Greetings from Roy Hobbs Baseball …
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And welcome to the first Roy Hobbs monthly InsidePitch E-Newsletter.
Inside Pitch is the publication that Roy Hobbs produces 4 times a week during the World Series, with features, results, schedules, standings and news to use during the event.
It has been apparent for some time now that we at Roy Hobbs need to do a better job of communicating with you – our customers – and not just sending information to managers and asking them to forward it. I remember being a Roy Hobbs manager and how much work there was to do … acting as someone else’s mouthpiece really wasn’t in my job description, although I did it.
We at Roy Hobbs want to use the miracles of modern technology to take information directly to you, via this E-newsletter. I am getting a lot of help on this because when it comes to computer technology, I admit to having some dinosaur tendencies. Mac Chambers is doing the wiring and technical aspects, Rob Giffen is the editor and the email washer, and Sean Jenkins is working on the graphics and design.
We hope this is as useful tool for you as we plan it to be for Roy Hobbs. Obviously, you can opt out of receiving this. We hope you will want to check this out each month and that it is a good addition to your email inbox. At the same time, we also could use your input on anything, from design, to potential article ideas, to personal submissions, to ideas for us to consider.
Thanks for spending some time with Roy Hobbs Baseball.
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Baseball is such a family game. Not only is it fun to go to the ballpark and enjoy a game and having fun with our families, but also playing the game with family members is well within reach.
Yes, there is Roy Hobbs Family Ties event, which for 2010 will be in Tucson in February – more on that in future editions of Inside Pitch – but there are also opportunities to play ball with your families locally. Several examples …
Father’s Day is a great time to do a father-son/daughter baseball game as part of your local league’s annual activities. In Akron, we have done this for 5 years now, setting aside Father's Day Sunday evening at a lighted field for a game. We charge $10 a player to cover the field, lights, umpires (and if we can get a father-son umpiring duo, that’s great too), insurance and baseballs … and we are good to go with 9 innings of fun. (In Akron, we do get a good number of young ladies on the field too – and they do well, although wood bats are a struggle.) It’s really special when sons pitch to fathers and vice versa. A year ago, Stan Sipka pitched to his grandson Justin Spicer (16) and wrote something afterward to the effect that he had never done anything on the ball field as special as that opportunity to compete with his
grandson in a competitive game.
Some of the same things can be done as special events or fund-raisers on holidays like Memorial Day, July 4 or Labor Day, where you can work a cookout in with the game and have recreational opportunities for all your family members.
In the Provo, Utah, league, age rules were relaxed to allow sons to play ball with their fathers in competitive league play. Craig Gandolph reports that it has worked well and it’s “a blast playing with my kids.”
Craig as even suggested that the Roy Hobbs Open Division (28+) age rules be changed to allow teams to have 3 players 20+ as long as those players are sons of players on the team. He suggests than no one under 25 can pitch and that if the sons are on the field or in the lineup, then the fathers must be too. Think about it … 20-year-old sons, the fathers are in their 40s (or at least should be awful close), it’s a balancing act.
Well, We’re thinking about that at Roy Hobbs, and we’d appreciate your thoughts on that too.
Have a great summer, and we’re looking forward to seeing you in Fort Myers,Tucson or anywhere on the baseball field.
-- Tom Giffen
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Roy Hobbs Foundation established to use our passion for Baseball, making Leukemia history and assisting Challenged Athletes
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Roy Hobbs Baseball has established the Roy Hobbs Foundation in an effort to focus our passion for baseball into a concerted effort to channel consistent funding toward charitable endeavors in which Roy Hobbs has a strong interest. The Roy Hobbs Foundation, which has applied for 501c3 IRS tax exempt status, is “established for and dedicated to raising consciousness of and funds for 1) Leukemia Research through recognized research institutions and programs and 2) the advancement of baseball and housing opportunities for mentally & physically challenged children and adults.”
The 501c3 status would make all donations to the Roy Hobbs Foundation tax exempt charitable donations, and it is Roy Hobbs' goal to ensure that monies donated to the foundation ALL go to the designated areas of interest with no monies being used for administrative personnel expenses.
A one-page information sheet on the Foundation is available either on the Roy Hobbs Foundation website or by clicking here. The Foundation has a website – www.royhobbs.org -- with a landing page. That site will be expanded in the very near future.
Why do this? Two reasons …
As many Roy Hobbs participants know, Roy Hobbs chief cook and bottle washer Tom Giffen was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia in 2000 and, thanks to aggressive therapies at M.D. Anderson cancer center, a miracle drug called STI571/Gleevec and lots of prayers and support, has been in continuous remission since 2001. Gleevec is an oral, targeted chemotherapy drug that has essentially taken CML from the list of the most volatile Leukemias to the list of long-term controllable. According to Tom’s oncologist, the Leukemia mortality rate of patients on Gleevec in the last 5 years is 0, that’s ZERO.
Since 2001, Tom, along with a large number of friends, family and baseball colleagues, has been involved in fund-raising efforts for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society
, and though the “Light the Night” program alone raised more than $40,000 in just donations over 5 years. The question became how can we institutionalize this and leverage our passion for baseball, increase the levels of our fund-raising (and have some fun at the same time) and be more directed in our giving, thereby getting more bang for our bucks. Hence, the Roy Hobbs Foundation to fund researchers seeking for other targeted therapies to reduce the mortality rate among the other eight kinds of Leukemia to zero too.
Second, also as many RH participants know, Challenger Baseball is a big deal for Roy Hobbs, from our support of the various leagues in the Akron area, to our exhibitions with and support of the Challenger program in the Fort Myers area, to our assistance (with your financial support) in the development of a Challenged Athletes program for those mentally and physically challenged individuals who no longer qualify for Little League Baseball programs. Therefore, a portion of the funds raised by the Foundation will go to support programs on and off the field for ‘our’ Challenged Athletes.
The Foundation is building a 15-person Board of Directors with specific fund-raising requirements in addition to the production of one national event each year (See Tropicana Extravaganza for 2009). It will have two meetings each year, at the national event and at the Roy Hobbs World Series, and it will be tasked with the development of a Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame (which will be part of its fund-raising network) to honor individuals for their contributions to the game.
Anyone with a passion for any of these elements – baseball, making all Leukemia curable and Challenged Athletes – and a desire to get involved, please contact Tom directly and let’s make a difference.
And the great logo for the Foundation is a product of the fertile imagination of Roy Hobbs designer Sean Jenkins.
To get more details on The Roy Hobbs Foundation visit www.royhobbs.org .
RH Foundation
www.royhobbs.org
SupportRHF@royhobbs.org
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Tropicana Extravaganza scheduled for August 15-17
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The first national fund-raising event for the Roy Hobbs Foundation will be the Tropicana Extravaganza, which will be held August 15-17 in conjunction with the Tampa Bay Rays and theTropicana Dome in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The festivities will include a game at the Tampa Bay Rays home ballpark, the Tropicana Dome in downtown St. Petersburg on Monday, but before that on Saturday afternoon there will be a game/workout at a cozy little field near the host hotel (Hotel Indigo) in northern St. Pete, a dinner at the host hotel, and box seats to a Sunday Rays’ game with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The event will be open to 36 playing participants, who could receive as much as $380 charitable contribution tax credit from the Foundation. There will be opportunities for golf and leisure time in historic downtown St. Petersburg, an easywalk from the Hotel Indigo.
The fees for the event are inclusive of a minimum of 2 nights at Hotel Indigo with breakfast coupons … Click on Tropicana Extravaganza for more information and to register. Or, email SupportRHF@royhobbs.org for more information.
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Roy Hobbs establishes 70s Division, moves 65s Division to third week of Roy Hobbs World Series
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Roy Hobbs Baseball has established a 70+ division for the 2009 Roy Hobbs World Series and made some changes to the 65+ division.
RHWS 65-70 Updates announces several items:
70+ Division established: It will be contested November 16-22, and it will be called the TIMELESS Division. It will play the same rules as the 65+, except that all games will be 7 innings with the possible exception of the Championship. The rules will evolve with managers and players working with Roy Hobbs Baseball to ensure a great experience and as close to real baseball as possible can be played.
65+ Division updates: The Division, formerly called Seniors, has been renamed VINTAGE Division, and it will be contested the third week of the Roy Hobbs World Series, starting Monday, Nov. 9, with the championship game on Sunday, Nov. 15. The Monday start allows for travel issues for the numerous players who participate in other events. Vintage rules have also been adjusted, the result of the information received in the Seniors Survey conducted this past Spring.
And, many thanks to all those 63+ passionate ball players who participated in the Spring Seniors Survey.
Click on RHWS 65-70 Updates to see the full Timeless-Vintage report.
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An intriguing aspect to the game of baseball is the nuances to the rules. Baseball fans see baseball as a very simple game, and when you get down to it, they are right: See the Ball, Hit the Ball, Field the Ball, Throw the Ball, Pitch the Ball. But it’s what happens once the Ball is hit, caught and thrown that sometimes leaves folks scratching their heads.
For example, the Official Rules of Baseball book, as published by the Sporting News for our edification is 5 inches wide, 6.5 inches deep and 104 pages long. In reality, the baseball rules interpretations manual is a loose-leaf binder (in many cases), 8.5 by 11 inches on the cover and probably 4 inches thick. Of course, most of that is a result of dealing with plays that aren’t ‘officially’ covered in the rulebook, and, too, don’t forget rule 9.01c …
Regardless, the Roy Hobbs' You Make the Call feature has been used occasionally at the RoyHobbs World Series … in which we’ll give you a situation, let you make the call and then give the answer. So, for July, here goes:
Situation: Bottom of 9th, tie score, runners on second and third, one out. Batter hits fly ball to left field. R3 tags up and attempts to score; R2 also advances on catch, but left second too soon, touches third and heads toward dugout when he sees R3 score winning run.
LF catches ball for second out and makes throw toward plate, too late to make a play on R3 at the plate. Meanwhile, defense wants to get ball to second to appeal R2 leaving early. R2 races back to second but does not retouch third; R2 beats throw to second, but defense gets ball to third to appeal failure to retouch third base. Umpire calls R2 out on appeal at third base for the third out of the inning.
You Make the Call: Does the run score? Click here for the answer.
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