Sponsor Cal Ripken Regional Baseball Tournament

Connecticut Cal Ripken Assistant State Commissioner Michael Haddad, Danbury Youth Baseball Board member (left) with John C. Kline, Union Savings Bank president & CEO.


Eight youth baseball teams from across New England, including a Danbury team, will face off during five days of competition during the Cal Ripken New England Regional Baseball Tournament, to kick off July 31 with a picnic and an opening ceremony at Hatters Park in Danbury.

Union Savings Bank, which made a $1,000 contribution to the tournament, is the event’s title sponsor.

The tournament will be held at Visconti Stadium and run from Aug. 1 through Aug. 6. The winning team from the regional Tournament will then represent New England at the Cal Ripken World Series in Aberdeen, Maryland, from Aug. 12 through Aug. 22.

The Cal Ripken World Series is the culmination tournament of the Babe Ruth League's 12 and under Cal Ripken division.

The 12 and under Cal Ripken World Series was started in 2000, a year after Babe Ruth League, Inc. changed the name of its largest division from “Bambino” to “Cal Ripken Baseball.”

Since the change, the league has grown by an average of 7% each year with more than 700,000 kids, ages 5-12, currently playing worldwide.

This year, the tournament will welcome 10 teams from regions across the U.S. and six international teams from Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico and the Republic of Korea.

For more information visit www.worldseries.ripkenbaseball.com.

Union Savings Bank is a $1.8 billion mutual bank with 18 offices in Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, Kent, New Fairfield, Newtown, New Milford, Ridgefield, Sharon and Southbury. For more information, visit www.unionsavings.com.

The Business of Baseball

Brian Cashman, general manager of the New York Yankees, will speak at Southern Connecticut State University, Wednesday, April 22.

ESPN sports reporter Peter Gammons will also be on hand to discuss "The Yankees and the Business of Baseball" at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts.

Cashman began as a 19-year-old intern in 1986 working for the Yankees' scouting department, and in 1998, rose to become the second youngest general manager in baseball history at age 31.

During the last 11 years, the team has won three World Series championships, five American League titles and nine AL East crowns.
Tickets are $23; $10 for students and children. They may be purchased at the Lyman box office: (203) 392-6154, or at http://tickets.southernct.edu.

A premium seating and reception package is also available for $125 per person. (Purchase includes private reception, premium seating, photo opportunity with Cashman and an autographed book.) Contact Betsy Galian at (203) 392-5598 for information or to purchase the "Friends" premium package. To purchase the premium package online, visit http://dlspremium.southernct.edu/

A portion of the proceeds support Southern's Endowed Awards of Excellence, a merit-based scholarship program.

Image courtesy SCSU.

Snow? Go. Time for Fenway Eye Feast

“People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

- Rogers Hornsby,
MLB second baseman, manager, one of the greatest hitters ever

Tired of the mud, snow, muddy snow, and monochrome view out the window? Feast your eyes on "the pahk" - this corporate view of beloved Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. Pitchers and catchers report Thursday, Feb. 12; everyone else by Feb. 16.

First game is Feb. 25.