Amateur Softball: Never An Albatross Around Their Necks

of the most uplifting letters I received was signed by every member of Albatross. Each person offered words of encouragement, and the effect of the letter on my psyche could not have been better if the team in the letter had been the New York Yankees.

Imagine a guerrilla college fraternity. There is no base for their gathering, but there is a good chance that they can be found together in various places where their lives, hobbies, and interests cross paths. There is a sure sighting whenever Renbrook Summer Adventure has its semi-annual Hamburger Cookout Extraveganza, whenever "The Score", (which features three team members: Jeremy "Howard" Banks on lead vocals, my father Tom "Biscuit" Donato on saxophone, and former member and team co-founder Dave Blodgett on lead guitar) plays a gig in Hartford, this year's fantasy football league, or one of the many weddings, (This year is Howard's), as more and more Albatross clip their wings.

(Random Sidenote: Those members of the Score actually had a gig scheduled for the night of the championship game, and were informed of the victory on stage while playing their set. Tom Donato summed up the moment like this, "I was on stage playing when Jeremy's fiance, Marcia came over and told us we lost the first game. About an hour later, she came back to tell us the team won the second and deciding game. After so many near misses to win the league championship, my first feeling was of happiness beyond words, with a pinch of relief that it finally happened! (Think Ray Bourque finally winning the Stanley Cup, or Wade Boggs finally winning the World Series.) We finished playing whatever song it was and I had to ask her again if it was really true. It was tough not to be there when it actually happened. I would have loved to have been in the pile of friends celebrating at the very moment we had won. But all the guys came out to hear the band soon after, so I got to hug & high-five everyone with a saxophone around my neck."

The season may end for the team, but the club continues to play year round, just as frat houses will still throw the occasional secret party outside the school year. There is also the expected fraternal hi jinx. Kenny Boucher used to wear the same gaudy red shorts to every game, and when the team couldn't stand them any more, action was taken by ripping them off of his body and burning them in the parking lot after the game. (Do not think that this is the only article of clothing belonging to a teammate that has been intentionally destroyed with flames over the years. See: Adam Beaudin's jersey at the 2006 Festivus Party.)

So why does Canton Springs Storage continue to play year after year when there have already been so many miles put on the team's collective odometer? My father has already given up pitching for the team after taking one too many hard liners off of his body. Jason Beaudin has had knee problems that have given him trouble since he helped found the team. Other injuries have been too many to name. This last championship could have been their swan song; a season to justify the team's on-field existence. (Although anyone on the team would tell you that they wouldn't need a championship to justify their on-field existence, but that it had already been done with 17 years of inside jokes, "Simpsons" quotes, and clever ways to make fun of or heckle the opposing team, as well as members of their own.)

That may be the answer in itself. The game is just something to do when they hang out. Something to focus their jokes around. An excuse to get together, to plan their next event. I am certain that if the team had never won it all, there would not have been even the slightest hint of regret. Further proof that the game comes second is that members of the team will happily attend a game knowing full well that all they will do is man the scorebook or work the scoreboard.

"I don't think there are many teams who see as much of each other off the field as we do.", my father says. This is their true strength, as well at the thing that matters most to them, and what makes them more than a team. They are a family, a fraternity, a brotherhood, and while they may not compete for much longer, they will never stop playing as a team.

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