GAMES CANCELLED

This week we present a comedy in seven acts, with a cast of wild characters:

[The Illustrious Travel Director, San Francisco Angels], [San Quentin Chaplain], [San Quentin baseball ministry volunteer],

[Big Boss] (running about behind the scenes), and a huge collection of hapless email recipients!

 

 

ACT ONE: The Disastrous Phone Call

----- Original Message -----

From: [The Illustrious Travel Director, San Francisco Angels]

To: SF Angels players, senior players, Friends of [Big Boss] LLC., assorted media, and Governor Schwarzenegger

Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 3:33 PM

Subject: Baseball at San Quentin State Prison is quite an experience!

 

No game at San Quentin this Saturday. No game at San Quentin on August 14.

 

[San Quentin Chaplain], the new chaplain/coach of the San Quentin team, has cancelled his team's games with the SF Angels.  He said he didn't want to deal with our concerns about the two-tiered clearance process they have at San Quentin whereby a player signs up weeks in advance for clearance, receives notification of clearance, and then gets blocked at the gate.

 

Last year our shortstop was cleared and blocked in this manner, so players on our team became skittish about going to the prison, since spending all that time getting to the prison, waiting to enter, and then being turned away is not a good experience.

 

I sought to assure our shortstop and the other players that no such insane clearance procedure existed. I even got [the San Quentin baseball ministry volunteer] to call our shortstop to assure him that once a player is cleared, he will not blocked. Our shortstop didn't believe her!

 

Two weeks ago Saturday, three of our players were blocked at the gate. Others had been notified during the week that they were not cleared for unexplained reasons, even though these players insist that they have no negative DMV, credit, or criminal histories.

 

Even [Big Boss] , the manager of the senior Dragons who had volunteered to play with us on May 1 at the prison, was turned back at the gate. [Big Boss]  has played many games there, and we had been assured that the Dragons were on the clearance list. Now if [Big Boss]  can't get in, we won't go. Let's get [Big Boss]  straightened out, I said to [San Quentin Chaplain]. [San Quentin Chaplain] said he doesn't care about [Big Boss] 's failure to get clearance, and that the games with the Angels are cancelled.

 

Minister [San Quentin Chaplain]  also has a problem maintaining a master list of players. There is no clear procedure for submitting players' information for clearance, so we just emailed our own list with the message that players have been to the bottom of the list. Any confusion or need for clarification could have been handled by a phone call to me.  I recently resubmitted our list when I didn't receive feedback regarding clearances.

 

We have made a time-consuming effort to ensure that enough players are signed up so when we do go, we will have a full squad ready to play competitive baseball against the San Quentin Giants. 

 

The baseball ministry's subsequent redundant submission of names for clearance has made them irritated and emotionally upset at the outside teams who visit San Quentin as a community service.. This will only lead to chronic nervous disorders for him and his staff, leading to an apopleptic apostalic ministry and a huge ballooning of the State's already-blown-up budget deficit.

 

San Quentin used to have a team in our Sacramento Rural League. All of their games were at home.

 

Travel Director

San Francisco Angels Summer Collegiate/Semipro Wood Bat Baseball Team

141 States Street

San Francisco, Ca  94114

 

Phone 415-552-6117

 

 

Follow San Francisco's favorite team at http://sfangels.com.

 

Our comedy continues at the bottom of the page

ACT TWO: Caught In the Middle

Scene 1- This Ain't PacBell!

----- Original Message -----

Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2004 12:41 AM 

Hey guys,

In light of the recent e-mail sent out by [the Travel Director] of the SF Angels I thought that I should respond from this side of things. I would first like to acknowledge that we appreciate all of the teams who come into to play with us in spite of how frustrating it can be dealing with playing in a prison. But it is a prison, it is not PacBell park but it a facility that houses over 6,000 inmates and the states only death row. Getting in can sometime be difficult for many reasons.

Before the beginning of the season I contacted all of the teams that we have played in the past and let them know what our schedule was looking like for the up coming season. I also asked for team rosters to be submitted by March 8. Knowing that this would be a difficult deadline to meet, I was happy to take rosters later than that date. It has been a bit of a strain on the resources that we have available to us to add individual players on a continuous basis to submitted rosters; I have attempted to do what I can as I appreciate the fact that teams are willing to go through the hassle of dealing with the prison bureaucracy in order to play ball. Particularly with the SF Angels I attempted to go out of my way, as we had to rearrange a few games with them. I added numerous names to their already submitted roster and even personally called the warden’s office and an individual player to confirm that he had indeed been cleared. I know how frustrating it is for guys who come out to the games, sometimes from quite a distance and quite early in the morning only to be refused entrance. We often do not know why this happens as much of the information is confidential and only accessible to the individual denied. The prison system is difficult to deal with, but staff at San Quentin staff has gone out of their way to help with our baseball program. There is only one woman who processes information for gate clearances and she gets hundreds of requests a week and it often takes three weeks for information to get processed. She has been kind enough to let me run names through at the last minute in order that guys could come in and play.

 I am deeply sorry that this process has been frustrating to the SF Angels and other teams. Perhaps the one good thing to come of it all is that we may all be more empathetic to the families and friends of prisoners who often have to deal with the same issues, only for them it is not baseball that they are missing, it is their father; their husband; and their son.

All of us involved with the San Quentin Giants are deeply grateful for the teams who come in to play a little ball with us, but we do not see this as a one-way street. Many of the guys who come in don’t feel that they are the only ones doing community service. The way in which the guys at San Quentin appreciate not only the guys who come in but the very privilege to play baseball has been a blessing to guys on the streets as well. We are not a charity case, we are a ball team and as such we feel that we deserve the respect of ball team. This has been the blessing of baseball in these guys’ lives, that for nine innings their past doesn’t matter, the parole board doesn’t matter – all that matters is how you play the game. We thank the teams that allow us to have this little freedom within the walls of San Quentin. We are sorry that this has been such a frustrating process for the SF Angels and we wish them well. We are also pleased that there are teams that will continue to struggle with us in our endeavor to play ball.

Scene 2- The Phone Is Hot!

----- Original Message -----

Subject: further clarification on issues related to San Quentin 

Hey, sorry I sent that last e-mail off accidentally before I was finished. I just wanted to clarify the fact that [San Quentin Chaplain] is not new with San Quentin or the team but has been working at San Quentin for over 20 years. If you sit in his office for only five minute you will quickly see the amount of work he has to do. Being the chaplain for 6.000 prisoners, their families, and the prison staff is not easy. His phone rings off the hook with families trying to get death notices to prisoners and requests from prisoners for counseling and various other things.

We are not unconcerned with the denial that people receive, it is just that we can do nothing about it. It is confidential information that only the individual can access. There are a variety of reasons that you can be denied, something as simple as a ticket and just because you were cleared once doesn't mean you will be cleared the next time. I hope that I have been able to clarify some issues.

Again, we feel privileged to play ball within the walls of San Quentin and we thank all of the teams that make nine innings possible. Again I encourage us all to take the frustrating experiences that we have with attempting to come into San Quentin to realize that families often go through the same thing and they are missing more than a game of ball. 

Thanks,

[San Quentin baseball ministry volunteer]

Official Scorer

Team Secretary

Ombudsmen

"My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging." - Hank Aaron

ACT THREE: Naughty Taunts the Haughty

----- Original Message -----

To: [The Illustrious Travel Director], SF Angels players, senior players, Friends of [Big Boss] LLC, assorted media, and Governor Schwarzenegger
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2004 2:26 PM
Subject: San Quentin Baseball

I just received a copy of an email sent out by [The Illustrious Travel Director] discussing the San Quentin Baseball program.

From [The Illustrious Travel Director]’s initial sentence, it is clear that he is not familiar with me, or the program.

I have been employed at California State Prison, San Quentin for 21 years as the Protestant Chaplain. In 1994, I had a conversation with an inmate about the game of baseball, he had a catcher's glove, I asked him did he play ball, he stated that he did not, as there was not a place to play. I told this inmate, if he could find enough guys to make a team; guys who had a true commitment to the game, I would see what I could do. This guy, who is now at home, discharged from parole, living a productive life, married and the father of a fine child came back to me in a day with a list of 20 guys. San Quentin Baseball was formed.

The first year, we shaped the current field, pulled weeds, hauled dirt, planted grass and after about 7 months of practice and work, we were ready to play. I state that we were ready to play, but we had no one to play. I purchased the uniforms and all of the equipment personally, as this was not and is not a recreation activity sponsored by the California Department of Corrections. I volunteered my time for these guys to get the opportunity to play what I believe is the best game in the world. That first year, we only played two games; The Petaluma Express and the San Francisco Giants Fantasy camp team. We could not find any more teams who wanted to play.

Please forgive this long letter, but I find it necessary to defend the integrity of the institution of San Quentin Baseball and myself.

As some of you are aware, beside my position as Protestant Chaplain at San Quentin, I also minister to a number of local professional sport teams. As well, I assisted with the organization of a ministry for the children of incarcerated inmates (Project AVARY- Alternative Ventures for At Risk Youth); I also started a ministry for men both inside of institutions and in the "free world" (Project IMPACT-Incarcerated Men Putting Away Childish Things). In my years of ministry at San Quentin, I have taken pride in the development of the lives under my care. Baseball is a part of my ministry, yet, from an institutional approach; it is not a part of my job duty statement. Due to my schedule, for a few years I was not able to give a full commitment to the baseball program. At that point, I asked for assistance from my volunteer ministry staff. Mr. Daniel Jones and Rev. Kent Philpott agreed to assist me. I was not present for each and every game, but I always knew the teams scheduled to play and the score afterward. As some of you are aware, when the reigns are passed, and the passer is still around, the new guy takes a lot of abuse. To the best of my ability, I tried not to be a distraction to Dan and Kent. I always meet with the players representing San Quentin to inform them that playing the game inside of the walls was a privilege, which I did not want them to take lightly. I made them aware that teams coming in to play us, had to go through a lot of hassles to make the game happen, and I expected each player to personally thank the players for taking time from their families and the community to come and play a few innings with us. On some occasions, I met your teams on the way into the institution, and personally thanked you for coming. I respect the time and level of involvement of the guys who come in to make San Quentin baseball happen.

In the letter sent out by [The Illustrious Travel Director], a number of his statements were not true.

First, I personally know [Big Boss]. On last year or the year before we exchanged team caps while on the field. From time to time, [Big Boss] and I have shared stories and conversation on and off of the field. I saw [Big Boss] with the Angels team on the Saturday in question and got out of my car and gave him a hug, as I was happy to see that he was back for another season. Why would I say, I did not care about him? In fact, the matter of [Big Boss] has been cleared up and he is cleared to come in and play on next Saturday. Secondly, as you are aware, in an attempt to get the process streamlined, I asked for team rosters to be submitted early so that it would be clear as early as possible who was cleared for the season and who was not. Most of you did get your list in and for the second season we were implementing a process which would allow for teams to be cleared from April to September, those cleared would be cleared for the entire season. The system had a few glitches last year, and we are still trying to get all of them worked out this season. Thank you for your patience.

[The Illustrious Travel Director] was communicated to on a number of occasions by [San Quentin baseball ministry volunteer], who by the way is a third year seminary student, living on her own, attempting to maintain a life and still get the things done to insure the program would run. [The Illustrious Travel Director] was inordinately demanding of her, which caused her frustration. I told her I would work with [The Illustrious Travel Director] and the Angels. I did not want her to give up on the job because of one individual. [The Illustrious Travel Director] requested the addition of some new names to his list a few days before their game on May 1. As you are aware the addition of new names a week before a game not to mention a few days before is not a normally accepted procedure. But, I personally walked the names to the administration office and the names were processed in time for the May 1 game. Of the names on the Angel’s list, five players arrived at the gate ready to play, in addition, two players from the Greenwood Dragons also showed up. For some reason, not known to me, one member of the Angel’s was not allowed to enter the institution. That person was approved. In the future, please be aware, that should someone you know to be an approved player be denied, the officer at the gate has been instructed to contact the Watch Commander before turning that person away. Please insure that this happens for your teams, as I have a great deal of faith, but still, I think this situation could arise again.

What [The Illustrious Travel Director] forgot to state in is letter was that he cursed me out over the telephone, and that his profanity-laced tirade would have made many of the men incarcerated at San Quentin (but not the guys on my team) proud. I was not happy to have someone drop one F-bomb after another and before hanging up on me declare, Jesus F-n Christ, you F-n people just don't get it. I had a fellow staff member present.

I called [The Illustrious Travel Director] back about an hour later and informed him that he is not welcomed in San Quentin. I would love to have his players come in on August 14. And if we can reschedule the game missed this weekend that would be great as well. In my capacity as a chaplain, I know what is it is like to blame everyone, for the mistakes of a few. In my frustration with [The Illustrious Travel Director]’s behavior, I was wrong to group his players with him.

For [The Illustrious Travel Director]'s information, the ministry of the Garden Chapel at California State Prison, San Quentin maintains the largest roster of volunteers in the state. We are not allowed to personally keep the clearance information inside the walls for security purposes. We would not want someone's private information floating around the institution. Of the over 1600 volunteers and over 200 ministries and organizations we are affiliated with, I have never in my 20 plus years been spoken to as he spoke to me. His attitude and total disrespect, is why he is not coming back in; not because of some display of gallantry.

[San Quentin Chaplain]
Protestant Chaplain
Coach and founder, San Quentin Baseball

PS: If you are aware of any teams who have open dates on Saturday’s and would like to play, please call my office. (415) 454-1460x5307

ACT FIVE: The People's Naughty!

----- Original Message -----

To: [San Quentin Chaplain], SF Angels players, senior players, Friends of [Big Boss]  LLC, assorted media, and Governor Schwarzenegger
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 3:09 PM
Subject: Re: San Quentin Baseball

Rev. [San Quentin Chaplain] and Friends in Baseball,

Our Angels players and coaches, and their friends and families, respect the San Quentin baseball program. We have a web-site page devoted toward providing information about the program. We have been trying to get information about the program, and the personnel involved to bring back the program, so we can promote it and solve problems regarding entry into the prison. These problems of entry are real.

We are glad to now have more background information about the return of the program and the special efforts required to breathe life into it. Baseball and softball at San Quentin Prison has had many lives. Our web site has this link describing a 1932 game at San Quentin:

http://cprr.org/Museum/Ephemera/Baseball_SPRR_San_Quentin.html.

An unused ball field brings forth inspired efforts by those infused with the baseball spirit to develop it and put games on the field. They deserve recognition for efforts that benefit other[s] beyond themselves, their families and friends. These efforts benefit whole communities, in this case, the men inside the walls of this neglected and overcrowded facility. These efforts bind this community with even others, outside those walls, who come to play on that field.

Jack Wolf of San Francisco has been involved in community athletics, organized summer camps, provided volunteer pitching instruction and general coaching of both baseball and softball for about fifty years. And he's still doing it. From the mid-Fifties through the Sixties, he went through this whole process of bringing teams to San Quentin Prison to play baseball and softball. He began describing his experiences only after I had forwarded these recent email messages. It is obviously a difficult undertaking that transcends generations.

[Big Boss] with his senior Dragons, our team the Angels, Steve Reyes with his Pirates, Chris Kenyon with his Knicks, and all the others grab and cajole players to let them know the good that goes on when these games are played. So we have working hard at it, because we know its value, and we know that most of the players will be grateful for coming, and to open their eyes, and to overcome the neglect, and to support people as fellow human beings removed from us but not different from us.

Due to the efforts of [Big Boss], and the cooperation of your office, we also have more information about the resolution of clearances. [Big Boss] went to San Quentin yesterday to deal with his clearance problem. In his case, he was blocked due to a case of identify theft. [Big Boss] is now attempting to ensure clearance at his game next Saturday, and is following-up on the identity theft problem that has now come to his attention. [Big Boss] is even interested in knowing if identity theft situations can be flagged early.

Others may have similar problems. The players on our team who were upset with being blocked were right to get on me to see this matter through! [Big Boss] has thanked me for my efforts in trying to get someone's attention about this problem, which appears to be the same or similar to the problem that inmates' families have when trying to visit. People working at the prison who have been numbed by their continuous efforts in this process may have lost the feeling about how ridiculous it is, and may not be always [be] alert to the outrage outsiders feel about this situation. The small slight of a blocked entry or an identify theft may even seem laughable when worse things go on continuously in the prison. But instead the outrage should be shared on the inside and on the outside, regarding entry and regarding provision for the lives of inmates.

[Big Boss], and others including myself, have for some time been very much interested in volunteering to help your office and to help blocked players with clearance problems. [Big Boss] said that he would speak to you about this next week.

One of the things that needs to be communicated clearly is the exact procedure for inquiring about and resolving clearance issues.

I will not stop cursing at injustice, or even arrogance. Tomorrow's game should not have been cancelled.

-[The Illustrious Travel Director],
San Francisco Angels Wood Bat Baseball Team
141 States Street
San Francisco, Ca 94114

415-552-6117

Follow San Francisco's favorite team at http://sfangels.com.
Our San Quentin page is at http://sfangels.com/Designated for Prison 2004.htm.

ACT SIX:  We'll Hide the High Horse & Walk the Right Course!