Buddy Baseball May Newsletter

Hello Buddy Baseball Fans,

What a great season we had! We capped it off with a huge bowling party at Pin Chasers. Bowling, lunch, desserts, balloon artists, a face painter and a whole lot of fun!

This Tuesday, May 3rd is "Give Day Tampa Bay" and we have been invited to be on WEDU TV to talk about Buddy Baseball some time between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm. 9 year old Matthew Mezzei on the Sharks will be joining me. Be sure to tune in.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there. Enjoy your day!

We have a new email address. [email protected] Please update your contact information for us. Thanks.

Russ Oberbroeckling

Buddy Baseball Executive Director

Link to our website

Give Day Tampa Bay

How it Works

It's so simple to participate. Just visit this website on May 3, 2016 anytime between 12 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. and with just a few simple clicks, you can make a donation to your favorite nonprofit organization, such as Buddy Baseball. :) Donations from the public will be boosted with funds from corporate sponsors of Give Day Tampa Bay. Nonprofits can also win monetary awards and additional prizes based on their day's donations. Here is the link to donate.

Give Day Tampa Bay - May 3rd

Scholarship Winners

Scholarship Winners

Congratulations to Olivia O'Neal from Armwood High School and Adam Chronister from Tampa Catholic High School, this years Buddy Baseball Scholarship winners. Click on the link to read the full article from the Tampa Tribune.

Read more

End of Season Party

Buddy Baseball Bash

We had close to 300 people attend our end of season party at Pin Chasers. Thanks to all of the volunteers to help make it a success. Pin Chasers donated 4 Family Party Packages for raffle prizes and also made a $500 donation to Buddy Baseball!

Pin Chasers

Player Spotlight

Zachary - Mustangs

Zachary is 20 years old and attends Focus Academy. He has played all 14 seasons of Buddy Baseball! His favorite thing about summer is Camp Sparks. His parents, Kim and Dennis are long time volunteers.

Buddy Spotlight

Aidan - Hit Squad

Aidan is 17 years old and is a junior at King High School - International Baccalaureate. Aidan has been a Buddy since the very first season. He has a big black labradoodle named Coal.

Aidan's Video Testimonial

Coach Spotlight

Eric and Sandy Samberg have coached the Hit Squad for 10 seasons. Eric is a big New York Jets and Mets fan. Sandy enjoys cooking, crafts and decorating.

Parent Spotlight

Rich Henning

Rich is one of our volunteer announcers and his son Alex has played for 13 seasons. When Rich is not announcing Buddy Baseball games he is a Research Meteorologist at NOAA and the Flight Director onboard the NOAA P-3 and Gulfstream G-IV Hurricane Hunter aircraft flown by NOAA Aircraft Operations Center based at MacDill AFB.

He is also my personal weatherman when I need to know if we can play the games on Saturdays when there is questionable weather.

Sponsor Spotlight

Florida Medical Clinic - Foundation of Caring has been one of our Grand Slam sponsors for the past 2 years. They also volunteer at our Meet and Greet luncheons. Thanks for your commitment to Buddy Baseball!

Click here to Read More

Cyclovia

Temple Terrace hosts its second Cyclovia on Sunday May 15th. This is a freewheeling event that will open 56th Street to nearly everything -- except motorized vehicles. This is a free community event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. along 56th Street between Whiteway Drive and Bullard Parkway. There is no fee to participate. Just come out and "take back the street." Bring your bicycle, your skateboard, your Hula Hoop, your jump rope. Or just come out and walk, jog or play. It's up to you. Other activities will include yoga classes, chalk art, children's crafts and line dancing. Food trucks will be on hand with refreshments. Buddy Baseball will have a tent at Cyclovia, so stop by and see us.

Where are they now?

Michelle Skelton was one of our original buddies in our first season and played every season until she went off to school at Emory University. She was our 2014 Scholarship winner. Michelle is a sophomore Biology major and Educational Studies minor on the Pre-Dental track at Emory. Michelle is the Captain of the Cheerleading squad, the President of AWIS (Association of Women in Science), she volunteers weekly at a local church, where she packs bags of food for children who do not have meal security over the weekends. Michelle is also involved with numerous other organizations.

Did you know?

Did you know that our first season in the fall of 2009 we had 6 teams. 36 players and 38 buddies. This past season we had 12 teams. 80 players and 90 buddies.