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WWII vets to face off in softball

The game will put U.S. and Japanese players in one historic match.

By DAVE SCHEIBER, Times Staff Writer
Published December 17, 2007

The Kids & Kubs, the senior softball club that has long been a part of the St. Petersburg landscape, embarks today on the most meaningful road trip in their 78-year history.

Fifteen members of the team for players 75 and older are flying to Hawaii this morning in preparation for a historic matchup: U.S. World War II veterans from the Pacific Theater against former combat counterparts from the Japanese military.

The game, scheduled for Wednesday near Pearl Harbor, brings together men now in their 80s who once were mortal enemies.

The Times is traveling with the team and will report on the trip later in the week.

"This is the biggest thing that's ever happened to a senior, 80-year-old ball team anywhere in the country - there's nothing that compares to it," said team president Winchell Smith, 88.

The game has been in the works for several years, following a documentary on the Kids & Kubs made by Japanese independent television director Sho Ishida. The idea for a contest between the Kids & Kubs and a senior team from Japan was broached by former club president Harvey Musser.

Ishida then helped make it happen with assistance from contacts in Japan, who assembled a team of World War II veterans and picked up the $17,000 travel costs for the Kids & Kubs.

The only caveat is that the Kids & Kubs make an effort to repay the money. The group is accepting donations and seeking government grants to raise the funds.

Anyone wishing to donate can contact them at (727) 893-7108 or at their headquarters at Kids & Kubs, the Sunshine Center, 330 Fifth St. N, St. Petersburg, Fla. 33701.

[Last modified December 16, 2007, 22:31:09]