This was the first time I have attended Squirrel Hill Baseball's PNC Park Day. What a fun time! It was quite a beautiful late October day. We could even shed our coats for an hour!

Recognition was given first to the winning teams from the Spring, Summer and Fall Divisions. Next were individual awards, given to players, who exhibited various qualities, such as playing skills, determination, and most importantly, sportsmanship.

There was also a very special recognition given to Neal Topper, who has been Randy Frankel's right hand man for 5 years. Neal will be leaving tomorrow morning, heading to Colorado to start a new life there. We will miss you Neal! (If anyone is interested in showing their appreciation to Neal for all he has done over the years, a baseball parent has volunteered to collect checks as a going away gift for Neal, and will be forwarding them on to him in Colorado. Please email me for more information.)

Several other special awards were given out to parents and adults. Including Corey O'Connnor, who received not only Coach of the Year, but also fittingly, was the first ever recepient of the Bob O'Connor Lifetime Service Award!

Congratulations to everyone!

To conclude the ceremonies, the late Mayor Bob O'Connor was remembered in a very moving tribute. It was beautifuly done, complete with footage of Bob throwing out opening pitches, as well as photos with his children as they were growing up. Great job folks who put this together! Everyone was very moved, as I'm sure was the entire O'Connor family who was in attendance. (I even heard one person remark that it was Bob, up above, who shined his special smile down on PNC Park today - and helped give us such beautiful weather!)

I apologize for this gallery being a little heavy on the Mervis Family! What can I say....I'm a mom!

Please contact me if you would like copies of any of these photos. I didn't start out thinking I would attempt to document the entire day. But decided part way through to try to capture all the key events. Please forgive me if I don't have your name listed below each photo. I know some of the children more than others, and wanted to get these photos posted asap.

And lastly, many many thanks to Randy, Neal, and all the commissioners and coaches, and everyone else behind the scenes - for a wonderful year!

~Enjoy!

(Please DOUBLE CLICK on each photo to view it larger)