N.Y. man swings at 7,000 pitches

BABYLON, N.Y. - A New York state man who swung at about
7,000 pitches failed to set a Guinness record but succeed-
ed in raising money for charity, a Youth League official
said. Andrew Manzo, vice president of the North Babylon
(N.Y.) Youth League, said league President Mike Filippone,
49, managed to swing at thousands of pitches for 13 1/2
hours, but fell well short of his goal of a 24-hour batting
marathon, Newsday reported. "After 13 hours, the paramedics
recommended that he stop," Manzo said. Filippone's attempt
helped raise more than $4,000 for Schneider Children's
Hospital in New Hyde Park, N.Y. Area residents were asked
to pay $20 to pitch 25 baseballs to the father-of-four.
Filippone told Newsday swinging a bat for 13 hours turned
out to be a pretty tough challenge. "Every hour I would
take a five-minute break and I would just think to myself,
'What was I thinking?'" Filippone said.