My first hit came in my very first at-bat. With the otherwise forgettable 1966 game already decided in our favor, Sheridan Pablos Manager Bob Butcher sent 15-year-old me to the plate against veteran Cherry Creek right-hander Joe Pagett.

As usual, I swung at the first pitch I saw, thankfully a fastball, and sent it down the left field line and chugged safely into second base.

That’s when I heard it from our bench, unsure of the source.

The loud voice was directed at my manager and said, “Hey, Bob, don’t look now, but the new kid just hit a double!”

Sam Condon

Cherry Creek ace Pagett was familiar to the Pablos.

As Sheridan Pablos outfielder Pat Parisi recently reminded me, “George Carter (St. Bonaventure basketball legend) made a few appearances with the Pablos. He launched one over the swing set in downtown Cherry Creek off of Joe Pagett.”

That swing set was probably a good 400 feet away.

My dad was there to see the epic blast. He and a couple other major league scouts were in attendance to watch a recent high school grad and budding Pablos star.

George, later traded in the old American Basketball Association for Julius “Dr. J” Erving, was a junior-to-be at Silver Creek High School.

Once George crushed the home run, drafting his older teammate was sadly abandoned by the scouts.

But I digress. As a juvenile with the Pablos, I hitched rides to and from games with various teammates.

If the team decided to stop and drain a few cold brews, my dad made sure I was never to partake. Soft drinks only for the “new kid.”

I eventually became legal after playing one GBL season for my dad’s American Legion team.

A major health scare sidelined me for a few weeks in the spring of 1969, but I eventually caught on with the Brocton GBL team. I was the youngest player on the team once again.

I played a couple of infield positions and, believe it or not, was the team’s lone stolen base threat. I went the whole season without being caught stealing. Probably swiped a half-dozen bases, the lion’s share of my career total.

The following year, my JFK Pool co-worker Bob Fafinski and I dreamed of creating a new GBL team, the First Ward Falcons.

Bob went before the club’s board of directors and convinced them to back our costly start-up venture.

I spent a decade with the Falcons before retiring after our first GBL-County League Playoff Championship win.

When my buddy Bobby joined the Armed Services, I inherited the team’s leadership role as manager.

As such, I would attend GBL organizational meetings at Walt’s Sporting Goods store on Third Street in Dunkirk where the St. Mary’s Church parking lot sits today.

At one of these meetings, then GBL President Pete Criscione announced he was resigning.

He immediately nominated me for the presidency, citing my sports editor’s role with the EVENING OBSERVER.

There was a quick second to the nomination, an even quicker show of hands, and just like that, I was the new GBL head honcho.

I spent several seasons as president. There were few league problems, some bounced checks, adopting new designated hitter rules and various unfounded umpire complaints.

I only had to convene a committee once, after a veteran player mistakenly believed he was being mocked and decked a smiling umpire during an argument.

After plenty of discussion, the offending player was suspended for a year and a day.

Perhaps the thorniest decision I made as president came during playoffs one year.

The Falcons and host Cherry Creek battled through extra innings in a Saturday semifinal matchup.

It became too dark to continue and we had a big problem.

The winner would meet the Dunkirk-Fredonia Rookies at 1 p.m. the next day for the title in Dunkirk.

Cherry Creek Manager Sam Condon wanted our game to resume at noon in Cherry Creek.

I suggested finishing the game in Dunkirk, with the winning team sticking around and facing the Rookies.

It was my position that because of time restraints, I wouldn’t be able to find and send umpires to Cherry Creek.

Sam did not want to give up home-field advantage. After a lengthy argument in the dark, Sam finally agreed to my plan. He changed his mind only after I told him the Falcons would pay for both umpires.

Cherry Creek ended up beating us in one extra inning in Dunkirk and moved on to the finals.

To recap, we lost a playoff game at home and the club paid the umps $40 for less than an inning’s worth of work.

I didn’t say all of my GBL memories were happy ones.

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DO YOU have a favorite, funny, weird, best or worst memory of the Grape Belt League, amateur sports refereeing, playing or spectating? Drop me a line at mandpp@hotmail.com and let’s reminisce.

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Bill Hammond is a former EVENING OBSERVER sports editor.