Teams find a way to cope in the heat
Dave Toth didn’t understand what the fuss was all about.
The 55-year-old Toth, who has been playing in the Blue Mountain League over a span of 37 years, didn’t think it was too hot to play baseball Saturday afternoon.
Toth had a two-run single for the Northern Yankees in a 4-3 win over Martins Creek at Egypt Memorial Park and said later: “This is what baseball should be played in. It’s the middle of July. It’s baseball weather. There’s no place I’d rather be. This is it.”
For a weather-minded media that knows extreme weather, whether it’s a two-foot snowstorm in February or a heat wave in the heart of summer, draws eyes and ears, this past weekend’s weather was like Christmas in July.
For Toth, the 95-degree temperature was standard fare, and a lot better than playing in the biting cold of early spring.
In a quirk of scheduling, Toth’s Yankees played three games in a span of 26 hours, all in the heart of the heat wave. They played a game Friday night and came back for two at two different locations on Saturday, playing Martins Creek in the afternoon. Then after a brief break, they traveled to Limeport Stadium for a night game against the Dodgers.
The Yankees won all three. “I will play until I can’t play anymore,” Toth said. “I did miss three seasons because of an injury and I was going to go play in the Men’s Senior League back in 2014, but I got back involved again with Zerf [longtime Hellertown Royals manager Bob Zerfass] and I asked him if he didn’t mind if I pitched batting practice just to get back in shape. He asked me if I wanted to go on the roster and I hesitated, but said yes. By the end of the season I was playing full-time and I haven’t stopped.”
Toth, who loves to work on the field at Egypt, arrived for a 1:30 p.m. game at 9:30 in the morning.
“I love it,” he said. “To me, there’s nothing like hitting a baseball. I love the sound of it, the feel of it … there’s just nothing like it.”
Northern Yankees manager Brian Polaha loves to have a guy like Toth on his roster.
“We were down to 10 guys for this game and I tried to talk to each of them because in addition to the heat, there’s a travel issue with guys coming from Tamaqua and Reading,” Polaha, who lives in Lehighton, said. “The teams that can get through stretches like this are the deeper teams with a lot of bodies. The days of teams having the same lineup every day are over. It’s a commitment to play in this league and guys are going to miss. We’re fortunate to have some position-player depth this year with a pool of about 14 guys I can use.”
As for dealing with the heat, Polaha shrugged it off.
“If you’re doing yard work or chores you don’t necessarily like to do, then it’s hot and it bothers you,” Polaha said. “But if you’re doing something you really like doing, it’s not that bad. I was a high school coach and the early part of a high school season is brutal. A lot of high school teams can’t even get on their fields until the first game because of a late snowstorm. So I’ll take this any day.”
The players are mindful of the heat and take the necessary precautions. Plenty of water is always available.
“To want to play on a day like today, you’ve got to love it and maybe sometimes I think I love it too much,” Martins Creek player-manager Eric Schmitt said. “We didn’t take batting practice on the field today and we had two tents set up. I didn’t think it was too bad. I’ve played on hotter days.”
Sunday didn’t feel quite as hot as Saturday and there was an ever so gentle breeze providing a modest amount of relief as the Quakertown Blazers prepared for an Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League doubleheader at its Memorial Park field.
The crowd at the community swimming pool was huge compared to the audience the baseball attracted, but the players showed no signs of let up.
“I’m a heat guy; I don’t mind it,” Blazers player Anthony Viggiano said. “The night before you try to drink a lot of water and stay hydrated. I like sweating and playing in the heat. It can be fun.”
Viggiano plays at Bloomsburg University where the winters and the early part of the college baseball season can be harsh.
“I’d rather play in this, but you still have to be careful,” Viggiano said. “The heat can catch up with you fast.”
He recalled a bad experience he had when he was a youth baseball player growing in Delaware County.
“I was sitting on the bench on a hot day and got dehydrated and felt it in a hurry,” Viggiano said. “They got me Gatorade right away and put ice around my head until I felt better. I was only 11 or 12 years old at the time, but I still remember it. I learned a lesson that day.”