SPEAKING OF SPORTS
November 1998
by Barry Stagg
BOSWARLOS BASEBALL VETERANS
Sports columnist get to draw on their personal experiences at their whim. This month I am going to tell you about my escapades as a veteran baseball player in Toronto.
In Toronto there are two baseball leagues for the aged. One is the Scarborough Men's Senior Baseball League which permits players over the age of thirty to ply their avocational athletic skills in a four-team league. The other league is the Toronto Men's Senior Baseball League which plays night games on Fridays and Mondays in a closely knit three team league. The Toronto league will permit grey beards over the age of 27 to don the double-knits and play under the lights at Seneca College.
My baseball career went through a ten year hiatus after my Newfoundland senior baseball career ended in early June of 1986. I recall playing my last game with the Stephenville Knights down on that new baseball field on Father Joy's Road in Port au Port. We were a veteran team even then and most of us would have qualified for the over thirty brigade at that time. As I recall, the leftfielder in that game was another Boswarlos native while the second baseman hailed from Noel's Pond and the rightfielder represented himself as the pride of Hynes' Road.
Last year I decided that a resurrection of my baseball skills was in order. I took to the diamond in two separate leagues,filling my time on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays. Two games a week with the occasional practice and the inevitable post game discussion and lubrication went fairly well in 1997. Thus it was really not a particularly hard decision to join both leagues again for 1998.
In Toronto, the Toronto Knights featuring a collection of worthies ranging in age from 27-49 managed to finish second in our three team league. However, we came on strongly in the playoffs, survived a first game loss in our semi-finals and then eliminated the first place finishers two games to none in the best of three finals. The win in the finals came about when our catcher managed to coax a bases-loaded walk out of the opposition pitcher, a fireballer hailing from New Waterford, Cape Breton Island. We won, we celebrated and we held court with the lads from the other team at the league's favourite watering hole. The traditions of baseball continue to be upheld even at this geriatric level.
Over in our Scarborough league, the Scarborough Rockies, with their Boswarlos born centrefielder, managed to win the league championship over the Scarborough Marlins. Our transplanted Cape Breton friend once again participated on the losing squad. It serves him right for winning both championships last year.
Aching muscles, a sense of athletic fulfilment and foolish determination to endure pinched sciatic nerves and "charlie horses" set the ambience for these summer leagues for the greying boys of summer. I even wore my Port au Port Vikings cap to a practice.
Until next month, be proud, be prosperous.