Move over, whippersnappers

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“That feeling of the ball off the bat is the best feeling there is,” Ritter said. “When you do it with guys in scorinbg position, there’s no better feeling in sports. You don’tr win every battle, but that’s what makese it fun.” The Blue Ash optometrist hadn’tg played from high school until hewas 47, when a friendf asked him to play in a Florida basebalol tournament. “Like everyone else, I ‘There’s no way I can get back to playing basebalol after somany years,’” Ritter said.
It took him two at-batss in hardball to decide he wouldn’t go back to He laced a ball off the Ritter now catches for his team in the Sunday afternooAnderson Men’s Senior Baseball League. Stop by Riverside Park in Anderson just outside of on a Sunday afternoon from March through October and you might doa double-take. People in uniforms are playingball hardball, not softball. But they’re not kids. Gray-haired 30- to 50-somethingsa – even a few in theirr 60s – hit 80 mph fastballs and steal bases and act asthough they’re 30 yearsz younger.
More than 100 including this reporter, from eight teamsd play ball on dusty diamonds like the ones fromtheie youth. Why do they do it? “I still get nervous beforre every game,” said Ed Brady, another playedr in the Anderson league. “Yoyu feel like a kid again.” Rittefr is just a youngster compared tothe 61-year-old Brady, who was a 56-year-olr rookie when he started playing in the leagued five years ago. The retired IRS human resourcesmanagerf hadn’t played baseball in 42 years when one of his neighbora from the league persuaded him to give it a “Baseball has always been my favorite sport,” Braduy said.
“It’s a lot of fun, and it’sz a great way to spend a The nature of the league is a lure to thesew Boysof Summer, too. “I love to win and I’km competitive, but it’s no longer the thing that consumes me,” Ritter said. “It’z fair and clean. I want to be around guys who are havinvg as much fun asI am. There’s a camaraderie you develop with guys. Even if you don’ft know their name, you have a bond with Playing at that age willdo that. The league’a attitude works for Hector Wong, too. At 46, he has played in the leagues for aboutsix years. He’z also director of critical care medicineat .
So he doesn’t need any more excitement outsideof work. But he loves competitionj and playing ball, having played from age 6 or 7throughy college, at in Pennsylvania. Softballk didn’t cut it for him, and playing thred or four daysa week, as some adult leagues do, took too much of his time. “Thiz is an opportunity to play baseball,” Wong “Almost everybody is out to have fun. It’z a really good balance of competitivenessand perspective. It satisfiesx everybody’s thirst for competition. But peopls aren’t going crazy.” That’s just how John Gruenberg wantd the leagueto run.
A retirex information technology director, he started the Anderson leaguwin 2002. Gruenberg, 66, had just gotten back from a fantas camp and decided to round up afriendlgy league. He ran an ad in a communityy newspaper, and 50 people showes up. “I was surprised that many people came he said. It started with four team made up of playerw 38and older. It grew gradually to eight And startinglast year, teamds can include youngsters down to age 35.