Baseball for the Ages: Foreverball

American Eclectic posts articles twice a month, on the 1st and 15th. This is the third year of publication; previously published articles can be found on my site.

November 15, 2024

I published an article on baseball more than a year ago. That article was about Dusty Rhodes, the New York Giants, and the 1954 World Series. Here, I address another article on baseball, but from an entirely different perspective.

I played in a baseball tournament in September.  This was not exactly unusual; many tournaments are played around the country. This tournament, however, was different. George started this tournament in memory of his wife, who died a few years ago.  The Donna Hughes Memorial MSBL 80s Tournament in Canton, Ohio, is, as it says in the name, for 80 and over.  In my case, I was the “kid” on the team: Approaching that magical age, still two and a half years away, but not quite there yet.  For me, 80 is middle age (I use Star Trek life expectancy standards). The joke with this tournament is that it will become a 90-and-over tournament in a few years.

George puts aside $100 a week and uses that $5,000 accumulated yearly to pay for the tournament.  This one is held at the Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium.  Munson was a great catcher for the New York Yankees from 1969 to 1979.  He died flying his plane while practicing takeoffs and landings at a regional airport in Canton. 

Several of us offered George money to help cover the costs of his tournament, but he declined. He joked that he might collect some money as his tournament grows. This tournament had six teams; there might be eight next year, with two teams coming from Australia. I was told that Munson’s son and daughter-in-law were at several games.

I played in the World Series in Phoenix, Arizona, a month later. Forget that one on television; this was the more important one, or ones with different age groups represented: age groups such as the 65 and over, 70 and over, 73 and over, 75 and over, and this year, for the first time, 80 and over tournaments. 

I enjoy playing in these tournaments, but it costs money to cover a team entry fee, travel to Phoenix, and stay there. It could cost $1,000.00 a week—not a small outlay. Follow some advice given here if you have any plans to play in Phoenix. You can sign up to find a team, which is what I have done since I have traveled alone to play. Some teams come from locations around the country. Tournaments include teams that are put together with players from several states and teams that include players who have played together for years.

The rules in this tournament state there will be 14 batters, but there are teams with more than 14 players on their roster.  This is a severe issue that the Men's Senior Baseball League (MSBL) needs to address.  I am surprised that after over thirty years, the MSBL has not developed rules, maybe better-called guidelines, to guarantee that players will all get to play enough baseball. 

If the rules state that a team’s lineup has 14 batters and has 18 players, the issue is how those four players sitting on the bench will be worked into the game. Unfortunately, I have seen poor managing that creates unequal play for some team players.  

Fixing the issue of guaranteeing all players get plenty of playing time is not difficult: 1) Limit the players on a team to 14, the required number of batters; 2) managers need to realize that 14 players playing five games over a week means, on average, each player will be on the field for 24 innings.  Admittedly, there will be some variation since not everyone can enter a game if they play only one or two positions—but managers can use the 24 innings as a guideline and 3) once the batting order is set, the batter waiting in the on-base circle once the game ends, usually with the batter at the plate making the last out, is the starting batter in the next game. 

I heard that the rationale for more players was because of injuries and the need for enough players to put a team on the field. Think about it: There are five games, nine players on the field, and five on the bench—how many injuries will a team have? If you have a team with 18 players, is half the team going down in the first two or three games? This is just nonsense. All this overloading of a team does is guarantee some players will get frustrated with little playing time and not return in the future. Over more than a decade of playing, I rarely see serious injuries (Russ below is the exception). There is the usual number of sore muscles, groin pulls, hamstrings, and a few other pulls here and there, but conditioning helps significantly prevent injuries.

After reading this article, I consider some of the information above essential if you want to play and plan to head to Phoenix. Know what you are getting into—ask questions. Since it is your money, make sure you get your money’s worth. You can contact the team manager. Address how the team will be managed and clearly express your expectations: Do not be content with a vague response. I will check on this if I decide to return to Phoenix.

I managed a team in a 70-and-over tournament and followed the guidelines I laid out above (we had 14 players).  Winning is nice (we came close in two games but lost all five), but ensuring everyone got their fair share of innings and at-bats was more critical. My concern was the financial outlay each player invested to play. The following week, I played on an 80-and-over team with 13 players. This was a great deal of baseball in two weeks: Exactly what you want. I pitched, played outfield, and caught a few innings in two weeks.

Besides the Men’s Senior Baseball League, which also has a tournament in Las Vegas, there is the Roy Hobbes League.  The Roy Hobbes League has a World Series in Florida around Fort Myers and has 65/70/75 age categories. I assume they will add an 80-and-over tournament at some point. 

Some perhaps know the name Roy Hobbes; Robert Redford played him in The Natural (1984, besides Redford, the movie starred Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, and Wilford Brimley). Interestingly, this league took the name from the film, undoubtedly inspired by Redford’s heroics, particularly at the end.  The movie is, however, based on a novel by Bernard Malamud, and in the novel, Hobbes is not so heroic, taking the bribe to throw the final game. 

I played in this tournament in the 65-and-over division probably over ten years ago. In one of the games, I faced Bill “Spaceman” Lee and got a double.  Lee was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame as holding the record for the most innings pitched by a left-hander (321) and third in total wins by a left-hander (94).  I played against him again a few years back in Arizona and got a picture of us. Playing against a former Major Leaguer was something I never expected, and I walked on air for days after that double.

I also played in several tournaments at Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. I could not pass up the opportunity to play on the field in the Kevin Costner movie (1989, besides Costner, Field of Dreams starred Amy Madigan, Ray Liotta, and James Earl Jones). My complaint is that the lighting was nothing like in the movie, more like 75-watt lightbulbs. I was concerned when pitching and had trouble seeing the balls hit back at me. Maybe they improved the lighting since I was there seven or eight years ago.

Across the country, there are locations where you can find leagues.  Some of these leagues will not always have 70, 75, and 80 age divisions, which means elder statesmen might be playing with youngsters who might be 65. For years, I played in the St. Louis Baseball Forever League, which has 60-and-over and 65-and-over divisions (as well as a few younger age categories).

In the case of the St. Louis league, I have seen age slowly catching up with players. The various positions on the team I played on showed cancer at shortstop and in the outfield, Diabetes in the outfield and at third base, MS at second base, and Parkison’s Disease at first base. All of these players are aiming for next season. In Canton, Ohio, I faced a pitcher who wore a helmet with the guard in front because he has macular degeneration. As he explained to me, he has tunnel vision. However, that did not stop him from throwing strikes. I watched him pitch a game, and he hit no one.

In the case of the St. Louis league, the joke is still Russ. His sons came to see him play two games, and both times, he had a heart attack. One son told him, “We are never coming to see you play again. Every time we come, you die.” Russ plays with both a pacemaker and a defibrillator. An umpire told me he was not the only player with a defibrillator. He said he found out about a defibrillator because a player collapsed in the outfield, and as they were running to him, the whirl of the machine was set off, and you could hear it—back to life, he came. I am sure he took a day off, had a beer, and got ready for the next game. Replacement body parts have become a familiar part of playing. One good pitcher I faced ended up getting both hips replaced. He continues to pitch and plans to do so for several years. I had rotator cuff surgery a few years ago on my left shoulder, and I pitch left-handed. The orthopedic doctor asked why I wanted the surgery; I told him I play with Kent; he has ten years on me, and I expect to pitch another ten years. In the Canton, Ohio tournament, I faced Kent when he pitched against us in our last game (the nerve of him hitting me). What does good health have to do with playing baseball?

I am in Louisville now, and three of us practice regularly. We hope to find enough players to form two teams to start a 70-and-over league. There is a wonderful stadium here, the Louisville Bats, a AAA-level minor league team affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds. It would be nice to have a 70-and-over tournament here.

Alan Spector published Baseball: Never Too Old to Play “The” Game in 2007. I played against Al in St. Louis. Al joked that he had to retire because baseball took up more time than work. This book can help you appreciate the enjoyment of playing and quickly get over feelings of embarrassment or a sense of being uncomfortable or that you can no longer play. Practice, take your swings, make a few catches, and suddenly, it is Little League all over again. No one is playing for that Big League contract. This is Foreverball.

Notes

Alan Spector, Baseball: Never Too Old to Play “The” Game (Cincinnati, Cincinnati Book Publishers, 2007)