Tim Hitchings
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Tag Archives: Bachner
Why Name A Baseball Field?
To the members of the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District Board of Education:
Anthony Fleres (tonyfleres@gmail.com)
Rachelle Feldman Hurwitz (RFeldmanHurwitz@gmail.com)
Louisa Ho (louisawwp@gmail.com)
Rachel Juliana (rachelpjuliana@yahoo.com)
Michele Kaish (michelekaish@gmail.com)
Richard Kaye (kayeww3@verizon.net)
Dana Krug (danakrug@comcast.net)
Scott Powell (scott.powell-wwp@live.com)
Yu “Taylor” Zhong (yu.zhong.609@gmail.com)
The Babe Ruth baseball field at West Windsor Community Park is named after Christopher M. Ciuffani. Chris was a West Windsor boy who played through 12 years of age with the West Windsor Little League, and was tragically killed in a car accident in January 1994.
The Little League field at Cranbury Village Park is named after Peter Zanghi who organized the first Cranbury Plainsboro Little League and is still an active sponsor of Little League teams.
Thomas R. Grover Middle School is named after Thomas R. Grover who was killed in action at the age of 22 while serving in the Army during the Vietnam War. He was a graduate of the school district.
J.V.B. Wicoff Elementary School is named after John Van Buren Wicoff who was a lifelong resident of Plainsboro, he was the chairman of the Plainsboro school board for 31 years and served on the Plainsboro Township Council.
Maurice Hawk Elementary School is named after Maurice H. Hawk of one of the oldest families in West Windsor.
As I worked with Google to try to compile this short list of named buildings and baseball fields in our area I was struck with how difficult it was to find information on the internet that describes the how/why of naming these locations as I progressed to the oldest named facility. I imagine there are plaques at each of the schools that provide more history on each school’s names. I’m surprised that we don’t have any history page on our school sites that provides information on why a school has a name. When the North Baseball Diamond is named the David J. Bachner Field I hope to be able to add an appropriate reference in Wikipedia so that anyone in the future can learn the how/why the field was named.
Naming brings humanity to a thing. Naming brings history to a thing. Naming provides a destination that can be remembered.
By naming the North Varsity Field the David J. Bachner Field we can connect the current marker outside the pitchers bullpen with a place. We provide visiting baseball teams with a location they can easily remember. As the visiting players walk into the area they’ll see the Bachner marker and if the players pause to read they’ll understand why the North varsity field was named for him.
I can imagine the decision to name the field is difficult and requires a great amount of thought and discussion as to the impact. I don’t know of any other naming situation that has taken place in this area in recent times. I hope you will consider the worthiness of this naming request on it’s own merits. I hope that choosing to name this field will not be dismissed in fear that a ‘flood’ of similar requests will appear in it’s wake. From my brief conversations and listening to board members at a previous meeting I’m feeling confident that you are weighing all arguments that have occurred over the last 5 years concerning this request. Thank you so much for your service.
From everything I’ve read and from all of the people I’ve talked to, David represented the ideals of the North baseball program both on and off the field. His marker at North doesn’t just describe his athletic accomplishments. It describes the type of person he was and the impact he had both on and off the field. Let’s complete his impact to North.
Please name the North Varsity Baseball Diamond the David J. Bachner Field.
Sincerely,
Tim Hitchings
Name The West Windsor High School North Baseball Diamond The David Bachner Field
To the members of the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District Board of Education:
Rachelle Feldman Hurwitz (RFeldmanHurwitz@gmail.com)
Anthony Fleres (tonyfleres@gmail.com)
Louisa Ho (louisawwp@gmail.com)
Rachel Juliana (rachelpjuliana@yahoo.com)
Michele Kaish (michelekaish@gmail.com)
Richard Kaye (kayeww3@verizon.net)
Dana Krug (danakrug@comcast.net)
Scott Powell (scott.powell-wwp@live.com)
Yu “Taylor” Zhong (yu.zhong.609@gmail.com)
On August 11, 2014 David Bachner will have been deceased five years. As per your naming requirements he will meet the criteria which you imposed in October 2012 with regards to naming a facility. Please consider this e-mail a formal request to name the North High School varsity baseball diamond The David Bachner Field.
My son T.J. was in six grade when David passed in 2009. We talked about David’s funeral and the number of people that attended. My son was fortunate to be able to play Freshman and J.V. baseball at North. He proudly wore his North baseball uniform hat with it’s embroidered 16. These days as a Junior at North while he’s not on the baseball team he continues to wear his “Unhittable” t-shirt and sweat-shirt all the time. He and I visit David’s marker out by the bullpen at North every year on David’s “Angelversary”.
I never met David nor had an opportunity to watch him play. My son T.J. never met David and never had the opportunity to watch him play. We have been fortunate to be part of the baseball community and meet and talked to baseball players like P.J. Silva and Scott Feryus and others who have talked to other players that knew David. His legacy lives on because he was able to touch so many people in and outside of baseball.
I have been fortunate to meet and get to know Rhonda Bachner and Steve Bachner, David’s parents. They are of course deeply invested in continuing David’s legacy. They provide scholarships as part of their foundation, The David J. Bachner Memorial Fund. They raise money by holding a yearly North South hockey game that grows in popularly every year. They sell “Unhittable” wear at the North South baseball games every year. Their Facebook site is vibrant with friends posting pictures of “Unhittable” around the world and continuing to reminiscence and tell stories about David.
So after all this information you may ask why am I so personally invested in supporting the Bachner’s and asking you to name a baseball field after their son David? Because I love the sport and community of baseball. Because I have a son who loves baseball and if anything ever happened to him I don’t know if I would have the strength of Rhonda and Steve to continue. Because baseball doesn’t always seem to get the attention and support as much as other sports. Because from CPLL T-ball to WWP Senior Babe Ruth and both North and South High school baseball teams I have made a life time of friends in the sport of baseball. Because in the sport of North baseball there may never be another athlete with the talent and potential of David Bachner and ensuring that North field bears his name alongside his marker is a fitting tribute.
Because it’s the right thing to do. For baseball. For David.
Sincerely,
Tim Hitchings
Plainsboro
Tim Hitchings 