TERRE HAUTE — Spring training has arrived in Terre Haute, and unlike the Wabash Valley high school fields and the new Bob Warn Field at Indiana State, no future professionals are involved in this league at the former Terre Haute South Babe Ruth complex.
But these boys of summer are not lacking in experience.
The Terre Haute Men’s Senior Baseball League is entering its 20th season. Dr. Darren Brucken, the league president and family physician in Terre Haute, said the league will expand to add a Classics Division for men 50 and older.
In 2009, the THMSBL had eight teams in its 18-and-over division and six in its 38-and-over league. The league had more than 200 players last season, and is always looking to grow. The older divisions are wooden-bat only, and the younger division allows regulation metal bats.
The Classics Division hopes to entice more men nearing retirement age to get back on the field and playing the game many grew up with decades ago.
“It gives guys toward the sentinel of their career that just want to go out and play the chance to play on a level playing field,” said Brucken.
Jim Tanner is the founder of the Terre Haute Men’s Senior Baseball League, and he’s still going strong at age 65.
“I really think playing baseball keeps you young. People are out there working out, working out to be in shape for baseball,” Tanner said.
Tanner has traveled to Arizona to play in Men’s Senior Baseball League World Series events each year since 1991. The national organization has added divisions in five-year increments as the league’s popularity has grown over the years.
“What’s happened is people enjoy the game so much, they realize there’s no reason they can’t keep playing,” said Tanner, who has been a part of a team that won the 2006 World Series title in the 60-and-over division and a father-son championship team in 2002. “When we started going out to Phoenix, they had an exhibition 50-and-over game, just one game. Now they have, 55-and-over, 60-and-over … “
Turk Roman is one Terre Haute player in his 70s, staying fit enough to compete in the 38-and-over division in recent years.
“There’s people out there in there in their 80s,” Tanner said. “There was a guy out there two years ago that was 85 years old. He was 2 for 3 against us with a double down the line. The guy could probably outrun 70 percent of the guys on our team.”
Still, asking an 80-year-old man to compete against a 40-year-old is asking a lot.
But as a manager/player in the 18-plus division, I have watched some of the older guys pitch, and they can still bring some velocity and some breaking pitches.
“It is a lot of fun,” said Andy Pickering, a local veterinarian who has played since 1991. “A guy like Gary Yeryar that can still bring it, and a guy named Stan that comes all the way up from Evansville, he throws hard.”
While physically, “everything changes as you get older,” Tanner said, the game is definitely timeless — and can bring together generations.
“People can go out to Phoenix, Ariz., and play in major league stadiums that they use for spring training — and even play with their sons and grandsons. That’s my goal to live long enough to have my sons and grandsons compete on the same team,” said Tanner, who has played with his son Jimmy, a former player at Indiana State.
The Classics Division has enough for three teams already, but would like to add at least one more. Individual players may sign up at www.thmsbl.com or call Tanner at (812) 236-4478. The other divisions also welcome more teams and players. The cost is approximately $150 per player.
Having joined the league just last year, it’s more fun than I even imagined. Former high school and college talent fills the league in addition to those that haven’t played since days as a Little League or Babe Ruth hero.
• • •
When the Terre Haute Rex opens its season in June, future professionals will also begin a busy summer at ISU’s new Bob Warn Field
Play began Saturday at the new field, which features a gorgeous new FieldTurf infield. ISU won its weekend series 2-1 over Tennessee Martin. Saturday’s crowd was just over half the capacity of 847. About half of the available seats are reserved seats with chairbacks and cupholders.
The entire coaching staff for the Terre Haute Rex was in attendance Saturday. Casey DeGroote and John Gardner, former minor league players and former Sycamores, will be assistant coaches. Brian Dorsett, who adds major league experience to the mix, is looking forward to leading a team at the new stadium.
“I’m really pleasantly surprised by how the new stadium look and feel brings a different flavor to what baseball has been in the past at this particular location,” Dorsett said. “Everybody that I’ve seen and spoken with so far have just been really, really pleased.”
Dorsett said the roster for the Rex is close to being finalized. In addition to current Sycamores from the Wabash Valley — Kyle Burnam of Marshall, Ill., and Brandon Dorsett and Koby Kraemer of Terre Haute — former Terre Haute South standouts Cole Vicars and Bobby Woods will be on the team, Dorsett said.
Vicars and Woods are playing for Alcorn State this spring. Vicars, the 2007 McMillan Award winner as Vigo County's top athlete, is playing middle infield while also working as a relief pitcher, Dorsett said, while Woods is a right-handed pitcher.
Burnam is off to a strong start for the Sycamores, hitting safely in eight of their 10 games with a batting average of .375. He was a home run short of the cycle in ISU’s home-opening win Saturday.
Craig Pearson can be reached by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com or by phone at (812) 231-4357.
Sports Columns
'Till It's Over: 50-year-olds staying young with TH Men’s Senior Baseball
- Sports Columns
-
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Assessing the NCAA tournament jumble
The college men’s basketball schedule is in its final month with Selection Sunday less than four weeks away.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: And now, on to the next beloved winter sport
The final football game finally has been played, meaning folks in the Valley can concentrate on basketball this week.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Peyton’s place belongs to Eli
The good people of Indianapolis justifiably puffed out their chests throughout Super Bowl week as the city received deserved rave reviews for the job it did as hosts of Super Bowl XLVI.
-
COLLEGE REPORT: Vikings Waters, Barton excited about college basketball
West Vigo grad Lauren Dailey helped the Lady Vikings basketball program to a lot of success at the end of the 1990s, and went on to play for Eastern Illinois from 2001-2004.
-
REDNECK QUAKER: Parke County young man keeps busy outdoors
When I spoke to Jeff Wilson about directions to this house, he asked if I had four-wheel drive.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Indianapolis is looking mighty good this week
It’s Super Bowl XLVI week … in Indiana for the first time.
-
AMEY TAKES AIM: Getting ready for the dance
Terre Haute North got the good news Sunday night — or did it?
-
REDNECK QUAKER: Moose hunt in Quebec is sucessful
Bob Lynch was looking for a reason to spend more time with his dad. So after convincing his wife it was a bonding thing, the hunt was on.
-
DAVID HUGHES: Super Bowl odds getting stranger and stranger
Today’s annual “Super Bowl odds column” feels special to me because I’ve been a diehard NFL fan since 1967 and next Sunday will be the first time the big game takes place in our great state of Indiana.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Fox gives TH punter kudos
The stage is set. It’ll be the New York Giants against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl that will be played for the first time in Indianapolis.
-
TILL IT'S OVER: Mahan’s emergence comes at a good time
In the preseason of her second year, Indiana State women’s basketball coach Teri Moren spoke with excitement about having more “pieces” to fit together for a winning puzzle.
-
AMEY TAKES AIM: Harrowing path for state hopefuls
The bad news is that the winner of Class 4A Sectional 13 in boys basketball heads northeast instead of southeast for regional play in March — to Hinkle Fieldhouse instead of Seymour as a result of Indiana High School Athletic Association’s changes.
-
TODD GOLDEN: Indiana State men caught between expectation, reality
The Missouri Valley Conference is hush-hush on how it puts together its matchups for the annual conference schedule.
-
REDNECK QUAKER: Company important part of ice fishing
My wife assigned me to find a long lake for her masters swim team to practice, even though it is below freezing and everything is covered in ice.
-
HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Coach’s book a chance to remember North Vermillion state champs
Almost 10 years ago, February 2002 to be exact, the New England Patriots upset the high-powered St. Louis Rams to win Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans, the Winter Olympics entertained spectators in Salt Lake City and Terre Haute South High School’s girls basketball team started its tournament run toward a Class 4A state title.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten shaken up last week
It was a very interesting week in men’s college basketball, especially in the Big Ten.
-
AMEY TAKES AIM: A superior all-star arrangement
I don’t work on Wednesdays, so I wasn’t able to attend the first Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association draft last week to set up the annual all-star game that will be June 23 this year.
-
REDNECK QUAKER: Expo like heaven to pair of Valley outdoorsmen
Last weekend when Max Winchell and Nick Rice walked into the Dallas Safari Hunting Expo, they thought they had died and gone to heaven!
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: A fresh round of predictions as the NFL dwindles to 8
More National Foootball League playoff games are slated this weekend, with the number of postseason teams down to eight following an interesting weekend of wild-card action.
-
COLLEGE REPORT: South grad coaching swimming at East Carolina
Brent Noble has made the equivalent of a 50-yard freestyle dash up the college swimming coaches’ ladder, as the former Terre Haute South and Eastern Illinois standout has reached the Division I coaching level in just a few short years.
Noble is in his first year at East Carolina after a successful season as an assistant coach at DePauw, where he primarily worked with the sprint and stroke swimmers. He helped the team obtain a conference title and five swimmers advance to the NCAA Division III Championship meet. -
REDNECK QUAKER: Eilbracht bags a big one
As of November, the 2011 deer season, this is the largest buck taken with a bow that I’ve heard of this year.
-
SIDELINES: Good for even a traditional Classic buff
Lights down, tree out, another year gone at the Classic.
-
AMEY TAKES AIM: The biggest & baddest of a holiday classic
There are more things to love about the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic than could fit in this newspaper, but one of this year’s best things was that for an hour or so on Wednesday, it was Justin Paddock’s world and we were just living in it.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Hile inducted into Hall
Indiana State grad Amy Lynn Hile will take her place in another Hall of Fame this year.
Inducted into the ISU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005, the former Sycamore standout has been named as one of the 2011 inductees into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
-
TRACKSIDE: Valley racing showed best, worst of times in 2011
A look back on the 2011 Wabash Valley auto racing season reveals the best and worst of times the sport has to offer.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: It’s time now for some intraleague hoops rivalries
It’s the final week of 2011 but it is the first week of conference basketball games for most colleges, particularly those in Indiana and Illinois.
-
PHWVC preview: Balanced senior scorers pace Monrovia
It’s been awhile, but Monrovia has had its fair share of bright, shining moments in the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic.
-
COLLEGE REPORT: Some odds and ends from College Report mailbag
Here are some odds and ends from Santa’s mailbag:
-
HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Plenty of sports-related gifts for columnist's wish list
Last week, I was all set to beg Santa Claus to give the Indianapolis Colts a certificate good for one NFL regular-season victory.
Then the 2011 Colts decided to play like the 2009 Colts and clobber the Tennessee Titans on Sunday for their first win of the season. So that present won’t be necessary. -
RAMBLIN' RECK: A long distance relationship
Indiana State’s trip out West to play basketball at Boise State brought back memories of one of the trips I made to that city.
- More Sports Columns Headlines
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Assessing the NCAA tournament jumble
Raw Video: Biden Greets Chinese VP for Visit
Authorities: Houston Found Underwater in Tub
Whitney Houston Funeral to Be Invitation Only
Raw Video: Heavy Shelling in Homs, Syria
Raw Video: 5 People Injured in Bangkok Blasts
Bacteria Keep Swimmers Off Some Fla. Beaches
New Details in Search for Missing Utah Mom
Trial Opens for Ala. Man in Bride's Diving Death
Raw Video: Kim Jong Il Statue Unveiled
Baltimore's 'Crime Stopper' Is a Basketball Star
Raw Video: Hearse Arrives at N.J. Funeral Home
Arm Wrestler Not Guilty Plea in Wife's Death
Raw Video: Houston Body Flown From L.A. to N.J.
First Person: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
Raw Video: Whitney Houston's Last Performance
Obama: Good US-China Ties Help the Whole World
Raw Video: Protesters, Security Clash in Bahrain
And the Winner for Best Super Bowl Ad Is...
Obama's New Budget: The Winners and Losers
School Pays Students to Attend Class
Kim K. Wet, Wild and Natural
Ultimate Tazer Ball is a Shocking New Sport
Shakira Attacked By Sea Lion
Modern day treasure hunter searching for $3 billion prize
What Happened Inside Whitney's Hotel Room?
Saying 'I Love You' With a Sewage Plant Tour
VS Models Wow for V-Day
Olympic Swimmer Proposes on Podium After Big Win
Kate Upton MLB 2K12 Commercial
Watch: Whitney Houston's Golden Hearse
Scarlett Johansson's Bikini P-D-A
Man Allegedly Drowns Wife While Scuba Diving
Glee Pays Tribute to Whitney
Wash. becomes 7th state to okay same-sex marriage
Romijn's 60 Pound Weight Loss
The 'Celebrity Apprentice' Cast Meets Donald Trump
Kissing contest heats up
Hugh Hefner's Son Arrested
Jacqueline Kennedy's personal papers released
Did Tyler Perry Have a Secret Wedding?
