2013 Men's Senior Baseball League (MSBL) World Series
60-and-over division
My blog, Bookemdanosports, has passed the 1,600 mark in posts and the majority of the posts focus on senior league baseball - the 60-and-over crazy dudes who still take the field to play America's favorite pastime.
And, of course, this past three weeks the MSBL World Series in Phoenix was front and center on my mind as I transformed our daily game results to my trusty old laptop. There was certainly a lot to write about from the first week when our local 70-and-over team (playing under the name of the Arizona Scorpions) played six games in six days at the senior World Series event and ended with our first-ever 60s team (the Tucson Aces) competing in six tough games in just four days. Our 70s team made it to the first round of the playoffs before bowing out in a tie for fifth place, while our 60s team, playing in the newly-formed Cactus division, took it on the chin, finishing 1-5 and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Most of the time, I see to it that I write solely about my teammates and keep my nose, so to speak, out of it and try not to mention the name Pigpen Price too much, but I just can't help myself this go-around. This year -- my fifth at the prestigious MSBL World Series -- I had the time of my life from the first pitch the first week with our 70s team to the last out this week with our 60s team.
First of all, my teammates are the greatest. By the end of each week, no matter how tired I was, I wanted more. I never wanted to check out of the hotel and go home. The event is such a kick for me and I seem to be on some "high" until it's all over and I'm driving down I-10 with every bone in my body-- aching, and I'm trying desperately not to get any blood from the cuts on my knees on the upholstery of my car.
I already miss -- not only the games -- but the aftermath, so to speak, the after-the-game, sports-grill ramblings with my teammates about the bonehead plays we made two hours earlier, or for that matter, the great plays we made, the Monday morning quarterbacking, so to speak, as we dissect each play and relive it all.
The stories are endless. Take for instance the following.
In our final game yesterday in the 60-and-over division, I watched the oldest player in the MSBL World Series, play for nine innings -- all three hours mind you -- at second base. My teammate, 84-year-old Billy Heiny, made an error or two, but he made the play time and time again, playing against players who in most cases were 24 years younger than him.
Heiny does it every week through out the year in Tucson with the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS), but there he was this week, giving his all against the best 60-and-over baseball players in the country.
Then there's my teammate Mike Taylor. Mike shows up for the first game in the 60s division with a hamstring pull he's been nursing for months. But there he was gutting it out and coming away with three hits. It took him a while to get to first base and he legged it out, knowing full well a good throw from the outfield could nip him at first base. The rules allow for a pinch runner in those cases and guess who the pinch runner turned out to be, you guessed it, Pigpen Price.
Mike would joke after every game. "Hey, I scored a run," Mike would say and, of course, that's exactly what it shows in the score book.
This week, there were diving catches made by center fielder Tim Tolson, and an inside-the-park home run by Ron Petersen and gutsy pitching performances, despite the score, by Jerry Wessels, Arnie White, Dennis Crowley and Petersen as they all battled the situation to the very end.
And, of course, more stories.
Take for instance, the Saga of the Oreo Cookie. Teammate Ted Davis who, by the way, turned in a gusty performance despite his shoulder injury (will undergo surgery soon) brought some cookies to one of the round-robin games. Of course, they are my favorite. I never pass up an Oreo cookie.
Well, I'd eat two before each at bat. I had my best day at the plate with three hits in five plate appearances. I should have kept eating those cookies as I went into a mini-slump at the plate on Day 3, the day of our second doubleheader.
As for me, I can't begin to tell you (Oh! Yes I can) what a kick it was to start Game 2 against Seattle inside the confines of Goodyear Stadium, training home of the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds.
My manager, Pete Peters, informed me an hour before game time that I'd be toeing the rubber -- my first-ever starting pitching assignment at the MSBL World Series. In 2009, I pitched one inning in relief in a game that had gotten completely out of hand and my manager at the time, Mike Morales, sent me in for an inning of work. Somehow I got out of the inning unscathed and I have always been able to say that I have an ERA of 0.00 at the senior World Series.
But this was different. An actual start with my teammates counting on me to get the job done. The butterflies were churning in my tummy as I toed the rubber and delivered my first pitch to my catcher, the player-manager, Peters.
Somehow, someway I struck out Seattle's leadoff batter with a fastball that tailed inside. I watched the Seattle leadoff man head back to his dugout and the butterflies, well, they left my tummy and I guess they flew over the left field fence at Goodyear Stadium, turned left on I-10 and headed west to Los Angeles.
Game on!
I made it to the sixth inning before calling for help. I left the mound and headed for the dugout, all smiles as I looked at the scoreboard. We were up 7-3 and I had pitched for two hours -- striking out three and walking three. I will never forget that moment in time at the MSBL World Series.
That's what it is all about. The memories a diehard baseball player and a fan of the game like me will take away from playing in the Men's Senior Baseball League World Series.
I can't wait till October of 2014. I'm already thinking about the anticipation -- to the day I pack my gear and head back up I-10 to Phoenix and another MSBL World Series.
Photo: Yours truly. I love the game of baseball.
Images from Goodyear Stadium prior to game time:
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