Thursday, June 4, 2009

Louie Atsaves Joins the New York Post

A funny thing happened on the way to a wine survey... Last week, Louie Atsaves and I were in New York for Global Traveler's Wine Survey. This annual GT event features wine connoisseurs rating various airline wines.
Having a bit of time to kill, we decided to check out the Dakota (John Lennon's former home) and Strawberry Fields (a special section of Central Park dedicated to Lennon). The fun really started on our way back to the GT event.
We stopped to watch a softball game between the NY Post and ABC News. In the bottom of the 1st, while making the last out, a member of the NY Post team strained his hamstring, forcing him out of the game. While the Post team tried juggling their defense, Louie volunteered his services to the umpire, who promptly put him in the game.
The ump never asked either team if this was okay. There wasn't even time for proper introductions. Louie jogged out to right field and assumed his new role. Louie went 1-3, including a line drive, with 2 outs and the bases loaded, which drove in 2 runs. He didn't have much action in right (he should have been in left field or even at shortstop), but he was flawless on defense.
The game ended with ABC News beating the Post. Despite the loss, I know Louie had a great time. It was a fun game to watch and I am glad Louie got the chance to play in Central Park.
On a side note, the umpire was Charles F. Krichman Jr., who has been umpiring for 30+ years. More important to Johngy's Beat, Krichman appeared in Righteous Kill, a movie starring Robert DeNiro. In a major test of his acting skills, Krichman played an umpire. Actually, Krichman seemed to be a very good ump and a pretty funny guy.
To read Louie's version of the day, you can check out his blog on GT's site.
Louie Atsaves starts the swing which resulted in 2 RBI's in Central Park in New York, NY-May 2009.

2 comments:

Laurie said...

That's pretty funny. How often does that happen???

Johngy said...

Usually, the team needing a player will seek out a guy from the stands. Then they ask the ump and other team if it is okay. Generally speaking, subs come from all over the place, but rarely does an ump make that decision.