toys for Tots.
Players were required to donate a toy to benefit the program sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, which collects new, unwrapped toys and distributes them to needy children in the community as Christmas gifts. U.S. Marine Sgt. Jonathan Chan was on hand to thank the athletes for their contribution.
The Winterball game, sponsored by the Boston Amateur Baseball Network, featured players from many local leagues, including the Boston Men’s Baseball League, Yawkey League, Park League, Boston Amateur Baseball League, Central New England Baseball League and several others ranging as far south as Rhode Island and as far north as New Hampshire. Younger players came from high school and AAU teams, led by players on the New England Stampede.
Although the conditions were chilly, the game itself was a real barnburner. The Snowmen broke an 8-8 tie with two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 10-8 lead. With the game on the line, event co-organizer Smokey Moore, at age 43, came out of retirement for the save opportunity. He retired his son, 13-year-old Zach, on the opposing team for the first out in the ninth. And he hung on when opposing manager Ryan Bere tried to stretch a double and was thrown out at third for the final out with the tying run at the plate.
