We just finished our third season of senior softball. We started last spring with three teams. Then we came back in the fall with five and fielded six this season. At seventy-three I am not the oldest player, but I am close. Last spring I strained a muscle in my left leg and could not run. I must admit it was a little embarrassing to have a seventy-eight year old come in and run for me.
I remember when I could turn a single into a double, or even a triple. Today I can turn a triple into a close play at first. My wife says my running looks pretty good, she just did not realize how strong the headwind was blowing down the first base line. She said I looked like one of those news reporters running into a hurricane.
The guys on our team have all been excellent players. You can tell by the way they handle themselves. They are capable of making Big League plays that would impress any age group. Unfortunately, at our age, these Big League plays are sometimes followed by “T” ball plays. It all seems to balance out because; the other teams have similar performance issues.
When the bat is swung everyone holds their breath to see if it is going to be a hit or a swing and a miss? Will the fielder make the play? Will the throw be on target? Will the runner be able to make it to first? Will the runner or the fielder fall down? Because of this variability in performance, everyone enjoys the game including the umpires.
We start each game with a prayer and end it the same way, thanking God that we are all still standing. I never thought that the Lord picks winners and losers, so my prayer was always to not let me be the one who caused us to lose. Today when I pray that prayer the Lord just laughs and says who are you kidding? This must be the funniest thing he has ever seen.
When we all have a good night, we are hard to beat. Although we are all champions, there were several times when the other team scored more runs than we did. Therefore we did not win the title. So to all the guys who played with us: Rick, Mark, Art, Walt, Kevin, Gary, Jerome, David, Johnny, Tommy, and Wade, I want to say thanks for a great season. I also want to thank all the players on the other teams and a special thanks to Johnnie Wiggins (our pitcher) who was instrumental in getting this whole thing started. So if you are an old ball player come join us for the fall season. I believe we have all decided that, if we are going to fall and break a hip, we would rather do it sliding into third than sitting at home waiting for it to happen.
