Now that the Major League Baseball season has officially started, I would like to ask what are your favorite baseball memories? Did SRL sponser trips to Yankee Stadium? When I was a student at Good Counsel School I remember three trips. The cub scouts teamed up with a local protestant church boy scout troop to see the Yankees play the Orioles on a Saturday in 1956. We met Whitey Ford outside the stadium before the game. In 1957 the alter and choir boys got out of school to go to the Polo Grounds to see the Giants play the Braves. The game was rained out, but Father Smith asked Hall of Famer Eddie Matthews to come on our bus and sign autographs. Players were different then. Later that year, we got out of school again to see the Giants play the Cardinals and Stan the man Musial. On top of that we also had free trips to Asbury park the first Monday fter school closed. Good Counsel was very good to their kids.

As I got older I remember going to see Opening Day 1965 at Yankee Stadium against the Minnesota Twins with Benny Abruzzo, Ray Iannuzzi, and Mike Torluccio. We bought tickets at the door, as the game was not even a sell out. $3.50 each.

I have not been back for an opening day until 2006.

Perhaps. the greatest baseball night in Roseville history was BOBBY MOLINARO NIGHT, August 2, 1980. Our favorite sone went 4 for 5 and Donnie plaugic and I sold 800 tickets to family, friends,a dn fans. we chartered 13 buses.

Johnny VanDermeer of the Cincinnati Reds was at one of our Saint Rose of Lima Senior CYO baseball games and very much liked the pitching of Tony Hammed of Third Street. He took a lot of information, but could not sign him beacause he was only a high school sophmore. I accompanied Tony to Yankee Stadium September 1, 1964 when he was worked out by the Yankees. But the war was on the horizon and he enlisted in the Navy and that was it for his professional baseball career.

John Honey Russell, also of Seton Hall University basketball fame, saw Benny Abruzzo crack a three run homer to carry SRL to the county championship against Saint Francis . He tried to convince the Montreal Expo organization to sign Benny to a contract in 1965, but they hesitated because of his size 5-7. They wanted bigger outfielders. So Ben signed with Morehead State University. Sadly, he tore his kneee up in his final semi-pro game before leaving for Kentucky and his career was done.

If not for a couple of bad breaks, we may have had three major leaguers from the old neighborhood instead of one.