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Kindred spirits

Jamestown and Area Old Timers claim division championship

Photo courtesy of Jamestown Old Timers Above is the 2021 50-plus Baseball League of Youngstown (Ohio) National Division champion Jamestown and Area Old Timers. In front row, from the left, are Dave Wortman, Rick Prindle, Mark Hovan, Pat Duffy, Larry Persing and Scott SanAngelo. In back row are Doug Frank, Roy Luksch, Brian Ferry, Wade Nelson, Jon Sitler, Ed Baldensperger and Ron Thomas.

With COVID, nothing is sacred. Not even something as American as senior baseball.

COVID-19 reared its ugly head again in the Jamestown Old Timers 2021 season.

Things were pretty normal when we got going in May.

We didn’t have to wear masks in the dugouts nor stay out of the dugouts entirely. At least one player in the league wore a mask on the field, but that was a personal choice.

We had a home field that was near home this year.

I live in Pennsylvania. My away games (with two exceptions) were in Ohio. My home games were in New York. That’s an improvement. In 2020, we weren’t allowed to play at Diethrick Park due to COVID-19 rules in New York and all of our “home” games were in Boardman, Ohio.

Playing in our home stadium is a huge bonus for me. I would play on a sandlot (or on a field with a portable mound, an all-artificial infield, and a wooden fence with odd dimensions, in a game interrupted by one of the most impressive rain storms I’ve ever experienced) but getting to play on a field of Diethrick’s quality is awesome.

We were allowed to have fans at our games this year. That didn’t mean we had more than a few fans at our games, but we were allowed to.

We did have fans once. We played an exhibition game.

The Jamestown Police Department demolished us. Annihilated. It was a charity game, but money would have gone to the charity regardless of the outcome, so we’re not happy with our performance. I’m pretty sure we’ll be asking for a rematch.

I’m not confident of a better result.

The result doesn’t really matter. We like to win. Who doesn’t? But, most of us aren’t in it because we’re superstars. There aren’t too many scouts at our games trying to sign the best of the 50-and-over bunch. Agents haven’t been calling me. We just love to play ball.

We played a good schedule this year. I hear we had 21 games – four of which did not count toward our official standings in the league.

There were times when we didn’t get to play, but those were not our fault this year.

There were times we traveled with exactly nine guys for doubleheaders in 80-plus degree weather. Not ideal, but we did it.

Then, COVID knocked us out of the playoffs.

The entire American Division (there are two divisions in our 50-plus league) playoffs was canceled. More than one team had more than one positive case.

But, there were no known cases in our division, so we played on.

After winning our way to the championship game, we found out we wouldn’t get to play that game.

On Monday, we learned there was a positive case on the team we would have played – a team that we played on Saturday.

So, we are the champions… but we don’t get to play.

It’s an odd combination of emotions.

We won, but I don’t get to gather with those kindred spirits that one last time. When we talk baseball, we have things in common. When Jon sees an opposing batter’s stance and asks if anyone remembers Eric Davis … of course we all do. We’re all pretty close to the same age and remember the same era. When Larry talks about being at a game and seeing Clemente at the plate against Koufax … well, that was before my time. But I recognize how awesome that would have been. When I called Roy “Mordecai” after he had a significant accident involving a knife and a finger … they got it. These are guys who know baseball history. A casual fan doesn’t know that Mordecai is the name of the pitcher from way back known as “Three-Finger Brown.”

COVID kept me from spending another weekend with those guys and from competing — trying to get the better of that guy who is trying to get the better of me. It kept me from living out for one more day this year that childhood dream of playing baseball as an adult. (That dream usually involved me making lots of money while doing it. COVID didn’t play a role in my inability to do that.)

I have had enough of COVID. I hope it will leave us all alone.

With people dying every day, being able to play baseball isn’t close to the most important factor in that hope… but it’s on the list.

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WRITER’S NOTE: Anyone over the age of 46 who is interested in joining the Old Timers may contact me. I am not the manager, nor the captain, but I know those guys and I will happily add you to the list of interested players.

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