Au Revoir Summer League
In spite all the fun I’ve had in French baseball — beginning with the Comets of Honfleur, then with the Paris Patriots, the Paris University Club and finally the Wallabies of Louviers — there’s one thing that’s always bugged me. It’s how play abruptly grinds to a halt in July and August so everyone can take off on their hallowed vacations.
The regular season begins in March when it’s usually cold and rainy. But then, toward the end of June when the weather is perfect, everything stops. Until September. That leaves more than two whole months without baseball, the very time when baseball should be played.
I’ve grumbled about this to my French teammates. . .
. . .urging them to forget about going to the beach or mountains and play baseball instead. I’ve argued that baseball is like a vacation. Mostly they just shrug their shoulders and head out of town.
So thank God for the Paris Baseball Summer League. Or thank Gaetan Alibert.
He’s the one who got it started four years ago. As we mentioned in an earlier article (July 4), it’s the closest thing to pure baseball that exists here.
If there was any doubt about how popular it’s become, they were put to rest when the final game of the season took place. The turnout was so large that there were enough players for three teams.
Four years ago, it was a different story. When Alibert put out the word via Facebook that he was creating a new program, hardly anyone noticed. Only a smattering of players showed up, usually not enough for a game.
By the second year, however, that began to change. Today, Summer League baseball has blossomed into a weekly event that attracts dozens of players every Sunday.
And it’s not just a guy thing. Young women are there, too, women who, until recently, were relegated to playing softball because of rules prohibiting them from playing hard ball.
“It’s liberating, says 19-year-old Anais Deangel, “and so much fun. But I’ve only just started and am still nervous about making mistakes.”
For his part, Alibert says his “great satisfaction” is seeing that Summer League has become a mixed program.
“We’re only at the beginning of baseball for women in France, so there aren’t many yet. But for me, it’s really important that this league be open to everyone with none of the retrograde rules that keep people from playing together and sharing their common passion for baseball.”
The program is now run by Jonathan Dinon, shown below calling the troops to order.
He does everything from organizing games to making sure the field at Mortemart is in decent playing condition.
One of the things that’s struck me about Summer League ball, ever since I discovered it earlier this year, is that I’ve never seen anyone moan or lose his/her temper. Everyone plays hard but everyone goes with the flow. Not that they don’t take the game seriously; it’s just that they don’t take themselves too seriously, not on sun-shiney Sunday afternoons.
One of the best perspectives, however, comes from Tyler Cote, a 28-year-old American from Keeseville, New York.
“Playing pickup-style summer baseball,” he says, “changed my whole view on not only baseball in France but also my place in it.”
Last winter, Tyler, a talented shortstop, joined the Paris Patriots, but because he was an outsider he still felt apart from French baseball culture. “I was a foreigner on a tight-knit team.” There was a sense of exclusivity that reminded him of a high school debate or drama club. Summer League, he says, opened his eyes. (It also scraped open his chin when he slid home.)
“It brings the love of the game back to the fore and puts everyone on a level playing ground,” says Tyler. “We all meet up so we can all have fun in a very inclusive way.”
Summer League has also given him a new understanding and appreciation of the Patriots.
“The team feels somehow more alive to me. I no longer feel as if I'm an outsider. In fact, there was never really any exclusivity to the team after all. I just couldn't see past the uniforms. . .
until I saw those same folks playing in ratty T shirts and sweatpants under the hot summer sun.”
With the last game of the Summer League just played, the field is now empty. . .
. . . the players are gone . . .
Until next year when one of the best baseball programs around springs to life again.
