Cortland Standard .net

BY TANEY BEAUMONT
Staff Writer
Score one for family.
Darrell Bush was honored with the Dick Aylesworth Good Guy Award prior to Wednesday night’s annual Dick Finn Old-Timers Game at Meldrim Field. His father, Gurdon Bush, won the award in 2003, the second year it was presented — after Aylesworth won it in 2002 and it was subsequently named after him.
“It was absolutely a surprise,” said 60-year-old Darrell Bush, who was in attendance with his children James, Sarah and Mary, his wife Nora unable to attend due to a prior commitment. The award goes annually to a person who has contributed to the success of fastpitch in Cortland.
“I’ve been playing fastpitch since I was 14 — my dad had to sign a waiver so I could play with his team, the Nomads,” Bush said. “I just wanted to be part of it, to experience it.”
Gurdon Bush and his wife Brenda were also in attendance, as were Darrell’s brother Dennis (Howie) Howe, his sister Cindy Bacheller, and his nephews Dennis Howe, Derek Howe and Lenny Hubbard.
“I’d say so,” Darrell Bush, a school social worker in Binghamton, said when asked if winning the same award his father did made it more special. “Just the idea of being recognized after all these years is nice. Sometimes I was on the phone for months trying to put a team together. I can understand why teams fold. But it’s generation. Just as kids will take up a parent’s occupation, they’ll play ball if they watch their parents play. Sarah is a fastpitch player, and all three of my children are good competitive swimmers.”
As noted, Bush started his fastpitch career at the age of 14, in 1968, and finished in 2004, a career that spanned 37 seasons as an active player, and as a manager in some of those seasons as well. Among the teams he played for were The Nomads, Robin Hoods, Ivan’s, Mister B’s, Labatt, Bestway, Lost Armadillo and Leary’s.
Gurdon and Darrell played fastpitch together starting in 1968 on The Nomads team, which later went by other names including Robin Hoods and Ivan’s. “It’s pretty neat,” Gurdon said of his son winning the same award he was also honored with. “We played together on teams for quite a few years. He took the team over from me and probably did a better job than I did.”
The family’s softball connections run even deeper. Howie was also active in the Cortland fastpitch scene for many years. Another brother, William (“Dooger”) Howe, also played fastpitch in the mid-60’s prior to entering the service. Darrell, Denny and William, along with Michael Bush, were Gurdon’s stepsons. He married their late mother Arlene in 1962, and later on adopted Darrell and Michael.
Dennis and Derek Howe, Lenny Hubbard and his late brother Joey all played on teams with Darrell. In addition, Hubbard is currently active with Mister B’s in the Cortland Fastpitch League. He and Joey — their mother, Cindy, is Gurdon’s daughter with his first wife, Nora — also played fastpitch, on a team called the Young Guns. It was with the Young Guns that Gurdon recorded the last hit of his fastpitch career — at the age of 72.
Darrell Bush was nominated for the Dick Aylesworth Good Guy Award by Dick Braco, who won the award himself two years ago. Braco was a long-time fastpitch player in Cortland and manages Mister B’s in the current CFL. “The main thing I learned from Darrell was to play like a gentleman and to always be positive,” Braco said. “No matter what happened on the field, Darrell always, unfailingly, had something positive to say about it.”
In his letter of nomination, Braco also said that “I have never met anyone who loved the game of fastpitch softball more. The game is in his blood, and I believe our version of the game in Cortland is better because he gave it everything he had for so long. If there ever was a ‘Good Guy’ to have in your game, it was Darrell.”
Asked about his career highlights, Darrell Bush said that “Ivan’s was on top for three or four years in the mid-80s, and I also went to Nationals with Labatt in the mid-90s. Tonight tops it all off; this is like the cherry on the ice cream.”
Also presented Wednesday night were the Cortland Fastpitch League’s Roy Teeter Most Valuable Player and Ray Spada Most Valuable Pitcher Awards for the 2014 season, which went to shortstop Tony Whitt from regular-season and playoff champion Dark Horse and his teammate Jeff Carr, respectively. Carr won the Spada award for the second year in a row and the third time overall.
Whitt hit .476 last season with 20 hits and 17 runs scored. Also nominated for the award were Tom Avery of DJ’s Construction, Mark Kinner from Brix and Lenny Hubbard from Mr. B’s.
Hurler Carr went 12-2 with 104 strikeouts in 96 2-3 innings and an ERA of 3.35. Also nominated was Mr. B’s ace Bill Morse, who had 109 strikeouts in 97 innings and an ERA of 4.33.
Whitt and Carr were joined by a number of current players to take on a group of Old-Timers drawn from former players in the Cortland, Ithaca, Pioneer and Church Leagues in the actual Old-Timers Game. The contest is played annually in memory of Finn, a long-time local fastpitch standout.
The other members of the “Present-Day” squad were Hubbard and Justin McCormick from Mr. B’s; Dennis Hopkins, Jake Robillard and T.J. Griffin from Dark Horse; Abe Johnson (who actually caught for the Old-Timers), Wayne Buerkle and Chris Sweeney from Brix and Tom Avery from Hairy Tony’s/Oswego CPI.
The list of Old-Timers included Gurdon and Darrell Bush, Denny Howe, Braco, Aylesworth, Mike Dexter (the organizer of the game each year), Denny Zach, Kevin “Crabby” Bishop, Pete Sheridan, Harold Foster, Lum Cooper, Yale Hughes, John Hicks, Rick Young and Dick Meldrim, who umpired the game.
Howie noted that seven of the Old-Timers played at one time or another for The Nomads. Also remembered during introductions were three fastpitch standouts who passed away in the past year — Stub Case, Dick Canale and Bob “Sparky” Wallace.
The Old-Timers prevailed 5-3 in a game that, as always, featured some unusual plays and rules altered on the fly that helped to account for the final outcome.
Zach was the winning pitcher, throwing a complete game. Darrell Bush singled, walked and reached on a fielder’s choice in his three at-bats, scored a run and stole two bases.
Mike Dexter’s brother Jere, the former sports editor of the Cortland Standard and the 2004 Dick Aylesworth Good Guy Award honoree, handled the microphone chores. As always, he kept the crowd entertained with humorous observations and historical facts concerning fastpitch in Cortland.