Time to Move Forward, Northborough Baseball Softball Association

The year was 1949 in the town of Northborough. I was 7 years old and wanted to play baseball for the Northborough town team now known as the Northborough Baseball and Softball Association. We had only one team at that time as the population was around 3,000.

A man by the name of William "Bill" Casey volunteered to coach about 15 young men looking to play the "American pastime called baseball." We would practice hard and as often as we could. There were three other towns that did the same.

This was a great spring and the start of baseball for the town. Our coach, who knew a little bit about baseball, was our mentor. Before every practice we would stand in front of the bench and show the back of our hands to be sure our nails were trimmed and clean. How stupid we felt about this. But there was good reasoning behind this and if you played the game you should understand it. You see if you got dirt under your nails while playing it showed you were in the game and the trimming was to be sure you didn't break a nail. We played 6 games that year, home and home. No I don't remember who won, but it didn't matter, we were playing ball. 

As I grew through the years, playing little league (Lions, Tigers, Cubs, Rams), I was coached by a great community leader, Simeon Fouracre. I played ball all the way through Babe Ruth. In the middle '60s I started coaching with my brother in Little League. We coached the same team (Rams) that we played on. We enjoyed the 4 years coaching and I moved on as I had a young family to raise and couldn't put in the time. When my oldest was 8 I took up coaching again and did so over the next 7 years till he was out of Babe Ruth.

Why, you may ask, am I telling this story. Well, after reading all of the letters and comments on the organization I felt the need to....

You see, I saw a lot of changes in the organization over the first 30+ years. Every year there would be new ideas talked about and some of them were challenged and others were used. I have spent the last 60 years watching this and other organizations go through the same things—CHANGES!

Well I look at this as a growing process and it was sad reading the things that were said. I hope that all of you can understand that this is not the end of the world yet and be able to move forward with your endeavors and lives.

I was told a long time ago that things happen for a reason. Maybe this is one of those reasons that helps us grow no matter what your age is. In closing my letter, I encourage those involved in this issue to continue to move forward and put your differences aside now and in the future. Remember, you are all working for the same goal and that goal can not be reached when we pull in different directions. 

Submitted and written by John Fouracre, 99 Pleasant St., Northborough