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© St. Petersburg Times, published February 13, 2003
They swung their first wooden bats during the Great Depression and learned to catch pop flies before the dawn of World War II. They played ball in high school, in the service and in factory leagues up North. They built ships, fitted pipe, caught criminals and raised families. One by one, they retired in Florida and turned into something they never expected to be.
Rookies.
Every year, a dozen or so men become rookies in the Kids & Kubs, a four-team softball league that has played since 1930. It's open to players who are 75 or older, or who will turn 75 during their rookie year.
Sometimes the newcomers are agile ballplayers. Sometimes, they must teach their bodies to run, catch and throw for the first time in decades. For many, it's the last time they will be rookies at anything.
Times staff writer Curtis Krueger recently followed the rookies through several games. Here are his sketches of, and comments from, some of this year's new players, who are looking forward to this Saturday's charity matchup against the City Hall All-Stars.
Herb Hedrick plays catcher for the Kids & Kubs, using a glove he got in Battle Creek, Mich., in 1946. At the time he got the glove, he played for a company baseball team.
"I liked it when I got it, and it's always been with me. . . . All the guys have been kind of making fun of me about it because it's smaller than the modern gloves.
"Peter's Sporting Goods (in Battle Creek) put up a $25 gift certificate for our team, for the first one on our team to hit a home run. So I hit a fly ball, the wind was blowing hard and it went over the fence. So I got the gift certificate, and that's how I got that glove. I'm sure it's ugly to everybody else, but it's mine."
Hedrick, 76, is a retired insurance investigator who moved to the Largo area as a winter resident four years ago. He started playing with the Kids & Kubs in November. Swinging the bat and catching the softball proved easy for him. Getting on base was a different matter.
"I was having trouble running. My knees were bothering me, and I couldn't make my feet go fast enough to really run. I could trot, but I couldn't run like I should be able to.
"I guess probably the last time I tried to run, to actually run, would have been probably back in the '70s.
"I just want to be competitive with the other guys and not hurt the team by making the third out all the time because I can't run to first base. That bugs me, because I'm not used to making outs.
"There are probably 40 of the 60 guys playing who are older than I am, and I've just plain got to prove to them that I can get to be as good as they are. They're all playing better than I'm playing. So it's become kind of a bit of a challenge to me. And I'm going to make sure, I think, that I prove to them that I can do it."
Doctors performed a triple bypass on Jim Walker, when he was 58, a plumber in Massachusetts. They told him not to shovel snow, rake leaves or lift heavy objects. But no one mentioned softball. He has played continuously since 1987 and moved to St. Petersburg in 1990. Last year at 74, he was old enough to join the Kids & Kubs and played in an all-star game in Texas.
"I like to play. . . . I told the guys, I said, 'If you don't want to win, I don't want you on my team.' Of course, they say it's for fun and exercise.
"I don't think I hit it that far. I mean, now and then you get one. But I think probably the defense, shortstop is better. . . . You hit a long ball, and they expect you to hit it all the time out there. Like yesterday, I couldn't hardly get it out of the infield. Just a bad day, I don't know.
"One day I hit a home run. That was a highlight. I don't think I got one since. . . . That was classic. It felt good, and then I ran. Of course, a lot of the guys can't run, some of them. But I can still run, even though I've got a bad knee. . . . I got there before they got there."
Little Leaguers look up to major league ballplayers. Rookies in the Kids & Kubs respect their elders, too. They especially admire Pat Rylee, who is 91, the oldest active player. Rylee is the oldest of four brothers, two of whom are still living. All four played for the Kids & Kubs.
"Pat Rylee now, he's 91. Yesterday he made three double plays all by himself. I mean he was fantastic. I like to see them guys get hits, too. Everybody cheers when they get a hit, especially the older ones. He is exceptional."
-- Jim Walker
Ray DeJarlais had stopped playing softball a dozen years ago because of bad knees. But after two knee replacements and seven months of therapy, he decided to become a rookie with the Kids & Kubs last year at age 75. He's now 76.
"A lot of people wait a year (before playing ball after knee replacements). Now, I couldn't see that. Because that means I would have missed the whole year. I'd have been a rookie next year too.
"There's a lot of people that don't believe people at this age are playing this type of game. That's the first thing: They don't believe you. That's why I carry a brochure with me to give it to them. And when I go North, I pass them out."
All the rookies who showed up to play with the Kids & Kubs one recent Thursday sat on the bleachers for a photo. From left to right: Les Lohmeier, 81; Herb Hedrick, 76; Howard Oschman, 75; Fred Cardella, 74; Ray DeJarlais, 75; Bruce Welch, 74; Ed Holmes, 74; and John Neville, 74.
The Kids & Kubs play on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through April at the North Shore Park ballfield. In most cases, the first game begins at 10:30 a.m. and the second one follows. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and several City Council members have been invited to play in this Saturday's game between the City Hall All-Stars and the Kids & Kubs. Players will arrive at about noon, and the game will begin about 1 p.m. Donations will benefit the St. Petersburg Free Clinic.