08/14/00
By HARVEY YAVENER
Staff Columnist
WEST WARWICK, R.I. -- You almost could hear two tunes spinning
around Steve Fischer's head yesterday, after the second baseman's
steady glove and two RBIs had help lift Hamilton Post 31 into
tonight's championship game of the American Legion baseball
Northeast Regional.
One would be "Meet Me in St. Louis," where tonight's
winner flies Wednesday for the Legion's annual World Series, to be
held across the Mississippi in Alton, Ill.
For the 18 Hamilton players, that would be the culmination of a
young lifetime of baseball dreams. For someone like head coach Rick
Freeman, it would be the rainbow's end.
Fischer's other music, trying to drown out St. Louis' beckoning
words, would be "Fight On State," the Penn State fight
song. The 18-year-old recent Steinert graduate is scheduled to
report to State College this week, scheduled to begin freshman
classes a week from today. Scheduled to be a Nittany Lion.
Conquest and Conflict. They were the two themes here yesterday as
Hamilton's superlative pitching continued to be the story of the
tournament, this time with a comfortable 7-2 win over Rhode Island
champion and local favorite Warwick.
THE CONQUEST part was easy to understand. The conflicts were more
subtle. Things like Fischer potentially having to make a decision
after tonight's game. Things like players' parents having to decide
whether to challenge the weather forecasts, whether to be calling
employers trying to get another day's leave, what to do about the
hotel rooms they'd checked out of in the morning, what to do as
clean clothes and vacation time and medications and money all
started to run out together.
And that was just for one more game here -- tonight if the
weather holds, which unfortunately the forecasts said it wouldn't.
After that, should Post 31 win its first trip to the World
Series, there was the question of families following their sons and
brothers to Illinois.
There were rumors the flight might cost as much as $1,000,
leaving many of the faithful checking road maps and trying to figure
out the time and distance of the drive to the midlands.
"We know we fly Wednesday, first to Chicago, then to St.
Louis," said Freeman, adding the caveat of all discussions --
"If we're lucky enough to win one more."
"At least," Freeman added, "we know one of the
teams here is going. The Legion pays for that. We know how tough it
will be for some families to make the trip. And they've been so
loyal for so long."
ONE SUCH is Steve Fischer's family.
"I wish I knew what to do," said his mother, Rose, easy
to spot in her Penn State sweatshirt as the final innings went into
the book, "we have to decide in a hurry. I'm due back at work
no later than Tuesday morning at the orthodondists' office I manage
in Princeton. I promised I'd be there.
"My husband, Charles," she said as the quiet man at her
side looked as conflicted, "he has to get back to his
accounting job. Maybe we should have come up Saturday instead of
Thursday. Who knows when this will be over, with the weather
forecasts the way they are?"
The tourney lucked out yesterday, a morning rainstorm leaving
Fall Classic temperatures but enough clearing to get in the
semifinal doubleheader. The Weather Channel was calling for 100
percent chance of heavy rains last night into today.
You can't go by forecasts, some knowledgeable natives informed, a
sudden shift in the offshore winds could change the whole outlook --
for better or worse.
STEVE FISCHER knew he'd be here until the title game. After that,
his baseball future still was up in the air.
"If he goes with the team," said his mother, "I'll
go to Penn State and bring his furniture on Friday. That's when they
move in. Orientation starts."
She already has resigned herself to following any St. Louis
action through phonecalls and press reports. You raise four kids,
hold down a responsible job, balance budgets, you realize some trips
just can't fit into your life.
Meanwhile, Steve Fischer's baseball career could be over tonight.
Even with a win.
He's already virtually decided not to play collegiate ball, not
to try to walk on at Penn State, though his skills seem to shout
that's a mistake.
"He's the best defensive second baseman we've had in all my
years with Hamilton," says Freeman, in his 25th year as part of
the Post 31 staff, "and he gets the big hit. Stevie knows how
to play the game."
"I definitely think Steve can play at Penn State or anywhere
else in collegiate ball," said his Steinert coach, Rich
Giallella, "all he needs is confidence in himself. If he were
the cocky kind of kid, I'm sure he'd be selling himself on how no
one is better."
NOT EVERY kid is that way. Some are quiet, kind of subdued,
sticklers for following rules and making no waves. Steve Fischer is
like that. The instruction sheet says to move in at Penn State or
Friday, be in the classroom next Monday, and it's hard for Fischer
to ignore those orders.
"I've dreamed all my life of going to college," the
future accounting major said, remembering how he envied his older
brother when he went off to Penn State where he now is a senior.
"I want the whole experience there," he says.
He also knows his Post 31 teammates are counting on him, knows
he's part of the chemistry that has carried this team to remarkable
heights.
"I'm looking at all the possibilities," he said,
"talking to people at Penn State, trying to find out if maybe I
can play in part of the Series if we make it, then fly to Penn State
from St. Louis or Chicago, and be there when classes start."
It's not a new problem. Every year there are standout Legion
players who leave their teams early, leave to report to college
football preseason camps, leave to start the college semester. The
Legion should consider pushing up its dates.
"We're hoping Steve decides to go with us if we win this
final," said Freeman, "that he gets the glory he's earned.
You saw again today what he means to this team."
IT'S EASY to get carried away with the overwhelming pitching
prowess Hamilton has displayed. Pitching, everyone knows, wins
championships. But golden gloves behind the pitchers can be as
critical, as was shown here yesterday, and with players like
Fischer, shortstop Joey Hernandez, third baseman Paul Bencivengo and
center fielder Scott Rich, Post 31 could be doing leather
commercials.
In addition to turning a pair of doubleplays yesterday, one on a
liner and another on a hard ground ball, Fischer also threw out all
five batters who challenged his area with ground balls. As one of
only four 18-year-olds on the team, his sure-handed leadership is
apparent.
"If this is Steve's final baseball," his mother said,
"it's been a wonderful part of our lives, of his maturation.
He's played since he's 6 and loved the game.
"There've been so many big games, even before this year.
Like the one when he was on the Nottingham Babe Ruth 15-year-olds.
Playing West Windsor in a knockout game. Three runs behind, down to
the team's final strike. And Steve hit a grand slam to win it and we
went on to the state tournament and almost won that.
"He's really been a terrific kid. A great son. I'm sure
whatever decision he might have to make in the next days will be the
right one."
Fischer was involved in all the scoring yesterday. He drew a walk
that was cashed into Hamilton's first run in a three-run second
inning, delivered a long sacrifice fly in a three-run fifth, then
singled to score the final run in the seventh. Just another day at
the office.
Maybe there'll be more.
"I've always loved the game, taking pride in my efforts
whether I pitched or batted or made plays with the glove," said
Fischer, "yet there are days I feel I've been playing forever
and it's time to move on to other things.
"I'd like to challenge myself, see if I could make the Penn
State team, but it may depend on how much time I need to study, how
difficult classes are, how much pull there is from other
interests."
It's one reason young people go to college -- to discover
themselves.
Steve Fischer may have to make one of those decisions just before
he gets to college.
"At least," he smiled and rationalized, "if it
does rain tomorrow, I get another 24 hours to make up my mind."
NOTE: Harvey Yavener is Times staff columnist.
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