Senior softball

Now that we have had our first snowfall of the winter (ah, Florida, how I miss you!), it might be a good time to reflect on my softball season. Yes, at age 65 I continue to play softball. Specifically, I play in an over-55 league organized by the EMASS Senior Softball organization. That organization has a membership of over 400 men (and a few women), runs about half a dozen leagues and sponsors traveling teams of various age ranges. This year, for the first time, I played in an over-65 tournament that included several EMASS teams, along with over-65 teams from all over New England. I am sorry to report that my introductory tournament experience was disappointing as I played in only 3 of the 5 games and got a single hit in 6 official at-bats. But it was an interesting experience.

My summer league was the EMASS “National” division which is kind of the “B” league in the organization – a notch down, ostensibly, from the “American” division (MLB, take note). But, despite being the “lesser” league (though not so lesser as the Metro or Atlantic divisions), the quality of the play is quite high. There are surprisingly few errors considering the bad backs and knees in the field. And the hitting is surprisingly good. I guess after 50 years of batting practice a lot of guys have figured out how to place the ball.

I play outfield, mostly. I enjoy the position and am (usually) pretty good at it. But the simple fact is that I play outfield because I can still run. The guys who can’t run are relegated to infield.

Some of the best players in the league are over 70. A few are over 80, including two of the better pitchers in the league. The fact that some guys can still play after 80 is, to me, inspirational. I am amazed by the fact that this year, for the first time, EMASS was able to field a traveling team of over-80 players. Yes, they found 15 men in the organization who were over 80 and were interested in traveling around New England to play other teams of over-80s. Amazing.

I am happy to say that my team, though it came in second during the season (by one game), won the post-season tournament. To do so we had to win 4 straight games on a single day. We did it, then collapsed from exhaustion.

For all our efforts we got a dinky little trophy. But we aren’t playing for trophies; we are playing to retain (what little is left of) our youth. And I feel that, to a considerable extent, we have been successful.