Toast and Roast

Last night was a "toast and roast" for my old softball teammate, manager and most of all friend Tubby.  Tubby was elected to the ASA (Amateur Softball Association) Hall of Fame.  This is the highest honor the ASA hands out and it went to a much deserving individual.  Tubby was a year ahead of me in school and he lived a little ways down the road from me so we go way back. 
The event was held at the Moose Lodge which is a few hundred yards from where I grew up but it was only the second or third time I'd ever been in there.  There was a wide mix of people ranging from the old players like myself down to ones who are my kids age but it was mostly the older ones who showed up.  Several people couldn't make it because of work or distance while the Glue took a rare chance to stay home by herself.
It was a great night seeing some of the guys I played with all those years ago.  Some I see quite often such as our new sub Ted, M and Everett while others I haven't seen in years such as Nelly.  Most I run into a few times a year such as Tubby, Buck, David, JayWhit, Jody and JR.  There were quite a few Natty's, Ultras and Stags knocked down over the course of the evening and of course there were a lot of old stories being retold.  There were a lot of pictures spread out but unfortunately there weren't cell cameras or evening digital cameras back when I played.  Actually I think it's quite lucky we didn't have any of those to incriminate anyone.
Yesterday afternoon I went up into the attic and got a box of old uniforms from back in those days.  I really wanted to find Tubbys first team which was sponsored by Godmothers, a pizza place in carbondale.  I didn't have it but I found all the rest including a team I'd forgot about, the Murdale Raiders which was the first softball team me and Tubby played on together.
All in all a wonderful experience.  Several people mentioned getting together to play pitch which is what we used to do when we weren't playing softball.  Hopefully this will happen and become a regular thing.