****** NEW HOURS and Location *********

ZUMBA Moving from Saturday to Sundays at 10AM starting on Dec 2nd,  ALSO starting on Dec 13 ZUMBA on Thursdays will be at the American Legion.

College Point Summer Invitational CHAMPS!

September 7, 2012

Greetings Fellow Dwarf Giraffer’s,

Recently, my very dear friend and former Dwarf Giraffe Baseball League slugger, Bob Hall, informed me of the D-G web site.  Amazing!  This has taken me back to my youth when I wanted nothing more than to be playing baseball. I’d spend the better part of most every summer day at Dupey’s Park shagging flies with friends and enjoying pickup games and anxiously waiting for Saturday morning to slip on that beautiful D-G uniform…And the thrill of those wonderful games at the “Swamp Fields” as we called them, and later at Victory Field, Memorial Field and the Middle Field where that 1961 team photo that I’ve posted was taken.  That Whitestone Lion’s Club team was my first in the Teen League and we had a number of very talented players on that team.  That’s me, the skinny weak hitting kid in the sneakers, but I could play a pretty good short stop.  I took a few years off from baseball in my late teens before joining a Brooklyn church league in the late 60’s.  Our home field was the famous “Parade Grounds” Field 3 in Prospect Park.  I later played in our office softball league before returning to hard ball, playing in a very competitive Long Island division of the Men’s Senior Baseball League.  I’ve been fortunate to have played on many winning teams with several very good ball players,…and a bunch of great guys, many of whom remain my close friends.

 I grew up in Whitestone, attended St. Luke’s School, Jr. HS 194 and Flushing HS before attending college and graduating with a degree in architecture.  My wife and I left Queens in 1979 to purchase a home in Wantagh, L.I. where we raised two children, and where we remained for 20 years.  I’ve since moved to Manhattan where I maintain a private architectural practice.

I’ll always be grateful to the Dwarf-Giraffe, it’s founders, coaches and to all my fellow ball players. Those were some of the most wonderful and memorable days of my life.  It would be a pleasure and I would welcome hearing from any of you. 

Until then, “Bring it Home and Keep On Coming.”

Your Teammate,

Dan Failla

212 279-3777

DGFArch@aol.com

DGAL would like to thank Mike Baxter of the NY Mets for coming back to his Whitestone roots and spending some time giving back to his community for the kids at DG.

He shared his journey up to the big leagues and gave some hitting tips to our young baseball kids. He was great with the kids and we all wish him the best in his future in the Major Leagues!

Mike’s visit was covered in the Queens courier as well – click on the link to view

Met Baxter Comes Home

I noted that in 2006 DG celebrated its 50th anniversary, so I just wanted to send you a team photo of our team the ‘ Beechurst Merchants’ taken in 1959 (3 years after the league was founded). I’m in the front row left side (eleven years old at the time), I played second base. In the front row, second from the right side, is Jimmy Newhook, he was our pitcher and in years to follow was drafted by the Detroit Tigers (spent a summer or two in training, but injured himself and never pitched big league). Our coaches were Ed Stryker (left side, and his son Eddie front row, right side), and Bud Freeman (right side).

After the Saturday games Bud and Ed used to take us up to Carvel’s (still at same location) for some ice cream. Seems like only yesterday.

Frank C. Mauro, P.E., R.A.