It was not a typical night at Fussenich Park. The exhibition game played between the FCBL’s Torrington Titans and the Tri-State League’s All-Stars was the perfect — albeit, odd — way to wrap up a beautiful Fourth of July in Northwest Connecticut. The Titans won 8-5, but the final score was the least interesting part of a day of festivities that included a 72-year-old knuckleballer and an American Idol sensation.
Jim Bouton, a former New York Yankees pitcher who won 62 big league games, pitched a scoreless fourth inning for the Tri-State All-Stars. Four Titans batters came to the plate against Bouton, and none of them could get the ball out of the infield.
Bouton, who also wrote the famous baseball book, “Ball Four,” wore a Yankees throwback uniform similar to the one he wore as a World Series champion in 1962.Bouton’s performance earned him a standing ovation from the just-about-full Fussenich Park crowd.
But that was nothing compared to the William Hung fanfare. Hung, a former American Idol “star,” most notably known for his hilarious — and terrible — rendition of Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs,” performed his greatest hits for the local crowd in between innings.