Pickup Softball Thursday Nights in Maplecrest. Be There.

This article first appeared on Patch on August 9, 2010. Tim Reynolds asked us to run it again since the Thursday Night Softball Pick-Up Game started up again on July 7, 2011. The game will take place every Thursday night at 6 p.m. at Maplecrest Park, Field #2 through mid-September. Contact Tim Reynolds for more information. Or, better yet, just show up!

I moved to Maplewood from Brooklyn in September 2002. I loved the area immediately, but found I missed the city in some respects. At first, I felt a bit isolated—as I've known many newcomers to feel in years since. I was so used to that "energy" of having thousands of people literally living right on top of me.

As unappealing as that sounds to me now, I really loved it at the time. 

Soon after I had settled in and got acquainted with my surroundings, the winter hit. And it was a rough one. Everyone went into hibernation. The streets were empty—aside from the snow. This was bizarre to me. Again, I was a creature of the city, where everyone was out no matter the conditions. There wasn't any choice.

As spring rolled around, I decided it was time to take some action. I was going to get out and find a way to meet some folks. I soon found out about a local pickup game of softball at Maplecrest Park from my new neighbor (and friend) Tom Nevius. He described it as a "let's have some fun and not get hurt" kind of game.

Sounded perfect—and it was.

Suddenly, I'm meeting people whom I immensely enjoy, and who live maybe only a block or two over. I had no idea! This is when I really knew I had made the right choice to live in Maplewood. I was immediately recruited to play with the local recreational league (with the South Orange Dads), where I met even more of the locals. 

Fast forward to 2010.

I've been a bit busy. I got a bit sidetracked from my fun little game of Thursday night pick-up softball. I opened a business, had two kids, finished my basement and many other home renovations, and had a bit of a cancer battle (no drama, I'm totally cool). 

This year, I decided it was time to go back out and see the guys. I was so excited!  Imagine my disappointment to find the game had, well, lost a little steam. Actually, it lost almost all of it. The first couple weeks, we had only a couple guys show up. Turns out a lot of the guys have gotten a bit sidetracked, too. Injuries that come with age, having kids with their own games to get to, jobs, whatever...the group had gotten smaller and smaller.

Some of the guys thought maybe it was time to put this tradition to bed.

I, however, remembered how important this had been to my experience as a newcomer. I figured there must be some others in the area who had gone through the same growing pains I had gone through as a newbie. I decided that this tradition was a really good thing, and maybe someone needed to "pick up the torch" and revitalize the game. 

I got to it. Permits to the field were attained (again by Tom), and I began trying to spread the word. I got a my hands on a list of email addresses from the old group that had played. I posted on Maplewood Online weekly. I posted on Patch. I encouraged all my clients to join in on the fun.

I basically annoyed every person within a 10-mile radius by pushing the game. 

Let's just say that initially, I was left wanting. The response was underwhelming. A few guys would show, maybe out of pity for me and the efforts being spent trying to make this happen, and that was pretty much it.  I openly suggested "sticking a fork" in the whole thing and calling it done. 

My enthusiasm, however, had apparently caught on, because the guys thought it made sense to give it some time.

I felt like The Little Engine That Could. The next week, we had a great turnout. Heck, we had enough to actually play a real game. Guys and girls, multiple skill levels—whatever, it didn't matter. We had some fun. Folks that lived here for around 10 years and lived blocks away never knew this game had existed. Now, they were happy to have found us. People who hadn't known their neighbors were laughing and talking and playing with them.

Thank the heavens for the power of the internet.

The game has been picking up steam ever since. New folks come out every week.  We even had a celebrity sighting when our illustrious mayor Vic DeLuca joined us a couple weeks back (he's quite the ringer, actually).

If you've missed us thus far, never fear: We're continuing through the middle of September.

I couldn't be happier that we stuck it out. A great Maplewood tradition continues, These are the things that make a good town great. I'm just glad I get to be a part of it…again.

Tim Reynolds is the owner/operator of THE GYM ON SPRINGFIELD, a personal training studio in its 4th year of operation on Springfield Avenue in Maplewood.