Silver Sluggers Swing for the Fences Every Thursday

Thursday was opening day for major league baseball, and so the timing was perfect for the weekly gathering of the Silver Sluggers.

Hank Ladden, a longtime resident of Naugatuck, is a dedicated member of the group, which gathers each Thursday, from 10 a.m. to noon, in the Derby Public Library. Rich Marazzi, the author of five baseball books, a baseball rules consultant and anchor of ESPN Radio’s “Inside Yankee Baseball” on Saturday mornings, is the organizer and host.

“We have been doing this every Thursday morning during the baseball season for the past five years,” Marazzi says. “Our mission is to have fun while mixing present baseball with the past. I show films of current games as well as nostalgic flicks from baseball’s halcyon days. Each week I challenge the Sluggers with thought-provoking questions that pertain to current events. Their opinions are highly valued and generate good discussion.”

The majority of the Silver Sluggers are men, but there are women in the group, too. Because most of the attendees are retired and have gray hair, Marazzi decided Silver Sluggers would be an appropriate name.

Ladden, 65, now retired from his job with the Big Y supermarket, learned about the Silver Sluggers quite by chance about 18 months ago, and now attends virtually every meeting.

“I was in Wilton at an auto dealership where (Pro Football Hall of Famer) Tony Dorsett was appearing,” he explains. “When I was standing in line, I met a guy from Milford named Russ LaRocca, who told me about the Silver Sluggers. ‘You oughta come,’ he said."

”I look forward to it every week. I call Rich from time to time. I thank Rich Marazzi very, very much for what he does.”

Marazzi, who still resides in his native Ansonia, caught the baseball bug early; in fact, he caught for the Ansonia High team coached by the late, legendary Boots Jarvis. “I remember one game in the early '60s, we beat Naugatuck, 2-1, in 12 innings, and I scored the winning run,” he says.

A high school teacher and administrator, Marazzi continued to indulge his passion for the game, spending 23 years as an umpire at the high school, college and independent professional levels. He umpired the Old Timer’s Day game at Yankee Stadium for 16 straight summers, from 1989-2004. His books include the Rules and Lore of Baseball and The Stein and Day Baseball Date Book.

Ladden and Al Yeager, who played for Stamford’s 1951 Little League champions and much later for the old Raybestos Cardinals fast-pitch softball team, were among the approximate 45 attendees at this Thursday’s gathering.

One of the morning’s highlights was a video depicting the game’s greatest center-fielders, including one of my boyhood heroes, Duke Snider, who died in February at age 84. Most of us can recite the names of these brightest stars…Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, the Duke, Ken Griffey Jr., Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb, Larry Doby, Kirby Puckett, Jim Edmonds.

The recently retired Jim Edmonds?

“Edmonds merits consideration for the Hall of Fame,” Marazzi says. “He made so many great catches and he hit nearly 400 home runs (393).” He also won eight Gold Gloves.

Marazzi also led a discussion on the pennant possibilities for the Yankees and Mets, and talked about players who are approaching milestones – Derek Jeter and 3,000 hits, Mariano Rivera and 600 saves (he logged No. 560 in the Yankees’ 6-3 opening-day win over the Tigers). There was also a mention of 42-year-old Matt Stairs, who will “be playing for a record 13th team this season (Washington Nationals).”

A lifelong Red Sox aficionado, Ladden grew up in Waterbury and attended two high schools, the former Croft and Crosby, graduating from the latter in 1968. His athletic skills were modest, and so he was a student manager for teams at both schools.

“The late Marty Sweeney (at Croft) believed in me,” Ladden says. “Jimmy Lee and Bob Boland were good to me at Crosby.”

Ladden takes pride in his collection of autographs, which encompasses athletes, movie stars and others in the limelight. The one he treasures the most? “One time I told (sportscaster) Jim Senich how much I admired Ted Williams. A couple of weeks later he gave me an autographed picture of Ted.”

“This is my hobby, my legacy. I’ll leave them to my kids,” he says, meaning daughters Sandy Bogart and Frances Gawitt.

Terry Tata, the Waterbury native and Cheshire resident who was a National League umpire for 27 seasons (1973-99), will be a guest speaker at the Silver Sluggers’ April 28 meeting at the Derby Public Library, 313 Elizabeth St. Admission is free. For information, e-mail Marazzi at RTMarazzi@aol.com.