Never Too Late

The Cubs’ late-inning rally threatened the White Sox’s lead, but the Sox manager, scorecard in hand and one eye on his pitcher, was talking construction work.

“I know that store. None of the businesses they put in there last long, because the location is so bad,” said Jim Smith, baseball manager by avocation and electrician by necessity. “The inside is always being gutted to remodel for another business. There’s always work being done to it.”

The dugout visitor, who had mentioned the store in passing, nodded. Moments later, the Sox infield turned a double play to stop the rally and the visitor noted, “Looks like your guy’s gonna get out of it, Jim.”

Welcome to men’s senior league baseball, where baseball cliches and strategy aren’t the only subjects discussed. Each weekend, scores of men creeping up on middle age--or already there--play a game that some had set aside for years.

Baseball may have taken a back seat in their lives for a while, but the game was never forgotten.

On this particular Sunday, Smith’s White Sox took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, helped by three walks. The Cubs’ pitcher was more effective after that, but White Sox left-hander Mike Johnston was a little tougher. The White Sox won, 3-0.

This was one of dozens of games played each weekend on diamonds throughout Orange County by men 30 years and older who still have a passion for baseball. Some fans argue that baseball is passe, slow and boring. But don’t tell that to these guys. You don’t sacrifice half your weekend year round unless you love the game.

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“I think baseball all the time,” Smith said. “You just don’t leave the game at the park on weekends. I’ll go home tonight and start thinking about my lineup for next week.”

The Men’s Senior Baseball League is the best known locally and possibly best-organized of the men’s leagues. Dennis Swartout, a computer designer, runs the league out of an office in his Corona home. Swartout said he devotes about 30 hours each week, in addition to the 40 hours he spends at his regular job, to running the league.

“Baseball is a great game. Yeah, some of these guys may be trying to recapture their youth, but they’re having fun chasing it,” Swartout said. “If you played the game as a kid, you can still play it when you’re 30, 40, 50, whatever . . . There’s nothing wrong with softball, but it isn’t baseball.”

The MSBL, in its 11th season locally, fields 24 teams in three divisions, two of which are for players 30 years and older. The third is an open division for players who believe they can play at a higher competitive level. The league, which has summer and winter schedules, has more than 500 players, with some clubs carrying rosters of more than 20.

Games are usually played on fields at high schools, colleges and city parks. For some players, playing on their old high school fields brings up memories of past games played against old rivals, often when a championship was on the line.

“Happens all the time,” said Smith. “We’re sitting in the dugout and you’ll hear somebody say, ‘Remember when so and so made that great catch at the fence,’ or ‘Remember when so and so hit that homer that beat us.’ It’s amazing, sometimes guys will meet on the field, playing on opposing teams, who haven’t seen each other since they played on opposing high school teams.”

Some MSBL players were good players in high school, but stopped playing after graduation. This was the case with Johnston, 37, a certified public accountant during the week. Johnston pitched at Estancia and didn’t pitch again until five years ago.

“I didn’t pitch for almost 15 years, but this is still fun,” said Johnston.

His catcher, Mark Wiedder, is a baker during the week. Wiedder, 38, threw out the only two Cubs who attempted to steal.

“Those guys have probably lost a step or two as base stealers,” Wiedder said modestly. “We were lucky to get those outs.”

The truth is that almost everyone in the division has lost a couple of steps in the field and on the bases. Skills that were sharp in high school are not quite as honed today.

With players scattered throughout Orange County, it is difficult for teams to practice during the week. And playing once a week, usually with reckless abandon, inevitably results in injuries.

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On this particular Sunday, a Cubs hitter pulled a hamstring--and collapsed in a heap--running out a ground ball.

“That’s probably the most common injury we see,” Smith said. “That and sore arms.”

Because of the large number of leg injuries, the league allows pinch runners without requiring the player who is being run for to be lifted from the game.

Wiedder, who kept himself out of the batting order because of sore ribs, said most guys wake up sore Monday mornings and need an entire week to recover.

The modified rules used by the league--liberal use of pinch runners, having some players on defense but not in the batting order and using more than nine hitters--means that a manager can usually play everyone on his roster.

Swartout said the rules also limit injuries, especially to pitchers.

“Like the Atlanta Braves, some of our teams are pitcher rich. Others are pitcher poor,” Swartout said. “Our goal is to have parity throughout the three divisions, because we want to play quality games. Nobody likes to play in a blowout game.”

Swartout said he was pleased by the game’s close score.

“Can’t wait for next week,” said a White Sox player.

“Next week is Mother’s Day,” said Smith, who looked at Swartout and asked, “We’re not playing on Mother’s Day, are we?”

“No games scheduled on Mother’s Day,” Swartout said. “We value our lives too much.”

* The MSBL website address is: https://members.aol.com/socamsbl/msbl.html. If you’re interested in trying out for a team, call (909) 736-7512.