My Turn: Comeback kid Bill Etzel of Manorville gets used to new rules

After a “pause” of 45 years, I decided to rejoin the world of organized competitive sports in the form of senior softball. I had played a great deal of softball in college and a few years afterward. At one point I was playing on three different softball teams at the same time, but marriage, kids, a house, coaching (ironically everything except softball), full- and part-time jobs, all conspired to crowd out those weeknight games and the doubleheaders on Sundays.

I kept as active as I could: biking on a regular basis, playing some pickup basketball games with other middle-aged men, jogging (in all fairness I can’t claim it was actual running), and chasing after our dog after he spied a deer in the fields.

One day when I was leaving my local supermarket, I saw a flyer about joining a softball league for seniors run by the Town of Brookhaven. I called the number and re-entered a world I thought I would easily adjust to.

My first hint that this was not going to go as planned was at my first practice. Running to first base, two things happened: I didn’t get there as quickly as I thought I would and after I crossed the base, every one of my leg muscles tightened up as if to say, “Are you kidding? We’ll have to discuss this further after you come to your senses and have a lie-down!”

There were senior rules to learn and adjust to. No, you can’t run to home plate — you have to run to a special line instead. The batter will start with a count of one ball and one strike and is only allowed to hit two foul balls (this seemed so strange to me, a sometimes umpire).

The 45-year layoff took its toll with hamstring strains, a sore shoulder, aching knees and, finally, a fractured ankle (which I didn’t know I had until the doctor took an X-ray). But, despite the physical cost, I was happy to be playing again. The support the players showed me, the give and take of friendly teasing, and the thrill of competition made all the visits to the doctors and physical therapists worthwhile.

As the season progressed I gained some confidence in my athletic abilities again, and I came to the realization that softball for a 70-year-old is much different than softball as a 25-year-old. I just finished the season and, while the team didn’t make it to the finals, I look back and treasure the friends I made and the camaraderie that we shared. I look forward to the fall season — and have already booked my appointments with my physical therapist.

 Bill Etzel

 Manorville