The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Malloves Jewelers returning to GHTBL
MIDDLETOWN — Malloves Jewelers knows all about diamonds. The baseball kind, too.
Twenty-five years after last sponsoring a team in the Greater Hartford Twilight League, Malloves will fund a Middletown based club in 2019.
Malloves was one of the jewels of the league between 1980 and 1993 thanks to the leadership and backing of Jerome “Buzzy” Levin and lots of really good players. Back when baseball was a big deal in the city, Malloves was the older and wildly successful counterpart to the great Middletown Post 75 teams of the day.
Levin’s son, Marc, is approaching his 30th year as president of Malloves and played ball at Xavier High and the University of Tampa. A former Malloves player himself, Marc is one of the forces behind Middletown’s presence returning to the GHTBL.
The Malloves name will take the place of the Middletown-based Connecticut Outlaws, according to Twilight League officials. The Outlaws have operated for years as a travel-based organization with multiple age divisions for players.
The logistics continue to be worked on, but what is known is Christian Budzik, who played at Cromwell High School and Eastern Connecticut State, will be the team’s manager. The roster will be made up of current and former collegiate players from in and around Middlesex County.
In the 1980s, Malloves’ roster carried local players who starred in high school and college and remained good players into their 20s and sometimes 30s. Others were good enough to get drafted and work their way up in Major League Baseball’s minor league system, like Bob Bruzik (Mariners), John Giudice (Rockies) and Chris Thomas (Brewers).
Way back then, Buzzy Levin gave me an opportunity to gain experience in my chosen career field. He was one of the wisest and most affable human beings I’ve been lucky to know. When I was hustling summer jobs during college breaks, Buzzy hired to me to work as the public-address announcer at Palmer Field and paid me to write Malloves game stories that would run in The Middletown Press.
Buzzy and I had a handshake deal regarding payment. It was a lot of work — compiling team stats, announcing and writing. Right off the bat, maybe a few games into the season, I realized I hadn’t thought things through.
The 19-year-old voice in my head told me, ‘Hey, if you count up the hours you put in for each game, multiply by 30, then divide by what you are being paid, that’s $2.75 an hour!’ ”
So I visited Buzzy inside his office at 404 Main Street and told him about my little math formula. I always loved sitting in with Buzzy in that paneled office in the back of the store, talking baseball, or school, or life in general. He was a mentor to me.
“So what are you asking me?” he said. I replied, “I think I’m not being paid enough.” Buzzy was displeased. “But we had a deal!” He was agitated, and he may have slapped his desk with an open hand.
“I understand,” I said, “and I really, really enjoy what I’m doing and it’s a pleasure to work for you. I just think it would be fair to be paid a little more considering the time and effort I put in.”
I remember a brief stretch of silence. Then Buzzy said he would double my pay. Just like that. I was 19 at the time, so I was just happy to have enough courage to present a case for my work. Sure, it was nice to earn more money, and we never talked about it again, but to this day, the respect I had for Buzzy is alive and well in my head.
Buzzy Levin died in June 2017 at age 90, and I wish I was there at the end just to tell him how grateful I was to come of age in his orbit.
The more baseball in Middletown, the better, I say. Welcome back to the Twilight League, Malloves.
FINAL FOOTBALL THOUGHTS
People I know who don’t follow Connecticut high school football cringed when they saw the outcomes of the other three championship games: 34-0 in favor of Greenwich in Class LL, 54-14 for Hand in L, and 70-18, a state record for points scored in a final, for St. Joseph in M.
Their opponents — New Canaan, Maloney and Berlin — were pretty good football teams. Not only did they allow loads of points, they struggled to score themselves.
Greenwich is in a class by itself. Hand could contend in Class LL. I thought Berlin had a very good team this year. The Redcoats were down 49-0 at the half. Yikes.
St. Joseph has won four state titles since 2013. Many believe “schools of choice” like St. Joe should be in a football class (Class LLL?) by themselves. Maybe the Cadets scoring 70 will be another log on that fire.
At the very least, it’s totally reasonable to say that private schools (and not necessarily “schools of choice) should be in a class unto themselves for football. This would mean moving the earth in some respects, so it would have little to no chance of happening. But it makes a lot of sense.
But back to the simple fact that Saturday’s outcomes were not good for the state of high school football in Connecticut. The season is a slow boil. To see onesided outcomes down the line on the big stage is disappointing, if not embarrassing.
IN THE SCHOOLS
Thankfully, I was on site for the one relatively close championship game.
If only Haddam-Killingworth protected the ball more in the first half and had a passing attack in times of need to complement its double wing. The Cougars scored three minutes into the game after Bloomfield fumbled away its first play from scrimmage, but couldn’t sustain another drive in its 25-7 loss in Class S.
When the Cougars meet as a team Monday night for the last time this year, here’s hoping they look at their season in the positive of way. Coach Mike Baklik and staff guided their personnel to a division title and 11 wins overall, including their first two in the playoffs.
Their championship game appearance was the fifth this decade for a Pequot team, so that’s a win for the conference as a whole.
H-K should contend again, at least in the Pequot, behind a good defensive line, and Dalton Modehn might be the conference’s best running back next fall.
** East Hampton senior Allyson Tuxbury was named Volleyball MVP in the Shoreline Conference after leading the Bellringers to the league title and a semifinal berth in the Class S tournament.
Tuxbury was joined on the SLC’s First Team by Molly Shields and Lyndsey Taylor of Coginchaug, Emily Jennings and Kristen Dansereau of H-K, Sadie Budzik of Cromwell, Brianna Dellolacono of HaleRay, Mackenzie Anderson of Morgan and Maddie Just of Valley Regional.
** Mercy opens defense of its Class LL championship beginning with Tuesday’s 7 p.m. game at Hamden. The Tigers play their home opener on Saturday against NFA. We won’t see them in town again until Jan. 4, the start of a four-game homestand that includes at game at Xavier’s Art Kohs Gymnasium.
THIS AND THAT
** Tyshaun James, the excellent former quarterback at Middletown High, just finished his sophomore season at Central Connecticut State. James, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound receiver for the Blue Devils, had four touchdown catches this fall. He combined to run and throw for almost 3,000 yards in his senior season at MHS.
** Milesplit.com last month asked its readers which Connecticut high school boys cross country runner had the best year. The poll winner by several thousand votes — Xavier’s Robbie Cozean. A junior, Cozean was third in the State Open, ninth in the New England Open and 13th in the Northeast Regional this fall.
** Joey Logano winning his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championship remains a topic of conversation in these parts. Logano has returned to the area several times in recent years and is on the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce’s radar for 2019.
** Packers coach Mike McCarthy never appeared to enjoy what he was doing, even when the team was winning. It was evident way back in the preseason, though, that he really liked his No. 3 quarterback, Xavier’s Tim Boyle. The two will not finish the season together. McCarthy was fired last Sunday after a loss to the awful Cardinals left the
Packers 4-7-1. Boyle hasn’t taken a snap this season, but you just know a herd of family and friends will be inside MetLife Stadium on Dec. 23 when the Packers play the Jets.
** Kudos to Wesleyan senior offensive lineman Joe Wilson, who will receive the Swede Nelson Award on Dec. 19 at a ceremony in Burlington, Mass. The award, given by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston, recognizes a Division I and II/III athlete from New England for their exceptional achievement in sportsmanship, academics and athletics. Wilson is the first Wesleyan athlete to receive the award.
** I wonder if former Greenwich High quarterback Steve Young follows the Cardinals from his home base in Northern California.
** West Virginia quarterback Will Grier is skipping his team’s bowl game to prepare for the NFL draft. He won’t be the last player to do this, but the thought is he’s first QB to pass on playing in a bowl game. Will it be long before we start to see college basketball players passing on playing in March?
** Five go-to Christmas artists on the iPod: Darlene Love, Harry Simeone Chorale, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Wham!
** My wife: “Do you think the Dolphins have enough time to score?” Me: “Absolutely not.” Final: Miami 34, New England 33.
** Finally, the World Series champion Red Sox have accepted an invitation to visit the White House sometime this spring. Assuming they will present President Trump with a team jersey, I believe the number double zero is available.