May 12 Meeting Recap

Song – Dale Hodges
Pledge – Terry Bell
Prayer – Max Constantin
Intros – Bill Stracener

Our guests were several members of the Red Stick Kiwanis Club, who were on hand for an interclub, Anastasia, daughter of Carlos and Nataly Ortiz, and Max Constantin Jr.

Guest Speaker: L.J. Dupuy, Owner/General Manager of the Baton Rouge River Bats

L.J. Dupuy is also an associate scout with the New York Yankees as well as the hitting coach for the River Bats.  During his career, he has served as coach with various teams in the All American Association, Prairie, and Texas-Louisiana Leagues.  He was the field manager of the Brandon Grew Owls of the Prairie League in 1996.  Prior to the Yankees he also served ten years as an associate scout with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  L.J. lives in Addis , LA and graduated from Brusly High School. He attended Southeastern University and is expecting his first grandchild this September.

L.J. talked about the evolution of the minor professional baseball leagues.  Ten years ago, each major league team may have had 20 to 30 teams to pick players from.  Now, there are only a handful of minor league teams from which the major league teams can recruit.  L.J. talked about the entertainment at minor league games, which makes it fun for the whole family.  One minor league team recently obtained the record for the most people sitting on whoopi cushions at the same time.  Other events include a 10 second tough man contest where two guys can slug it out for 10 seconds. 

Some major renovations have been done at Pete Goldsby field, including a first class outfield wall that can hold advertisements.  L.J. told the club that all he asks the people of the Baton Rouge area is to come to one game in 17 years. That would provide approximately 2000 fans per game. 

L.J. talked about the 2004 Baton Rouge Collegiate Baseball League that is being hosted by the River Bats and being held at Pete Goldsby Field this summer. The league is a member of the AABC and will consist of four teams in the Stan Musial Division (unlimited age). 

The River Bats will also be hosting several summer baseball camps for young athletes of all ages. These will be held during the month of June. L.J. will provide one-on-one lessons for those interested. They can call L.J. at 344-2287.

Sponsored Youth Scholarships

Anne Zaloudek of LSU Circle K and Dru Gremillion of CHS Key Club won the CCK $500 scholarships this year.  They were presented with the checks at their banquets. The U-High recipient will be named shortly.

Next Week’s meeting

When: Wednesday, May 19, noon

Where: Taste of China

Speaker: Sandra Thompson, Executive Director of the Atchafalaya Basin Program

New Meeting Place :

Walk On’s

Starting with the June 2 meeting, Capital City Kiwanis will hold our meetings every Wednesday at noon at Walk On’s, at Burbank and Nicholson. The May 19 and 26 meetings will be at Taste of China.