WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,826,065 VISITS IN ONE YEAR—73,578 VISITS A WEEK BY 1,111,506 VISITORS

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WPCNR KING KOMMENTS. By White Plains Councilman William King. August 20, 2002: The “Councilman Columnist” gives some concrete ideas for what a Children’s Museum in White Plains should display. He is working to obtain National Historic Site status for Chatterton Hill and Purdy House in White Plains.
From Indianapolis’s award-winning Children’s Museum, which I just read about:

1. A life-size, moving, roaring Tyranasourus Rex (there are also such T Rex’s at the Norwalk Aquarium and at Toys R Us in Times Square)

2. A carousel (merry-go-round)

3. A replica of a one-room schoolhouse for kids to playact (there also was one at the now defunct City Life Museum in Baltimore which my then 4-year-old daughter loved)

Ideas from Illinois

From the DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville, IL, which I just visited, the best exhibit was a simulated workshop where kids put on goggles and use hammers and screwdrivers, etc. – it is sponsored by a local hardware chain.

The best exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan was where kids can crawl through “Joe or Jane’s intestines,” although I thought this idea could be improved on maybe to the whole abdomen – similar things have been done on videos in cartoons such as the Magic Schoolbus and Rugrats.

What Should Go In a White Plains Children’s Museum

A children’s museum in White Plains should:

1. Highlight our history – I am working with the White Plains Historical Society separately in applying to the National Park Service for national historic site status of Chatterton Hill (Battle Hill) and the Purdy House.

2. Focus on the arts

No videos, please.

One thing I have seen in a few children’s museums that I have found to be deadly boring and should be avoided at all costs is the use of tv videos, which kids can see just as easily at home.

A “Hot Suburb” Sparks the Imagination.

To generate interest and advertise a fundraising effort, I saw a great idea in Naperville, Illinois. Naperville is a western Chicago suburb with a population now of 130,000+ and is viewed as a “hot suburb” with a Victorian historic district and a “crunchy” downtown, including the DuPage Children’s Museum.

All around Naperville, they have painted carousel horses on poles, each advertising a different charity but many were for a new children’s hospital. At first, I thought the horses were advertising the coming of a carousel in their Downtown which they may also be for.

I’ll try to contact Met Life this week about the Sears store site.

Councilman William King

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. By John F. Bailey. August 19, 2002:Move over Yankees! The Tri-State area has a new National Champion, the Stratford Brakettes.

Robyn King’s pinch hit rifle shot back up the middle scored Michelle Gates from third with the lone Championship run in the sixth inning Monday night, as the Stratford Brakettes’ meal ticket, Kaci Clark, outduelled the California Hurricanes’ masterful Tia Bollinger, 1-0, firing a 2-hit shutout before an appreciative throng of over 1,500 fans in Stratford.

STRIKE TWO! Kaci Clark is one pitch away from the National Championship, as Kelly Peterson of the California Hurricanes watches strike 2 crackle by on the outside corner. Clark got Peterson swinging on the next pitch to win the Brakettes 24th National Championship, concluding the 2002 ASA Women’s Major Fast Pitch National Softball Tournament
Photo by WPCNR

Clark retired the last eleven Hurricane hitters in order from the fourth inning on and only two Hurricane runners reached second base, as the former U.C.L.A. star struck out twelve and did not allow a walk, notching victory number 29 on her glove, without a loss.

Bollinger kept the potent Brakette bats in check, stranding 7 Brakettes on the bases through five innings, mixing her fast stuff in with her dazzling LA change-up that had the Brakette Blasters tied up in knots.

A Brakette Brake. The Fateful Walk.

The Brakette brake came in the last of the sixth of a scoreless game. Bollinger walked Nikki Meyers on four pitches. A baserunning gaff seemed to ease the situation when Erica Sobel was caught in a fielder’s choice, trying to go from second to third.

Gates’ sacrifice bunt had eyes and got past Bollinger to the right of the circle, but Tia spotted Sobel trying to sneak to third. Carri Leto at second, fired to third sacker Chantal Pershing and Sobel was hung out to dry in a perfectly executed rundown, as Chantal chased Sobel back, outran her and tagged her on the back in the dust.

Smith’s speed builds the winner.

Jen Smith next up hit a slow roller to the left side that shortstop Kelly Peterson could not turn into a force at second, since she had no shot to get the speedy Smith at first. Infield hit. Two on.

Turning Point of the Game: Mishlan’s Elegant Bunt.

With one out and Lea Mishlan and Karrie Rider coming up, the Long Island Angel player watching the game beside me questioned the Brakette strategy to bunt Gates and Smith over, which is what Mishlan did, dropping a beauty down third way, moving the runners up to second and third. That set the stage for Robyn King, who batted for Rider.

King took a strike then with a crack, ripped a shot up the middle off Bollinger, bang bang, scoring Gates. Had the Brakettes not bunted and moved the runners, Gates might not have been able to score from second, the ball got to centerfielder Erin Rahn so fast. 1-0, Brakettes.

STRIKE THREE! Peterson rips and misses at the “Championship Pitch” that clinched the Brakettes National Championship
Photo by WPCNR

An Angel Talks About What it’s Like to Face Kaci Clark

Clark’s shutout was the second straight Brakette whitewash of the Hurricanes. Long Island Angel centerfielder, Chris Aigotti, who was at the game, talked to WPCNR about what makes Clark so effective.

Aigotti’s Angels had only 8 losses this season, and five of them were to the Brakettes. Aigotti knows Clark all too well.

Aigotti said it was Clark’s “movement and changing in speeds,” was her secret:

“As a hitter, I’m not afraid of speed, but I don’t like movement,” Aigotti said. “With Casey, you’ll never get a good pitch to hit. If you do, you’ll probably watch it go by. She’ll make you swing and compromise your mechanics (as a hitter). She’ll throw at 69 miles an hour one pitch, then show you 42 miles an hour on the next. As a hitter, you want to keep your hands still, but her movement will make you move your hands towards the ball and you’re lost. She’s one of the best pitchers throwing today.”

The Lead-off Walk. Why it happens.

Tia Bollinger, who fanned Germaine Fairchild with a change-up beyond belief to ease out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth, and pitched coolly, brilliantly out of trouble, walked leadoff batter to start the bottom of the sixth.

A pitcher teamate of Aigotti’s, also taking in the game, commented on why pitchers walk the leadoff batter. Just such a walk contributed to the Brakette run last night. She said it’s mostly nervousness that creates the leadoff walk. “You know you don’t want to walk the lead off hitter. So that adds to the pressure, and you stop doing what you’ve been doing.”

INSTANT CHAMPS:The Brakettes celebrate the final strike that gave them a 78 and 1 record and the ASA National Women’s Championship. Clark is Number 15.
Photo by WPCNR

CHAMPS HOLD THE TROPHY HIGH. It was the Brakettes’ 24th National Championship, their first since 1992. for more on the big game, go to www.brakettes.com.
Photo by WPCNR

THE SOFTBALL SUN SETS: The Brakettes and the Hurricanes in pregame introductions, as the last game of the season began.

LIKE OLD TIMES:Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field jumped as a near-capacity crowd turned out for the big game last night. Jen Smith is batting.
Photo by WPCNR

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. By John F. Bailey. August 19, 2002:The Stratford Brakettes white-washed the California Hurricanes, 4-0, Sunday evening at DeLuca Field in Stratford, to move within one more win for the 2002 ASA Women’s Major Fast Pitch Championship. The team whose “Starting Ro” (tation) of Danielle Henderson, Kaci Clark, Cat Osterman and Nikki Meyers has dominated the softball summer of 2002 with a 79-1 record can wrap it with a win at tonight’s 6:30 game in Stratford.

LONG TALL LEFTY FROM TEXAS ENFORCES THE LAW: Cat Osterman, University of Texas, pitching to Carrie Leto, lead-offer for the California Hurricanes in the Sunday evening Winner’s Bracket Finall in the ASA Championship. She went on to fan 15 Hurricanes, retiring 19 in a row before losing a perfecto in the seventh.
Photo by WPCNR

On Sunday morning, Dannielle Henderson had pitched the Brakettes into the winners bracket final with an 8-1 win over the Topton VIPS from Pennsylvania.


BOOK’EM, DANO: USA Olympic 2000 Softball Gold Medalist, Dannielle Henderson firing in the sultry Sunday morning in Connecticut. She fanned 14 VIPS, and was staked to a 6-run lead by Brakette “rockets” by Germaine Fairchild and Sara Jewett.
Photo by WPCNR

The win was highlighted by a Germaine Fairchild 2-run homer in the third which gave the Brakettes a 3-0 lead. Later in the same frame, a 3-run Sara Jewett jolt extended the lead to 6-0 with a second towering blast into straightaway left.


AIR GERMAINE: After belting a letter high fastball just foul, bringing a smile of relief to the Topton pitcher’s face, Germaine Fairchild was delighted when the pitcher threw her next pitch in the very same spot, and the Brakettes’ RBI leader didn’t miss this time. The thunder of aluminum on cowhide announced the bad news. Germaine is seen getting “fived” by the Brakette bench, driving in Kellie Wilkerson in front of her.
Photo by WPCNR

JEWETT JOLTS: The crusher was applied by Sara Jewett who tagged a three-run dinger over the left field fence two batters later. Here she is crossing homeplate.
Photo by WPCNR

BATTER 21 GOES DOWN: Cat Osterman, pitching like a “good-looking” Randy Johnson in the circle, blazes her patented riser past Hurricane Suzy Brazney for her 15th and final K in the California seventh last night. Cat had retired 19 batters in a row, before Erin Rahn, the previous hitter broke up the bid for her second perfect game since joining the Brakettes 4 weeks ago.
Photo by WPCNR

Rahn broke up Osterman’s bid for the perfecto, when she slaphit a drifting Texas League pop behind third base that the Brakette shortstop’s desperate dive could not reach.

Asked after the game if anyone ever hits Osterman, Rahn said that her club UCLA had gotten to the lefty for six runs in one outing. Rahn has faced Osterman four times. “The first time, I struck out 4 times,” she said/.

Asked what makes Osterman so effective, Rahn said “She has a great curve to right handed batters that as it hits the plate, looks like it’s going to be outside, and then curves right in on the hands. She’s got a great dropball, too. She was using mostly her riseball and curve tonight. The riser was what our hitters were mostly swinging at.”

Osterman started gingerly getting Leto on a third strike, retiring Rahn on a third to second-baser covering, and Brazney on a backhand shot to third baser Michelle Gates who threw her out.

She hit her stride in the second, striking out two hitters every inning until the fifth, when she struck out the side in the fifth and sixth innings.

The 19-year-old, was described as “unbelievable” and “she’s something else” from seasoned fans behind homeplate. I can tell you the ball comes in like a jet taking off when she throws the rise, and the curve has to be declared illegal it breaks so much from left to right.

Back-to-Back Doubles by the Vets.

When the Hurricane pitcher issued a two-out pass to Alicia Smith in the third, Kelly Wilkerson rocketed a screamer into the right center gap to give The Cat all the runs she needed. Germaine Fairchild followed with another stinger missile to the base of the fence in left to plate Wilkerson, and it was 2-0.

That’s the way she stayed until the fifth. Keri McCallum doubled to left and came in to score on a single by Wilkerson, just past a diving second baser into right field, to make it 3-0. Karrie Rider’s clothesline sacrifice fly to left speared by a leaping leftfielder, scored Michelle Gates from third for the final tally in the sixth.

Hurricanes make Winners Final when Patriots field ineligible player.

The Hurricanes had actually lost to the Allentown Patriots Sunday morning, 1-0, in a terrific ballgame that observers say was the best in the tournament, filled with great plays in the outfield and infield, and tense offensive situations throughout.

However, after the game, it was reported and verified by ASA officials that an Allentown starter had played in a ASA Major Women’s A Tournament, which made her ineligible for this tournament. ASA officials, upon being informed, took the Patriot win away, and made the Hurricanes the winner by forfeit. ASA rules allow you to play in only one National Tournament.

Brakettes can wrap up the Championship Monday night.

About 1,500 fans watched the Brakettes win Sunday evening. Tonight they play the winners of the Loser’s bracket semi and finals to be played Monday morning.

At 9:00 Monday, the St. Louis Saints and the Iowa Dynasty play for the right to meet the Hurricanes in the Loser’s Bracket Final at 11:00 AM. Both games are at DeLuca Hall of Fame Field in Stamford.

The winner of that 11:00 contest meets the Brakettes at 6:30 PM, and must beat them twice to take the title.

The Brakettes are scheduled to throw Kaci Clark to attempt to claim the National Championship, with Cat Osterman waiting in the wings if a second game is necessary.

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WPCNR PRESSBOX. August 17, 2002:The Stratford Brakettes with four of the nation’s top softball pitchers take on a field of 13 teams from around the nation this weekend in the ASA National Softball Championships in Stratford, Connecticut.

In last night’s opening action, the Brakettes defeated the Iowa Dynasty 5-2, behind Cat Osterman and play the Adirondack Ice Saturday afternoon at 5:30 PM at DeLuca Field. For all of last night’s results, go to www.brakettes.com, and click-on “brackets.”

LONG TALL LEFTY, Cat Osterman, of the Stratford Brakettes, is just one of the top windmill pitchers you’ll see in action beginning this evening in Stratford Connecticut’s, DeLuca Hall of Fame Field as the ASA National Softball Championships get underway with 14 women’s teams from around the nation. She is shown pitching a shutout against the Adirondack Ice last week. The Brakettes won the Northeast Seaboard Women’s Fastpitch League Championship last weekend.
PHOTO BY WPCNR

The championships will feature the now 74-1, (no, that is not a misprint), Stratford Brakettes against a field that includes the California Hurricanes, featuring some of the top players from southern California, the St. Louis Saints, Iowa Dynasties, Celina(Ohio) Suns, and Elite Force from Illinois.

DeLuca is reached by traveling to Exit 30 on the Connecticut Thruway, exiting to Lordship Boulevard, following it to the Cricket Hot Dog Stand, making a left, and you’re right at the ballpark. In action tonight are the California Hurricanes in Game 1 at 6:30 PM, and the Stratford Brakettes in Game 2 at 8:30 PM. Admission is $6 for the elite doubleheader. Action continues all weekend long with the Championship Monday evening.

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WPCNR Evening City Star Reporter. By John F. Bailey. August 15, 2002: George Gretsas, Executive Officer for the City of White Plains, denied today that JPI, developers of The Jefferson at White Plains was in the process of “shopping the property” as has been rumored about the city in recent weeks by Highlands residents.
Gretsas maintained that JPI has told the city the property is not for sale and that they were still in the process of selecting a new general contractor. He said that JPI had assured the city that as soon as a new contractor was signed, the project which has not seen any activity for approximately three months, would resume.

Rumors of the creation of a second “hole-in-the-ground” at 300 Mamaroneck Avenue as a result of JPI’s dispute with their former contractor, were discounted by city hall sources, as were other rumors that height was being added to the project, and that there were natural geological factors(rocky subsurface) necessitating a change in the design of the project.

A city hall source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that it was their understanding that JPI had invested too much money in the project to pull out of the endeavor at this point, and were committed to the apartment complex.

Paul Crisalli, local spokesman for JPI, was contacted for confirmation of JPI’s intentions, but as of Thursday evening, had not contacted WPCNR.