NEWSLETTER (STEVE)*

GET TO KNOW :

STEVE GRAPSTUL

PERSONAL INFO:

NAME: STEVE GRAPSTUL

CO-FOUNDER OF THE WWBA

WWBA TEAM: PORT JERSEY PILOTS

YEARS IN WWBA: DEFINITELY NOT ENOUGH (miss the comradery )

HOW OLD ARE YOU? 69

FAMILY MEMBERS: 3 daughters,7 grandkids

LINE OF WORK: HOME REPAIRS/ALTERATIONS….Mt Pleasant, SC

HOBBIES: SEE above 2 categories!

FAVORITE BASEBALL TEAM & WHY…..Long answer! 1959, 7 years old, didn’t know know much about baseball. Everybody rooting for DODGERS vs CHISOX. So, I went with CHISOX! Became all CHICAGO teams biggest fan rest of my life. ENDURED LOTS OF PAIN

FAVORITE BASEBALL PLAYER & WHY…..Nellie Fox (remember I am old!), Pete Ward ( Tom Mendillo bought me his card many years ago!), Ryne Sandberg …I know 3 is more than 1, but this covers lots of years

FAVORITE BASEBALL MEMORY……MANY…”you will remember where you were this moment for the rest of your life”….CUBS announcer Game 7, 10th inning. I WILL, on my front porch peeking through the window because I was afraid to watch!

1ST MLB GAME YOU ATTENDED & WHEN……June 1963, Yankee Stadium ( didn’t know grass could be that green until that night!) CHISOX-YANKEES…Al Downing 1 hitter, Hector Lopez hits 2 HRs to RF BLEACHERS

HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE WWBA?…Like KEN Hand said, we continued a mail league (that’s all there was!), the NORTHERN OHIO BASEBALL ASSOCIATION….I had a shoe box with letters NOBA on it. My friends in Bayonne, NJ were frightened for me! Ken and I had a ball getting things rolling. Handwritten newsletters, mimeograph, stamps, envelopes, manually doing ALL the stats. Worth it all! Playing games (series) for delinquent teams in my truck (worked for NJ BELL)…..How many different games did we use KEN?? I don’t regret a minute of it!

WHAT OTHER LEAGUES DO YOU PLAY IN……ran the IHA from 1976-2001. Another great experience with special people. Some of the best are still in this league. Tried another hockey league with a bunch of the same guys. Couldn’t get the game to work in my computer! I think one of the members worked with me for 100 hours to get it to work before I threw it out the window

WHAT YOU LIKE /DISLIKE ABOUT DMB…..Never played. To quote the great DENNIS PIASECZNY, ”real men roll dice”…. Not really, but I had to mention him. He promised MENDILLO one year he would get a computer to stay in the league. Tom said OK, but then you will have to get ELECTRICITY too!”

OTHER PRO SPORTS YOU ENJOY WATCHING…….NHL 100%...also Love college football

YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE…..THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER

THE TYPE OF MUSIC DO YOU LIKE…..I used to say “there are 2 kinds of music. THE MOODY BLUES and everything else” I have expanded that over the years. I like this new group THE BEATLES and older country. AND of course, anything that helps me sleep!

THE BEST BOOK YOU EVER READ….. when I read one I will let you know. Tom MENDILLO once told me “ Grapstul, you have the patience of a flee!” He is right

ANY PERSON LIVING OR DEAD YOU WOULD LIKE TO MEET & WHY?: probably RONALD REAGAN

YOUR WORDS TO LIVE BY…..”

As time goes on and we ALL lose friends, family. None of us are getting out of here alive. Enjoy yourself, be honest, be fair AND remember that when you can help someone, DO IT! It’s GOD’s way of answering someone else’s prayers”