I feel it in my bones

 Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

From the desk of Pigpen Price

Two months ago, I was bailing.

I called my manager, who lives in South Carolina, and told him, "Don't count on me for the Men's Senior Baseball League World Series this year." In one five-minute phone call I canceled out on what was to be my 13th year at the MSBL World Series, a prestigious amateur baseball event which is held through out the Phoenix area (at all the spring training sites of Major League Baseball, mind you) during the month of October.

I hung up the phone. Already depressed over the coronavirus thing, I had now added to my anxiety and headed down the black hole, so to speak.

I dozen of my teammates on the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) were still going, all of them scheduled to play either in the 65-and-over or 70-and-over divisions.

I, at the age of 75, play for the 73-and-over Arizona Scorpions, in the oldest of the divisions at the MSBL World Series.

Well,  you guessed it. A month ago, I called my manager back and said. "Put me in, coach!"

And now I'm days away from heading for Phoenix for the 33rd Men's Senior Baseball League World Series.

I'm now pumped, much like the words from a rock song a long time ago: "I feel it in my bones."

Honestly, it's the greatest feeling for a diehard amateur baseball player. All my teammates can attest to that. Once you get your feet wet at one MSBL World Series, well it leads to another...and another...and another.

Make no mistake about it, your participation in the MSBL World Series comes with plenty of cuts and bruises...maybe even a broken bone or two.You name it, it has happened to me more than once. A foot operation, a hand operation, neck pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, eye surgery...even a heart attack, although I can't blame the MSBL World Series on that one (my heart surgery was back in January 2008, four months before I joined the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers). By the way, joining the TOTS was one of the best decisions of my life.

Last year at the MSBL World Series, I played two weeks and a total of 13 games. The first week, I played for the 70-and-over San Antonio Texans and we made it all the way to the finals. The second week, I played for the Arizona Scorpions and we managed just one victory.

The journey home after 13 games was a painful one. I sat on ice packs all the way home and had to clean off spots of blood off the seats of my Ford Mustang. 

This year, I'm playing just one week. That could end up eight to nine games in seven days, or five games, if the Scorpions fail to make the playoffs.

For me, baseball is the one constant in my life. Sunday I'll pack up the old Mustang and head for Phoenix for yet another Men's Senior Baseball League World Series.