STEEPLECATS RECEIVE A+ EFFORT FOR HOSTING ALL-STAR GAME
TheTranscript.com
NORTH ADAMS - There are moments - secret little gems
hidden inside all the glamorous festivities - that make
All-Star games so meaningful for those involved.
There were a number of these special moments on Sunday
as North Adams hosted the NECBL All-Star game for the
first time in the North Adams SteepleCat's six-year
history. The one that stuck out most to me, however, was
an exchange between one former major league All-Star and
a young college hopeful.
While interviewing Wahconah product and four-time MLB
All-Star Jeff Reardon, I was interrupted by one of the
many fans excited to meet the Berkshire County legend.
Reardon politely asked me to hold on before reaching out
to shake hands with one of the NECBL's best, Torrington
Twisters closer Steve Strasberg. Their interaction was
simple but meaningful. Reardon sized up Strasberg, who
according to SteepleCats All-Star Ozzie Borrell is one
of the best pro prospects in the league, and promptly
asked, "What do you throw?" Strasberg replied, "I throw
97 with a slider and a changeup." Reardon nodded and
then said, "Do you throw a forkball?" When Strasberg
said no, Reardon quickly replied, "When you throw that
hard, you don't have to worry about anything." The
former MLB closer, who is sixth on the all-time saves
list with 367, then left Strasberg with some simple
advice. "Don't give up. You can make it."
Chances are Reardon has mouthed those same words to a
number of wide-eyed young men over the years, but the
conversation no doubt left an impact on Strasberg, an
rising sophomore at San Diego State who right now is
likely dreaming about saving his first game in the big
leagues.
Reardon was one of the main attractions at Joe Wolfe
Field on Sunday night, signing autographs and talking to
fans delighted to see the homegrown hero. It was also a
triumphant return for Reardon, who last captured
attention when he robbed a jewelry store at a mall in
the state of Florida in December 2005. He was quickly
found not guilty by reason of insanity, however, when it
was discovered he had become delirious as a result of
taking 12 different prescription drugs to combat various
health issues and the depression he suffered after
losing his middle son, Shane, to a drug overdose.
Reardon looked healthy and happy on Sunday, just one of
the record 4,210 people enjoying the festivities. On
Saturday, the SteepleCats and Pittsfield Dukes honored
Reardon's career at a gala dinner held at Jiminy Peak.
On Sunday, he threw out the first pitch of the All-Star
game in front of an adoring crowd.
"(Dukes owner) Danny Duquette and I grew up together. We
keep in touch by e-mail, and he asked me if I'd to come
up for the dinner last night and throw out the first
pitch," Reardon said. "I pitched here in high school, so
I figured I might as well. It's nice to see everybody,
and it looks like a nice event."
Reardon's assessment of the 14th installment of the
NECBL All-Star Game was just one of many positive grades
given to the SteepleCats' organization. It was the goal
of North Adams owner John DeRosa and general manager
Sean McGrath to raise the bar for this year's event.
Instead of it being a one-night affair, DeRosa and
McGrath wanted to plan a weekend chockfull of events.
After a lot of planning and hard work, their vision
turned into a successful reality.
"It's a great day," DeRosa said. "We got very lucky with
the weather. If you prepare, if you're ready and if you
tend to the details on the day of the event, it works.
We're very appreciative for everything Clem Dugal did.
He headed up the weekend and worked hard all season
long, and we're seeing the dividends today."
Dugal, the SteepleCats special events coordinator, said
the weekend went off as well as expected. He estimates
he's slept just over three hours in the last four days,
coordinating each event down to the last second. The
only flaw, if you can call it that, was a military
flyover that came one minute after its expected arrival.
Dugal noticed it, but the crowd at Joe Wolfe certainly
didn't. The delay only served to raise the anticipation
level as fans waited to see the planes fly in from the
south.
"There's always those minor changes that you don't
expect but plan for anyway," Dugal said. "The biggest
part was getting the schedule down. We had everything
coordinated to the minute. Everything ran smoothly until
the flyover. We were ahead of time so we did the
memorial service first. They went along with the
itinerary, and they were right on time - 7:02.17 - which
is what we planned. But they were actually a minute late
because we ran the memorial a minute early.
"You figure if you have 10 to 12 events for the day and
the one thing that goes wrong is that the flyover is a
minute late, then that's still a pretty big day."
So what was the league's impression of North Adams as a
host city? When asked to give the SteepleCats a grade
for their efforts, NECBL commissioner Mario Tiani didn't
hesitate.
"I've give them an A-plus," he said. "It's as simple as
that. I thought North Adams did an outstanding job. They
worked hard. They put on a first-class show, and tt's
great to see an organization like this come together and
pull it together."
The only problems North Adams might have faced were a
shortage of parking and possible traffic issues after
the game. Tiani didn't seem too concerned. "When you
have an All-Star game like this, there's never any
problems," he said. "The more people, the better and if
there is some parking issues, we can live with that."
In the end, McGrath hopes the SteepleCats succeeded in
raising the bar for future All-Star games. "Our goal was
to be bring the NECBL All-Star Game to another level,"
he said. "I think as an organization, whether it be a
fan, host family or a volunteer who is sweating making
hot dogs and hamburgers right now, they'll all going to
be appreciative of the memories they created by putting
on a tremendous All-Star game."
