The vast majority of middle-age and beyond baseball players can’t run, throw or field like they could in their prime.
They have more aches and pains than they used to.
But none of that has adversely affected their love of the game.
That’s the main reason most of them are still playing, some well into their 70s.
“We love the game, that’s why we still play,” said retired educator and coach Steve Masten of Sherrodsville. “Sometimes we go out there and kick the ball around a little bit, but we still love to play. We are still having fun.”
Masten has been instrumental in keeping senior baseball alive in the area to the point where he just added a fourth team – one that features players 65 and over. All four teams began play for this year in the last week or so.
He does not take credit for starting the idea, however.
“In September of 1994, Keith Walker called me and talked to me about the idea of playing senior baseball,” said Masten. “We went to Fort Myers in November for a fall ball league and had fun.
“So in 1995 we put together the Tuscarawas Indians and we went 15-3 that first year. We won the regular season, but lost in the tournament finals. We played in the Northeast Ohio Roy Hobbs League for a while then dropped out.
“Now there are two senior leagues – Roy Hobbs and the Men’s Senior Baseball League. When the Canton-Akron Indians moved to Akron, they didn’t know what to do with Thurman Munson Stadium. The MSBL got a lease on the field so we started playing there because Canton is closer than Akron. We started with an over-45 team in the MSBL about 8 or 10 years ago and just added our fourth team this year.”
The teams consist of the Re/Max-Crossroads 45 Indians, the Lauren 55 Indians, the Diversified Engineering 60 Phillies and the Vision Care Associates 65 Phillies. The over 65 team is the latest addition to the senior baseball lineup.
“Eventually we want all four teams to be the Indians, but we are waiting on someone to give us some money,” Masten said with a laugh.
“The guy from Philadeli sponsored us before they went out of business and he was a Phillies fan so that’s why two of our teams are the Phillies.”
Rich Gilmore manages the over 45 team, while Bruce Hillyer and Randy Reichman co-manage the 55 team. Masten manages the other two squads.
“We have a total of 57 players, but I’m the only one on all four rosters,” he added with a chuckle.
Exactly what caliber of baseball are these guys playing well past their prime?
“It depends,” said Masten. “Some days we show our age. Some days we go out and kick the ball around some. Other days it’s pretty good baseball. The hitting really doesn’t diminish. It does get hard to find a catcher who can still throw someone out stealing. Our 45 team is pretty good. They’ve won the championship in two of the last three years and I think they could give the Class A teams a battle.”
How did Masten become such a big baseball fan?
“It’s kind of funny,” he said. “When I was in school I always ran track. When I was at Kent State some of the guys played on a baseball team. My senior year I decided to play – I hadn’t played baseball since Little League. My first game I pitched a no-hitter and I was hooked.”
Apparently so were a lot of other players.
Schedules and other information about teams is available at Ohiomsbl.com.
