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Can You Play Good Baseball
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MSBL Baseball Keeps these Seniors Young
ABOVE: Jack Sayles (South Dakota Rushmores) and Howard Bich (San Diego Padres) in 70+ Division Championship Game at 2009 MSBL World Series. (Photo by Denevi & Jones) November 2009, Tempe, Arizona--For some 70-year-olds, a morning with the grandchildren, an afternoon in the garden, or a round of golf constitute exercise, but the 40-or-so men gathered on Field #4 at the Tempe Diablo baseball complex on the morning of Nov. 7 were not like most 70-year-olds. These septuagenarians were firing baseballs back and forth, running sprints in the outfield, and doing intense stretching exercises that would make much younger men strain with envy--and that was before the real action started. It was the pre-game warm-up for the MSBL World Series 70+ Division finals between the San Diego Padres and the South Dakota Rushmores. For this year (2009), membership in this elite division meant being born before 1940: before Truman became president, before Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, before Joe DiMaggio=s 56-game hitting streak, and, ironically, before the completion of Mt. Rushmore. These athletes are the cream of the senior crop. They emerged from a four-team bracket that included teams from Philadelphia and Arizona. They were about to play their sixth game in as many days. Pruning bushes and potting plants is one thing B legging out a double or diving for a ball in the outfield is quite another. What is it that keeps these 70-somethings young? I believe it=s baseball. The game has been a huge part of their lives for years and, thanks to the MSBL, it continues to be a huge part of their lives. Their bodies have aged -- though not as much as you might think -- but the competitive spirit that makes them take a throw and apply a tag, or hit the dirt to avoid it, is ageless. They take pride in the way they play this game, and they respect it. You could see it in the eyes of the Rushmores' Phil Trooien after opening the game with a single, and in the determined face of the Padres= pitcher Dick Fitzgerald as the lanky lefty leaned forward for the next sign from catcher Ed Frank. You could see something else in these players as well: Joy. The joy of participation in baseball, especially on a perfect, sunsplashed morning in Arizona, is present at all ages, but for athletes with seven decades of life in the rear view mirror this sense of joy is amplified. "I have been playing ball for 67 years, and if someone told me I would still be playing at my age, I'd have told them they were crazy." said a chuckling Charlie Hildebrandt, once a Philadelphia Phillies prospect. The military draft, and injury, cut short his pro aspirations, but not his love for the game. It=s a bit like the musical ADamn Yankees,@ where the main character, an ordinary guy named Joe Boyd, strikes a deal with Mr. Applegate -- the devil -- that allows him to be a star on the Washington Senators. Who didn=t get a twitch of envy when ordinary Joe Boyd became Yankee-killer extraordinaire Joe Hardy. Who didn=t get a lump in their throat when Hardy dove and caught that last line drive just as he was losing his eternal youth? I saw forty Joe Hardy=s on the field that day in Tempe. They are guys like South Dakota's Lee Goldammer -- a member of the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame who played ball there for five decades. Catcher Howie Bich is also in that Hall of Fame. AMost of my players are home-grown boys ," said Rushmore skipper John Larson. Bich and teammate Ev Bradshaw have both maintained a .500 plus batting average over a ten-year period in World Series play. Fitzgerald, described by Padre manager Joe Maiden as Athe best pitcher at this age level and even at some of the younger age levels," spent six years in the Oriole organization and was literally one phone call away from The Show. He finished his career in 1960 as a member of the AAA Seattle Rainiers in the Pacific Coast League. Phil Clements was a star at Central Michigan University, and several Rushmores were outstanding players at Augustana College. Duf Sfreddo flew F-4 Phantom jets during most of his 23-year Air Force career. He and Hildebrandt are in the Senior Softball Hall of Fame."I didn't start playing competitive baseball till I was 67. Berry's manager John Enright gave me my first break and I've been flying high ever since." Sfreddo excels as well in international basketball. Padre catcher Frank looked at Fitzgerald and said, "I'm 76, he's 74. We have 150 years between us. This is great fun. We're going to have a blast" Padre pitcher Alan Bucholtz described it well. The MSBL, he said, Agave us all a chance to expand beyond our city leagues and meet new people. The greatest aspect of all is the friendship and camaraderie you develop over the years." On this day, the Padres prevailed 5-1 over the Rushmores 5-1. Baseball games have winners and losers. Baseball itself, especially in the 70-and-over division, has only winners. They are mostly retired from their jobs as doctors, mailmen, judges, pilots, farmers, salesmen, executives, teachers, truck drivers, pilots and other professions. Though they lead different lives, they come together to live a dream playing a timeless game in the Arizona sunshine. As the players slowly trailed off the field, one smiling veteran put his arm on a teammates' shoulder and said, "Where are we going next? Are we playing in Florida?" Aahhhhhh..........Youth.
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