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A New Day Dawns ... Maybrook Becomes Home.
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| Mike Lewis |
Finally ... a home. As aliens decending upon planet earth in the summer blockbuster
Independence Day, our hearty wiffleballers were making their way to the Maybrook Elementary School. The Upper Field would host virtually every game for the next six years. The Upper Field provided a good backstop (the school itself),
a well-defined field with a home run fence running from centerfield to the rightfield foul pole. There was also a nice short
porch in leftfield to aid righty hitters who found themselves continously trailing the lefty power output of Chris DiCesare.
Alan Lewis' younger brother, Mike Lewis (pictured above) would play one game during the '96 season, the first
ever at the Maybrook Elementary School. And just as the new locale would become a fixture for the league, so too would
Mike who would go on to serve as the League's Second Commissioner from 2001-2004. And like the
pathetic meat bags (humans) in the movie who had no clue as to what awaited them, neither could have the league's players.
Lewis (who quietly follows the semi-pro human pyramid-building circuit) would soon become a perennial Gold Glove winner, a
multiple World Series victor, and the heart of the league. Say ... don't aliens like pyramids? He would also coin virtually
every nickname (Munsey, Ztookbor, the Barber, My Pal Dino, Ram-swing) bestowed upon a player since. When recently asked for
a comment regarding his well known bathroom humor, he replied in his best french: Sooopair de pwooop!
USA TRIVIA: In the move Independence Day, aliens blow up the White House. Did
you know that Hail to the Chief is to be played everytime the President enters the room during a formal gathering? The origin
rests with our 11th President, James K. Polk (1845-49). Polk was so "physically undestinguished" that visitors to the White
House dind't notice when he entered the room. So his wife Sarah arranged for the Marine Band to play what was originally an
old Scottish anthem whenever Mr. Polk walked into the room. It was immediately adopted as a tradition, and all the presidents
(except Clinton for a short while) have honored it since.
POOP TRIVIA: In 1971, inspired by the TV shows "The Addams Family" and "The Munsters,"
General Mills created Franken Berry and Count Chocula ceraeals. They immediately ran into a public relations problem
with Franken Berry. "Within weeks they had to recall it; they pulled all of it off the shelves," laughs the artist who designed
the scary breakfast characters, "because when kids went to the bathroom, their stools were pink from the food coloring." This
probably happened with both characters, "But with Count Chocula being brown, who would know?"
Source: Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.
Bonus Content: click here to see Mike get a double!
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Batter of the Year - Chris DiCesare continued to slug away at league pitching as though he were
a 'maxed out' create-a-player in a Nintendo64 baseball game. Once again, his home run total was more than double that of runner-up.
This time it was rookie Brian Gordon who stroked out 27 in his own right. DiCesare again led the league in every offensive
category but one (doubles), now in spite of the fact that he was now faced with a 5-foot wall in RF. By contrast, there
was a 6" 'lip' in left. In spite of Bucky's continued slugging prowess, it was Gordon's exceeding all expectations that was
the talk of the town in late 1996. Many wondered if he might be the game's next superstar. They wouldn't have to
wait long.
Pitcher of the Year - Alan Lewis put together another fine year from the mound. Steve Chapin
posted two more victories, but it was Lewis who shouldered most of the pitching chores in 1996. Alan led all pitchers in games;
innings pitched; strikeouts and IRA. The Rhino took precision pitching to a new level in 1996, and his skill level remained
tops in the game for several years. Lewis would win the 1st Annual All Star Game Accuracy Contest the following year. It was
an event he would go on to win a record 4 times by 2001. DiCesare would finish second in the IRA race with a 3.01 mark
in relief, and firmly established himself as the league's top closer.
League Leaders:
Home Runs Chris DiCesare (57)
RBI
Chris DiCesare (162)
Average -statistic not kept -
Wins Steve Chapin
(3)
KO's Alan
Lewis (29)
IRA
Alan Lewis (2.96)
Click on Year to View History
In Major League Baseball: The New York Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves
Top Song: One Sweet Day - Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men
The summer blockbuster Independence Day ruled movie theatres across American in 1996.
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