Countywide : Siren Song of Baseball Calls to Seasoned Players

There was plenty of friendly banter from the guys on deck as the batter strode up to home plate, spread his feet and prepared for the pitch.

High and a little fast, the ball arched past the batter and into the catcher’s glove. “Ball one!” shouted the umpire. “Get a pitcher!” responded the players waiting their turn at bat. A second pitch. The crack of the wooden bat meeting the leather softball echoed across the field.

In a flash, the batter was on his way to first base. After the ball sailed over the shortstop’s head on its way to the outfield, the runner rounded second and headed for third. When the next player sent the ball on a line drive to center field, the man on third trotted home, doffing his cap to reveal a head of white hair. He is 70 years old.

Holms Ellis, a retired businessman and one-time professional baseball player, has better things to do than spend his weekends in a rocking chair, and the same goes for his companions.

Ellis, who coached Little League baseball when his son was a child, said he hadn’t picked up a bat, ball or glove for a quarter century before joining Orange County Seniors Slow-pitch Softball League two years ago.

“The first three weeks coming out were pretty long after not having played for such a long time,” he said, while warming the bench during a practice session last weekend. In the early 1930s, Ellis played outfield for the Los Angeles Angels of the old Pacific Coast League and was an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals farm team.

Now, Ellis plays first base for the Costa Mesa Clowns. Not all players in the league are in their 60s and 70s, however. About half have not yet reached their 60th birthdays and many are only 55 years old--the minimum age for joining up. So popular has the league been with the younger players that both Costa Mesa teams, the Clowns and the Old Goats, have formed “farm clubs” made up of players between 50 and 55 years old. When they get old enough, farm players can join the regular teams.

Practicing on Saturdays and playing on Sundays, the 23 teams in the league’s four divisions each put in 10 to 12 games per season. The 1985 season begins April 21.

Peter Similuk, the 69-year-old general manager of the two teams, said that while they play to win, the over-55 softball players are more interested in having a good time.

Similuk, who advertises in local shoppers for new team members, said he is always on the lookout for fresh blood. Members of the over-55 crowd who want to join any of the 23 teams in the league may call Similuk at 957-2515. “We’re always looking for new players,” he said. “We never have enough.”