From: Tom Hagarty – Winsted (1980s)

To:  Eddie Gadomski, Commissioner
I played with some exceptional ballplayers back then (80’s).  The one that sticks out in my mind is Bob McCarthy.  Great hitter, good glove and a guy you wanted on your team.  Our coach back in those days was a guy named Lou Parrott.  Our main competition was Amenia, a great tough ball club.  Our games against Amenia brought out literally hundreds of spectators, at their field and ours.  Sometimes the crowds were kind of nasty to the opposing players, but that’s what made it worthwhile. We won a championship there and one at our field.  As I have said before, those days were my personal greatest achievements and memories.  Any of our playoff games against Amenia were action packed and filled with drama.  We wanted to beat them in the worst way, and vice versa. I remember a lot of their guys as well, I distinctly remember their catcher, Mike Kohut, he was in his mid 40s when we played, but he was tough as nails.  The teams in the league as I remember some of them were, Thomaston, Amenia NY, Millerton NY, Bethlehem and Lakeville.  I love what you’re doing with the Tri-State League, it was a great league when I played and it deserves a lot of credit, which now thanks to you it’s getting.