07/19/2022
Grangers Play Host to Bay City
Special to 'Community Lifestyles' by Douglas “Moonlight” Otlewski
------
Rochester…
Sights and sounds on a midsummer's day at Van Hoosen Farm:
The sweet susurrus of a warm breeze;
The concussive joinder of a vintage bat and ball;
The call of umpire Bob "Piller" Lytle barking out "striker to the line”.
Original Granger Kelvin "Hawkeye" Rosonke corralling a pop-up.
Much to the delight of a goodly throng of ballistic enthusiasts, a pair of vintage base ball rivals met at the stoney-walled confines of Van Hoosen Farm to engage in base ball encounters of the bare-handed kind. Museum Director and speechifying sultan Patrick "Barnraiser" McKay, still recuperating from injuries sustained in a local "Running of the Alpacas” event, was there to supervise the proceedings.
Arriving by carriage and stagecoach, the Bay City Independents soon deployed a coterie of sturdy men-at-arms bent on mashing the mottled orb. Straight away, the visitors struck for a startling eleven aces before the cranks could open their programs, severely depleting tallyman Jim "the Ponz" Pontzer's supply of blackboard chalk.
Stirred, but not shaken, the Grangers responded with a telodynamic salvo of their own, posting ten aces in their next turn at bat to draw even with their Thumb dwelling counterparts. Drawing favorable commendation during the outburst was apprentice fly chaser Rob "Crusher" Morse, who flirted with the center field kudzu in driving home a pair of runs.
In an effort to quell the Granger uprising, the Baysiders returned speedball artist "Silverback" to the hurler's line. The Rochesters in turn countered with an appearance from seldom used relief ace David "Nails" Mallmann, whose dog "Tab" remained at the ready to retrieve any drives by Keith "Lefty" Harper into the split-rail tributary.
It all, it was a splendid day for bucolic quietude and old-time base ball. Spectators enjoying the action included "Dee", a regular crank since 2002, and an entire Johnson clan there to cheer third-sacker Glenn "Mo" Johnson, the son of Grangers legend Mike "Cueball" Johnson.
Following completion of the match, the Rochesters allowed children in attendance to hit and run the bases. A postprandial feast, consisting of a taco bar complete with all the fixings, was offered to the hungry ballists. Souvenir pins, which have now become a collector’s item amongst visiting players, were presented following the Grangers' singing of the club Anthem.
The suspendered stalwarts now embark on a lengthy road trip which includes stopovers to Greenfield Village, Lansing and Belle Isle, then return to Van Hoosen Farm for a match on September 17 at 1:00 PM against the Royal Oak Wahoos.
-------
This chronicle was contributed by Douglas “Moonlight” Otlewski in the style of the 1860s. For further information on the schedule, please contact the Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm, (248) 656-4663, or peruse the new-fangled Granger page for further information on the club.
