A chance meeting in Cochise County
What are the chances that a 77-year avid baseball player who still takes his swings at the plate would meet up with an avid 83-year-old softball player who can still belt the ball over the fence?
And they both live in the same town: Sierra Vista, Arizona.
Price, who turns 78 in July, recently moved to Sierra Vista, while the 83-year-old Bob McCormick has been a mainstay in the burg for years and at one time sold real estate for Long Realty.
Nowadays, McCormick travels to National 80-and-over senior softball tournaments in places like Palm Springs, Las Vegas, and St. George, Utah, just to name a few.
And he is good, too. A home run hitter, in fact.
Price, who moved from Tucson to Sierra Vista three weeks ago, is the long-time club historian and a member of the long-running amateur baseball club, the Tucson Old Timers. The TOTS have been around since 1968, and close to 300 senior ballplayers between 60 to 90 have donned the club's blue and white jerseys for over 54 years.
In fact, the TOTS began their 55th season in January.
In the meantime, McCormick is traveling around the country on the slow-pitch senior circuit, winning championships and picking up championship rings as if they were marbles.
Pigpen Price, which is me, misses his Tucson teammates and the lack of playing time. The TOTS play every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at Udall Park. Price has been going through withdraws due to the lack of playing time. Last October, Price played in his 15th Men's Senior Baseball League World Series in Phoenix.
Most McCormick's teammates live in Southern California and play within the Top Gun organization.
To make a long story short, the two ball players met on the Pickleball court yesterday morning. After a few games of paddling, Price and McCormick took a break, sat on the bench, and swapped baseball and softball stories.
A few minutes into the conversation, McCormick says, "I can't believe this!"
I said the same.
Two hours later, we are at the softball field at Sierra Vista's Veterans Park, and I'm in tryout mode.
It just so happens McCormick's 80-and-over team has lost its youngest player -- a 78-year-old. The teams in the 80-and-over division are allowed one player who turns 78 during 2023.
What a coincidence!
Now my problem is: how long will it take me to alter my swing for slow-pitch? How long will it take to break in a softball mitt, too? My trusty old Rawlings baseball glove will not do the trick.
After watching me play, McCormick says I'm in, and suddenly, he's on the phone with his Top Gun coach in Southern California.
McCormick has taken me under his wing, so to speak, as we agree to practice twice a week for the next six weeks as we prepare for the Spring World Championships in late March in St. George, Utah.
When we return, I will still have plenty of time to umpire softball for the Sierra Vista sports and recreation department. The trip to St. George, Utah, is up and back in just four days. We drive all day to get to St. George, then drive all the way back in one day to return home. We share expenses and become good friends in the process.
I played in softball tournaments in Omaha, Phoenix, Sacramento, Tucson, and Phoenix when I was younger. However, my love for baseball won out in 2008 when I joined the TOTS, and now I make the journey every October to play in the prestigious Men's Senior Baseball League World Series. I started out in the 60-and-over division at the MSBL World Series, and now I compete in the 75-and-over division.
I'll always keep the old man out. And it looks like a no-doubter Bob McCormick feels the same way.
Photos: McCormick, top photo, yours truly, bottom.
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