By Gary Curreri
Deerfield Beach’s Jim Eddy doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Eddy, 52, who plays shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals team, is a perennial Liberty Hardball Coral Springs Men’s Baseball League all-star and has been a member of the team for about a decade. Eddy is hitting .437 with two home runs, seven RBI’s and 14 runs scored.
“One time a week is all I can get and that is all I need,” said Eddy, who is an athletic trainer at Highlands Christian Academy in Pompano Beach. “I still go to tournaments and stuff, but I still love playing ball and I still can. That’s the key. I am still healthy and able to run and throw and all of that stuff.”
Eddy has played in the league for nine years.
“I don’t feel it (being sore) after playing on a Sunday morning unless it is really hot or a game with 20 runs and you are running a lot,” Eddy said. “I probably get more sore lifting weights.”
If the St. Louis Cardinals are going to win a sixth straight baseball championship, and eighth in the past 10 years, they will have their work cut out for them. The defending league champions struggled out of the gate, starting off with a 3-3 record, but have since caught fire winning four consecutive games to move to a league-best 7-3 record. They have outscored the opposition 85-37 on the season. The league has made a few subtle changes to the rules and one in particular has stymied the team in the early going.
“They went to a wood bat league,” said Cardinals manager Jeff Young. “We used to average 30 home runs a season and that is going to be way down this year. Another thing they did was allow up to five players under the age of 28 per team. They allowed three players under 28 last season.”
The Cards return most of their core players from their title years. The team started their championship run in 2009 and then in 2011. The Cards then began their streak of five in a row in 2013 and haven’t tasted defeat in the league championships since.
Crockett camp moved to July 7
Zack and Henri Crockett will host their 13thannual football and cheerleading camp a little later than usual. The free camp was originally slated for this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Mitchell Moore Center, 901 NW 10 St. in Pompano Beach. The field is not ready yet, so the event has been moved to July 7.
Henri Crockett, 43, who played linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos and the Minnesota Vikings, along with his brother Zachary, 45, a former fullback for the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys, are expecting between 300 and 400 local children to attend.
Both men grew up in Pompano Beach, and graduated from Blanche Ely High School, before they both played at Florida State University in their path to the NFL.
The free clinic is designed to introduce children, ages 4-16, to football by teaching basic skills in a fun and energetic environment and is supported through a grant from the NFL Foundation. The camp includes T-Shirts and autograph signings from the professional athletes.
