Clyde Moore: Winter Park's champs

I remember a time when I was passionate about baseball. Living in Atlanta during the 1990s, the story of the Atlanta Braves, it was easy to be so. But after the Major League Baseball strike of 1994, I tuned out.

Back in May I crossed paths with Mike Weckerle, whom I’d met shortly after moving here. He told me of the boys’ baseball team he’d been coaching and it seemed like a possible column, the idea of restoring some magic to baseball unconsidered. Then, last week I received a message about a presentation at a Winter Park City Commission meeting.

I came through commission chamber doors and immediately noticed six boys on one row of seats near the door. Some of these boys have been playing baseball together since they were 6 years old — half their lives. They were here because of their winning season, but also to express thanks to a community that provided its backdrop, with fields at Ward Park unmatched anywhere in the area. I knew it would be a feel good tale, but it would also be an impressive one, as two of the boys, Nick Noel and Max Clark, were soon confidently reading remarks celebrating Winter Park’s role. There was no nervousness I could detect, just a calm reading of the page and a half of text. Shortly, all boys were posing for a photo standing with the mayor, commissioners beaming from behind.

Winter Park Blaze was formed in 2010 by the boys’ parents. Mike, or “Coach Weck,” came on board to help coach, having played ball for Winter Park in 2000, when the city last made it to the series. Coach Weck and Ben Noel, another coach and father of Nick Noel, are baseball fans. But they’re also fans of these kids. Their enthusiasm for the boys’ accomplishments, pride in them, is obvious. We talk in a room at Ben’s house where large baseball trophies sit just behind him. They finished the season ranked No. 1 in the state.

They speak of the boys and their commitment to the game, love of competition. “And I think that’s what we tried to instill in them,” says Ben, “all those days over the summer, you try to instill in them that when you get into battle, tournaments, you’re going to remember these last two summers when you were out here sweating. Was the other team doing this? This is why you win.”

“These kids, they love the game so much,” Mike adds. “You could ask, what they’d rather be doing, and I think all of them would pick baseball.” They explain that this team plays by ‘Babe Ruth rules,’ more like a major league game, with lead-offs from base, not just base to base. Ben points out that a majority of major league players learned base-to-base rules when they were younger. “When they were little they were playing station to station. These kids watch stuff in the big leagues now and they try to replicate it, can do 75 percent of it.”

They also talk about Ward Park, what a benefit it is for such activities. “You’d be surprised, you go to other cities, Orlando, you try to use their fields, you can’t just walk out there – you can’t just walk out with five boys and play ball. In Winter Park you can. They (Orlando) lock them up for budget reasons. The fact that we had those fields drove people to our league.”

Ward Park is located at Cady Way Trail and Perth Lane in Winter Park. Call 407-599-3334 or visit http://bit.ly/OHauyW for more information. For more information about the Winter Park Blaze, visit their page on Facebook.

“There will be pro players out there,” Mike said of Ward Park, high school and college kids. “All of our kids are seeing that," Ben adds. “Other kids are looking up to him (his son) and saying I want be like Nick, and Nick was always looking up to someone saying I want to be like someone else who’s out there all the time.”

“I can tell you the experience that they’re getting will last them a lifetime. I tell them stories about when I played. It’s not about winning; it’s about competing with your teammates.” He mentions notable moments this year as “playing at Disney, hitting 27 home runs in seven games at district — that’s stuff they’ll talk about forever.”

“I’m very proud of them, their dedication,” Mike says. “Left to their own devices, they’re still little boys. That’s the cool thing about it, they’re 12.” Ben says that they were thrilled to see Mickey Mouse at Disney. “Oh yeah, they’re still kids,” he says. “If we could guarantee a win if everybody goes home and eats their green beans, and goes to bed at 7 … or, we can have a sleepover and we’ll take our chances? They’ll say, ‘we’ll take our chances.’”

And being a kid is possibly the best pastime of all.

Local Luv'n Local

Bistro on Park Avenue and Spice & Tea Exchange are not only located near one another on Park Avenue but The Bistro also makes several Spice & Tea products available to its diners. Whether you’re trying one of The Bistro’s new oyster dishes or a selection from its new lunch menu, you can select from Spice & Tea’s four peppercorn blend, sea salt, Pirate’s Bite or, unique to the Winter Park store, Florida Sunshine, as potential complements. It’s a wonderful local example of how local businesses are utilizing the products of other local businesses, going local when and where they can! The Bistro is at 348 N. Park Ave. and the Spice & Tea is at 309 N. Park Ave.

Clyde Moore operates local sites ILUVWinterPark.com, ILUVParkAve.com and LUVMyRate.com, and aims to help local businesses promote themselves for free and help save them money, having some fun along the way. Email him at [email protected] or write to ILuv Winter Park on Facebook or Twitter.