10 August 2006

Touching base

The Bourne Braves’ biggest fan did not attend a game this season and has yet to enjoy the club’s new field at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School. 

Lee Frank, however, gets the daily paper at 5:30 each morning, turns to the sports pages and follows the Braves’ fortunes from the fourth floor of the Royal Megansett Nursing Home at North Falmouth, where his panoramic view at lunch and dinner is down Buzzards Bay into the blue-gray mist. 

Frank started following the Braves when the Bourne franchise was re-created in 1988 and home games were played at Hendy Field on Taylors Point, Buzzards Bay. Today he remains a loyal member of Braves nation. 

"We had some strong years in the early going," Frank recalled over lunch last week on a gray day following a period of record heat and humidity. "We were up on the top. One season it came down to Orleans and ourselves. It looks like it’s between Cotuit and Y-D this year." 

Frank is a Pocasset resident. He grew up in New York City and was assistant baseball manager at James Monroe High School where Hank Greenberg started his storied baseball career. 

A fractured kneecap and its repair put him in Megansett. "I didn’t know I had it until it showed up on the X-rays," he said. "But I knew something wasn’t right. So they corrected it, and I ended up here. I’m working on things." 

Frank never played baseball. But he appreciates it. He understands its rhythms. In his world, you touch all the bases. 

He is a wooden-bat enthusiast. And he likes the way the National League plays the game. 

"The designated hitter is not the way to play baseball," he said. "You have to use your noodle to play the game. David Ortiz is the exception. But even if he wasn’t Boston’s designated hitter, he’d do well." 

Frank concedes the Braves did not enjoy a good season in their new park. He says it all fell apart before it began, adding that Coach Harvey Shapiro assuredly did a fine job. 

"A lot of fellows were drafted," he said. "Some didn’t show up due to academics, illnesses and the late College World Series. These things can add up. They make an impact on the summer leagues. They brought in some ’temps’ this season, but I guess they couldn’t do it." 

Frank is a big man with angular features and sharp eyes. Beyond what might be his cranky moments, his voice is gentle and his dinner table requests are soft though direct. 

He is also recovering from carpal tunnel surgery on his right arm, which he massages as he talks baseball following after-dinner cake and coffee. 

He keeps his charter member Braves cap at the ready, and a young orderly smilingly acknowledges him as she bounces through the dining room with her ponytail bobbing. 

Frank holds strong views. He doesn’t like inter-league baseball but says it’s a fixture now. "It’s not true baseball." 

He worked hard all his life. He says he was a "chief cook and bottle washer" for a small textile firm. He came to the Cape in 1986, settling in Pocasset. He is 86. 

He says his grandson is a computer student headed to Brown University soon. 

"He works 10 hours a day at $15 per hour, six days a week," Frank said. "He’s in demand. He went to Milton Academy. MIT wanted him, but he decided on Brown. He’s a hacker, but he’s not going to get caught. A great kid. He’s going to design the systems that will catch the other hackers." 

Frank quietly fields questions one after the other. 

Should the Cape League expand to include Sandwich or New Bedford? 

"That’s a very dubious question; maybe Sandwich or another Cape town," he said. "New Bedford’s way out of the area of the Cape. A lot of people seem happy with the way the league is now." 

Will the Red Sox or Yankees prevail this year? 

"It’s way too soon to tell yet. We’re just past the midway mark of the season." 

What about those Red Sox? 

"Jason Varitek getting hurt is not a good thing," he said. "He’ll still be around while he’s recovering; that’s a good thing as far as it goes. He knows every pitcher in the league. This is remarkable. He can still help." 

Will he get to a Braves game next year? 

"I’m working on some things," he said. "I couldn’t go now because there’s no way I’d be comfortable. It’s quite a place they have now. They’re trying to get some lights. It’s expensive. Perhaps next year, though Hyannis doesn’t have lights. You don’t have to have them."