Still on the ball
Softball players aren't going to the "old folk's home" anytime soon
By Lynn Warren CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Page Dowdy/Chesterfield Observer Old Folks Home team member Bill Boyd attempts to catch a ball during a recent game. The team is comprised entirely of men in their 60s and one 40-something woman.

They call themselves the Old Folks Home (OFH), but for the last 15 years this group of seniors has shunned the porch rocker and an afternoon nap for the opportunity to smack a softball and run the bases.

Thirty men in their 60s and one 40-something woman (we're not allowed to tell her age, advised Coach Coy Newman) make up the 2007 version of OFH. Skill levels vary and are often relative to their ages. League rules accommodate any male over age 50 and female over 40, but this year's team has no males under 60.

There is no age ceiling. Former team member Buddy Allen was still playing at 87 years old. Once a highly-skilled player elected to the Softball Hall of Fame, Allen passed away last year.

Often fielding two teams, OFH plays 28 road games a year. They play teams from Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Altavista, Mount Vernon and Farmville and an occasional pickup game at Harry Daniel Park in Chesterfield.

OFH plays year round. When the weather gets cool, the team goes indoors to the Ramsey Church gym. A special game of softball/wiffle ball keeps them going until they come out of hibernation in March.

Newman and 61-year-old Bill Boyd have traded the head coaching job back and forth several times and appear to take a different approach to the game.

"It's safety first and fun second," said Newman.

"I just like to go and hear the old war stories and all the kidding and clowning around," said Boyd.

Safety is really built into the rules. There is no sliding. Both first base and home plate have double bases - one for the runner and the other for the defensive player to avoid collisions.

But even Newman admits that all of the safety rules cannot always compensate for those "senior moments." Runners on first forget to go to second when the next batter hits the ball. Fielders call for a high fly and then forget to put the glove up and take it in the noggin, or one might call for the fly ball that is 30 feet over his head and never move.

"And falling down running the bases is an every game thing," Newman admitted. "But we have fun riding each other all the time. We even ride the other team. One of the players often ends up being the umpire, and that leads to some very interesting discussions."

Every player gets to bat, but, depending on their physical abilities, not every batter plays in the field. Batters can be pinch run if their ability to run is suspect or impaired. The desire to get as many turns at the plate as possible sometimes leads to controversy, and even softball legends are not immune. Boyd recalled that Allen was an "all-around good player, but you had to watch him. He really liked to bat, but didn't want to play in the field, so he would get back in line to bat if you weren't careful. And you have to watch Coy too; he'll do the same thing," he laughed.

"You do see some goofy things: Guys catching a ground ball and just standing there, not throwing it in, or just standing on the base when the ball is hit. Real senior moments."

On the other side of the coin is Doug "Hollywood" Keesler. Why Hollywood? "Because he is always trying to showboat in the outfield," Boyd offered.

That's false propaganda, countered the 71- year-old Keesler. "I was born in Hollywood, Ga., and somehow they put that nickname on the way I play. I don't showboat ever, but I do like to laugh and have a good time," he chuckled.

The team does keep a game box score. "We do like to know who won," said Boyd, but no individual statistics are recorded. "You could go zero for 23 with men on base, and we'd never know it," added Newman.

"It's all about getting everybody together and having fun," Boyd concluded.