It will go to the most valuable player of the annual Father’s Day American Legion baseball game between Post 21 and East Springfield Post 420.
The most valuable player award for the Springfield "Bring It Home" baseball game between American Legion Post 21 and Post 420 will be named for Daniel M. Keyes Jr., shown here om 2003. Keyes died earlier this month.
Springfield’s “Bring It Home” baseball committee will honor the memory of Daniel M. Keyes Jr. by establishing an award in his name.
It will go to the most valuable player of the annual Father’s Day American Legion baseball game between Post 21 and East Springfield Post 420.
The rivalry between the city’s entries in the Legion’s Hampden County program was established in 2010, when Post 21 came back to baseball after a long absence.
Keyes, who died Oct. 19 at age 93, played on a 1934 Post 21 team that is memorialized with a monument in Forest Park for its stand against racism.
“The MVP award will be a tribute to a great person who played a big part on our committee from the beginning. It was an honor to know him, and he was a friend to us all,” chairman Mike Borecki said.
Tony King of West Springfield, the last survivor from that Post 21 team of 1934, will present the Keyes Award.
“Naming the MVP for Dan is a wonderful gesture,” King said.
“When the idea of honoring Danny Keyes came before the committee, it was agreed upon in a matter of seconds. We want to keep his name affiliated with Legion baseball and our Father’s Day events,” said Brian Collins, a committee member who also serves as director of Hampden County’s American Legion baseball program.
WHAT A SERIES: If you love to play the name game, check the rosters for the 2012 World Series.
Start with San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey – has there ever been a better baseball name?
The Giants have eight other eye-catching names: Madison Bumgarner, Ryan Vogelsong, Barry Zito, Ryan Theriot, Aubrey Huff, Hunter Pence, Marco Scutaro and my favorite first baseman, Brandon Belt.
The Detroit Tigers can’t match that list, but they do have Justin Verlander, Prince Fielder, Al Alburquerque, Phil Coke and a reliever to remember, Drew Smyly.
ON TO TULSA: Philemon Terer, a Kenyan runner who has been training with coach Bob Rosen in Amherst, finished third in the Columbus, Ohio, half-marathon last Sunday.
“It was a very competitive race. The winner (Julius Koskei of Hebron, Ky.) did 1:03.41 on a very cold morning, and Philemon did 1:04.21,” Rosen said.
Terer and running partner Benard Lengat went from Columbus to train in Santa Fe, N. M. From there they drove nine hours to Tulsa, Okla., where they will compete Saturday in a 15K race.
“Then they’ll head back east for a race in Philadelphia on Nov. 18 and the Manchester (Conn.) Road Race on Thanksgiving morning,” Rosen said.
It’s likely that that the Kenyans also will enter Holyoke’s Talking Turkey six-miler Nov. 27.
BEST BET for the weekend: Little Drama, in the Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont.