Near the banks of the Root River, on a field nestled amid trees and shrubs, Dave Raine has found the softball fountain of youth.
Raine is 70 years old, and the former semi-pro baseball player who once had a tryout with the St. Louis Browns – remember them? – can't motor around the diamond like he used to. But on crisp, spring Wednesdays, on the sun-dappled, neatly-groomed, newly-chalked Island Park field, softball becomes his tonic of reinvigoration, rejuvenation and restoration.
"Playing here is about getting back to hearing the crack of the bat. To seeing the players move around the diamond. To see them fielding the ball,” said Raine, who has lived in Racine for the last 20 years. “Here, in my mind, I can still play.”
Raine is one of dozens of men, all at least 55 years old, who gather each Wednesday at Island Park to stay in the swing of things by playing softball. The program was started several years ago by the city’s Department of Park and Recreation in response to several suggestions for a senior citizen softball league.
“There was an interest out there, so we decided to get something going,” said Jeanne Brenner , the department’s organizer of the league. “Some of these guys can still hit the heck out of the ball. A lot of them played softball forever and they want to keep playing.”
These guys certainly don’t want to play cards during their later years. And they aren’t alone. Many people still work at 55, 60 and even 65. Retirees are taking part-time jobs. They feel no need to take a seat in a big comfy easy chair, draw a shawl around themselves and listen to the clock tick.
“They’re more vigorous, they’re healthier and they’re expecting to continue to be involved,” wrote Dr. Robert N. Butler, president of the International Longevity Center, part of New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in a study about active retirees. “It’s an issue that hasn’t totally thresholded. People are just becoming increasingly aware that something dramatic is happening in society.”
Thirteen percent of the population is 65 or older. By 2025, Butler said, one in five Americans will be that old. By comparison, only three percent of the population was 65 or older in 1900 and in 1776, only two percent.
Julian Bates is the very model of the new, active seniors: The Waterford resident has a part-time job, golfs regularly, and works out at a health club at least once a week.
“You can’t just sit around,” said the tall, lanky Bates. “I probably feel better now than I did 15 years ago.”
Bates read about the softball program and drove to Racine from Waterford to play. He probably had second thoughts after he stumbled trying to track down a pop-up and jammed his shoulder.
“I think all the pieces are still there,” said the 61-year-old as he rubbed his arm. “That’s what I get for trying to have my body do things that it’s not supposed to do.”
For 66-year-old Racine native Dick Gleissner, his body had not done anything softball related for almost two decades until he went to Island Park.
Gleissner, a 1954 graduate of Park High School, lived in California for 38 years before returning to his hometown two years ago. While on the West Coast, he played fast-pitch softball and helped his teams win state and regional championships. He gave up the game for almost 20 years, but found out he couldn’t stay away.
“Once it’s in your blood, it stays in your blood,” Gleissner said. “You know, I don’t feel 66 on the inside. To me, that’s just a number.”
On the first day of playing, a line drive smashed into Gleissner’s left arm, leaving him with a nasty bruise. But that didn’t stop him from coming back the next week.
“I wish more people would come out and give this a try,” he said. “It’s not about how well you play, and it’s certainly not about winning and losing. It’s about camaraderie. It’s about getting together and reminiscing, to talk about old times.”
The players who gather at Island say they are careful to stretch and warm up carefully before hitting the field. Raine said he pedals on a stationary bike before he drives to the field.
“I also try to play it smart,” he said. “If it’s a little cold, I don’t throw or swing as hard as I could.”
Joe Fiorentino throws hard, hits hard and runs hard. He has lived in Racine for half of his 60 years, and has a retirement place in Florida. His deep tan in mid-May gives away his long spells in the Sunshine State. There, he plays softball at last once a week, and was one of the main movers behind getting Racine’s program up and running.
But before last year, Fiorentino had not been on a softball field in two decades.
“I met a guy down in Florida who told me about the softball leagues they had, and I said ‘don’t kid yourself,’” he said. “But when I saw it, I fell in love with it.”
“I was sore at first, particularly in the legs, but now I stretch a lot before I start. That seems to workout fine for me.
“It’s not about winning,” he said. It’s about a good time to be with people of your own age.”
Or having a good time with the older folks: The shortstop on Fiorentino’s Florida team was 78 and led the league in home runs. The first basemen was 81 and played every week until his knees began to bother him, Fiorentino said.
What playing has done is improve my quality of life tremendously,” he said.
“I’m an avid golfer, and I like doing this more than golfing. That’s how much I like it.”
