Reliving the sandlot days

August 17
Reliving the sandlot days

In the summer of 1978, a group of teenage boys from Shavertown got together each day and played games of sandlot baseball in a field off Overbrook Road. Thirty years later, they did it again.

Joe Wateski covers first in a sandlot reunion baseball game on the Back Mountain Little League upper field in Dallas.

Tommy Alexander, far right, congratulates Joe Kubasti, second to right, on his home run hit during a sandlot reunion baseball game.

Joe Kubasti had some fun running bases during a baseball reunion game in Dallas.

CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK photos/FOR THE DALLAS POST

Times Leader Photo Store

Organized by Tom Alexander, most of the original 12 players got together recently for a reunion game. Many of the players, now grown men, brought their families and played the game in a field above the Back Mountain Little League field on Church Street in Dallas Township.

“I didn’t keep in touch with any of these people and it’s great to see them,” said Joe Kubasti, who now lives in Chelmsford, Mass. Kubasti’s young sons, AJ and Adam, also played in the reunion game.

The original games were played on property owned by George and Andrea Sordoni of Shavertown. The games were played each day during the summer and on weekends when school started in the fall.

“We had a lot of fun that summer,” said Alexander, who lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. He brought his son 11-year-old son Peter to play in the game. “We all had our heroes who we tried to be like – guys like Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski, Reggie Jackson and Jim Rice.”

The reunion game was the first time Peter Alexander experienced sandlot baseball. His father says times – and people – have changed throughout the years.

“Playing games like we played is virtually impossible today,” he said. “If someone got hurt, we wouldn’t have thought it was anyone else’s fault but our own. That wouldn’t happen today. It’s unfortunate. We were very lucky to have a family like the Sordonis who let us play on their property.”

Alexander was hoping to play the reunion game five to 10 years ago, but it never materialized. He made a big push for the reunion game this year after suffering a heart attack in January 2006.

“My attitude changed after that,” Alexander said. “It changed my outlook on things - what’s important and what isn’t. I realized how important those days were to me and I wanted my son to experience it. I also wanted to see the guys again. We won’t wait another 30 years for the next game.”

In addition to Alexander and Joe Kubasti, members of the original sandlot taem and their current hometowns are Mike Kubasti, Normandy Park, Wash.; Eric Cuba, Lancaster; Mike Cuba, York; Steve Menges, New York City; Tim Pappas, Wilkes-Barre; Ed Jewell, Dallas and Melbourne, Fla.; and Alan Cuba, Mike Todd, Dave Konopki, Bob Shaffer and Joe Wateski, all of Dallas.