In the fall of 2006 I was contemplating “retiring” from baseball. I had been playing some kind of baseball or another for 43 straight seasons, the last nine in a 30 and over baseball league in Woodridge, Illinois. The team wasn’t overly successful, but that wasn’t the reason for my thoughts, it was more the fact that several of the players on the team just seemed to go through the motions, didn’t take it seriously and worse yet, felt they were entitled to “special rules”. (In some future post I may discuss that new attitude of not taking responsibility for anything that is so prevalent in today’s athletes, pro and otherwise, but not here.) As someone who is definitely of the “old school” (or as it was said in the Chicago Tribune of Bill Wirtz, the deceased owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, ‘the dirt the old school was built upon’) the prevailing attitude kept me from enjoying myself. I realized the issue was with my enjoyment, that I couldn’t accept this way of playing from my teammates. My gut told me it was time, that my feelings for the sport, that my approach was from a bygone era.
Then while paging through an old issue of Sports Illustrated I saw a couple of paragraphs concerning Jim Bouton discussing something called Vintage Base Ball and his desire to put a federation of the teams together. I vaguely remembered an old teammate of mine, Marc Maznaritz telling me of “an old-timers game” at a county fair a few years back where they played with a leather ball, but no gloves and wooden bats. Well, it was a quick internet search later and I was pouring through more information about the “movement” than I thought possible. Within a couple days I was speaking with a gentleman named Gary “The Professor” Schiappacasse who had a least as much love for the game as I have. By spring 2007 I was playing 1858 Rules Base Ball in my 44th year of playing the game. I was playing on a team called the Chicago Salmon with men whom felt the same way that I do. We played other teams of men (and a couple women) in the Midwest with communities supporting the original ideals of the game. Playing to win; but more, just playing for love of the game. This was my start. More on the joys later.
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Thank you for the Chicago Salmon reference. You should point out that the "grand old game" of vintage baseball also includes young ballplayers that can play the "modern" game of baseball who for a number of reasons, including playing for the fun of it have chosen to play vintage baseball.
ReplyDeleteYou should have come with Scooter and I to the VBBA annual conference last weekend in Port Huron. More than 100 vintage players from around the country played in an "All-Star" game.
Gary The Professor Schiappacasse
Storyteller, at least you weren't "Shanghied" into a career in vintage base ball. One little coment by me to the owner of the Chicago Salmon, Ellie "Boss Lady" Carlson started my involvement. My comment... "What you need is an umpire". Her retort... "I think we've found one".
ReplyDeleteThirteen years later I still love it and Kev, my son is in his 13th year as well.
Hey Coach!
ReplyDeleteIt is Marc and I am still the best left fielder to ever not go professional. Glad to see that you still enjoy the game as much as you did. Hope you got rid of that nasty plastic/rubber jacket you sweat in! Would really like to get together for a game of catch. My skills are still all there.