By Jason Cruz
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Before it became a 1,100-player powerhouse, the Puget Sound Senior Baseball League (PSSBL) consisted of just one nervous founder standing on an empty diamond, wondering if anyone else loved the game as much as he did.
“I didn’t know if anyone would show up,” said the league’s founder, Ben Low.
Minutes later, the field was packed—and a new baseball era was born.
Currently, the PSSBL has 10 divisions of play in recreational, advanced, and intermediate levels of skill at these various divisions.
“But when we started in 1989, we had four teams of 16 and nobody knew who I was,” Low recalled as the players willingly paid money (about $160) to Low to play. But it was the mutual love for the sport that is what got me interested. “…[b]ecause they wanted to play baseball so badly, they would trust that money to a guy they didn’t know.”
PSBBL is open to ages 18 and up. Low noted that the oldest player in the league is 88 years old. The competition varies from former college (and even pro) baseball players to those that have just been fans of the game.
“The league has gotten increasingly competitive over the years, so there’s always some pedigree of play at young ages for a lot of the players.” He added, “But there are a lot of players, and I include myself in that group that had very little experience except maybe what they had when they were kids in Little League.” But Low notes that they try to ensure that everyone that signs up is included. “We keep trying to find ways to accommodate those players.”
Low notes that his motivation to play was because his parents would not let him. “My parents were immigrants, and they would not let me play Little League because our family had a laundry [business] and we were all expected to contribute.” Low explained, “And so my father was going to be damned if he was going to pay for me to go play while everybody worked.”
Low noted that he was 38 years old when he played his first organized baseball game. It was 1989, the first year of the PSSBL.
The league came out of Low reading a Sports Illustrated article about a guy in Long Island who started a league for men over 30. At the end of the article, he said anybody interested in this should write a letter to him with a self-addressed stamped envelope. There were six people in the area who answered the article.
“But one by one, the guys who all started out being interested in organizing the league dropped out until there were only two of us,” Low explained. “And the morning of our first tryout, that guy called me and said, “Ben, ‘I’m sorry to tell you this, but I can’t make it to the tryout because I have to go to a news conference because I’m buying the Bellingham Baby Mariners.”
Low thought that the turnout would be dismal.
“When I got to the field, there were guys all over,” recalled Low. “I thought there was a mistake because we had a permit. And as soon as I stepped onto the field, a KIRO TV news reporter stuck a microphone under my chin and a camera guy followed me around.” Someone had let the news crew know about the tryouts and followed Low around as he went through a workout.
After the coverage on KIRO TV, Low was inundated with letters of interest from people wanting to play.
And the PSSBL was born.
Low built up the league from the ground up, including determining an infrastructure to organize the tryouts and select players for the league.
He is currently the general manager of a team and is taking a “hiatus” from playing at this time due to sore knees.
Steve Tanaka, a member of the PSSBL, has played with and against Low for over 30 years.
“It was a matter of getting back into a sport that I enjoyed as a youth,” said Tanaka. “Being a big baseball fan, I was always a big sports participant through junior high school, but transitioned from team to individual sports.”
Tanaka began playing in 1991 at the age of 37. He played organized softball during college and graduate school and enjoyed the competition. “I follow my home team, so I know a lot of baseball, and I have a very high baseball IQ.” Tanaka stated that he is not an extrovert so joining a team with no one he knew at the start was daunting, but he was able to find common ground. “I can discuss baseball, talking with teammates about certain situations [on the field].
“The biggest thing, it was a challenge,” he added, “if I can see, I can do it.”
Tanaka participates in the annual Men’s Senior Baseball League World Series, which is held in Phoenix, Arizona. The PSSBL sends teams down to participate every fall. The tournament is competitive as former major leaguers Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd and Roger Clemens have participated in the event, which brings together senior league baseball players from all over the country.
“Everyone participates as best as they can,” said Tanaka. “As teams get older, you add more players.” As a coach, Tanaka has reminded players of their limits. “Sometimes you have to look someone right in the eye and tell them they cannot pitch. I think people understand that for the most part.”
“There’s still a lot of pride whether you are 45, 55…85 years old,” said Tanaka.
For more information on the PSSBL, visit PSSBL.com. Tanaka participates in the annual Men’s Senior Baseball League World Series, which is held in Phoenix, Arizona. The PSSBL sends teams down to participate every fall.
Jason can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.
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