Welcoming the World Senior League treams gather in Bangor to determine next international champion

It was quite a contrast as the Senior League World Series team from Tyler, Texas, stood next to the host District 3 champions from Brewer during Saturday night’s opening ceremonies at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.

No, it had nothing to do with Tyler’s orange-and-purple uniforms – representative of their status as the U.S. Southwest region champions – contrasting with Brewer’s maroon-and-gray host champion team colors.

This contrast had to do with time: the time Brewer players had on their hands while eagerly awaiting Sunday’s first day of World Series play since they clinched a berth in it by winning the District 3 title 16 days ago, and the time Tyler’s team couldn’t afford to waste as it scrambled to get from northeast Texas to Maine in about 27 hours.

“We left Tyler at 2 p.m. [Friday] and drove to Memphis,” said Tyler manager Bobby Rushing. “We stayed the night and got up at 4:30 to catch a flight to Charlotte [N.C.]. We got there around 10:15, then left there for New York, and then we got to Portland.”

That’s where Bill Clifford and the Bangor SLWS volunteer transportation coordination team really got involved.

“We picked them up in Portland. They were supposed to get in at 4:24 p.m., but they arrived at 4:50,” Clifford said. “The bus driver did a great job. He cranked up the speed and got us here in two hours, in time for the ceremonies.”

Not a single minute was wasted in transit.

“The boys changed on the bus,” Clifford said. “The concession people made food for them because they hadn’t eaten all day, and we got all their room assignments on the bus so as soon as they got to the Holiday Inn, they got to their rooms. Then we got them here to the field at 7:20.”

Federal Express, eat your heart out.

“Well, this was a whirlwind, but it’s not the worst one we’ve been involved with,” Clifford said with a chuckle. “I brought the Russian team up here a few years ago. There was a strike going on at Heathrow Airport, so they had to wait around there for two days waiting for transportation. Then they got split up into two flights and we had to wait for both groups. The last one got in around 11:30 p.m. Then we drove all the way to Bangor and got here around 4 o’clock in the morning and they had to be here later that day around noon.”

Saturday’s opening-day festivities started with a skills competition for all District 3 Little Leaguers followed by a nine-inning exhibition of 19th century baseball by the Dirigo Vintage Base Ball Club and another vintage team from Massachusetts.

After Little Leaguers took turns batting against the vintage players, various officials – including Bangor Mayor Richard Greene, Brewer Mayor Michael Celli (unabashedly wearing a Brewer Senior League jersey and cap), Little League representative Dennis Lewin, World Series tourney director Mike Brooker, and field founder David Mansfield addressed the crowd.

Next up was the series’ ceremonial first pitch, delivered by former Brewer High School and University of Maine baseball star Joe Ferris, who delivered a pitch low and inside.

“I’m pleased to be here,” Ferris said. “It’s a great event and I’m glad it’s in Bangor. I hope people continue to support it because it’s a big deal for this area.

“I got pumped up tonight. I wanted it to at least be close to a strike. I threw with my daughter today to practice a little, but it’s not really limbered up yet.”

Ferris led UMaine to a third-place finish in the 1964 College World Series and was named the most outstanding player of the CWS.

“It’s nice to be remembered. I’m in my 60s now and that was a long time ago, even though it doesn’t seem that long ago, but it was a great event in my life,” he said. “That was really quite a thing. We had no scholarships, a part-time coach, we had no assistants, we had a field with no fences and no dugouts, and we were playing teams like Southern Cal and Arizona State who had all that stuff and we beat both of them.”

Each of the teams then marched in behind a bagpipe marching band before every national anthem of the countries represented by the 10 teams was played. A 10-minute fireworks show by Blue Hill Pyrotechnics provided the grand finale.

“We pay for the permit and the insurance [about $750], and Blue Hill donates the fireworks and the manpower,” said Brooker.

OVERLINE

Senior League teams gather in Bangor to determine the next World Series champion

BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTOS BY BRIDGET BROWN

Senior Master Sgt. Michael Gleason (left) and Staff Sgt. Brent Morton of the Maine Air National Guard’s honor guard hold the American and Canadian flags as fireworks are shot over Mansfield Stadium in Bangor on Saturday night as part of the opening ceremony of the 2007 Senior League World Series.

Members of the Venezuelan team that won last year’s Senior League World Series greet fans during Saturday night’s opening ceremony at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.