The Bakersfield Voice

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An initial euphoric feeling was felt somewhere near the vicinity of the pitcher’s mound during the spring of 1970. Our Avenal High School Buccaneers’ baseball team had just won the small schools Valley Championship by defeating the Exeter Monarchs in Avenal, a small town of 3,000 residents located 80 miles north of Bakersfield just off of I-5. Our perfect league record and undefeated playoff run had galvanized the community!

After playing baseball at Long Beach State University and getting a couple of professional looks, I moved to Bakersfield in 1977 assuming that my playing days were over. In 1988 a buddy of mine from Los Angeles contacted me regarding a new baseball organization that was starting up, the Men’s Senior Baseball League, and asked if I would be interested in playing with their team, the Hollywood Stars.

My older bones jumped at the opportunity to delve back into a passion of mine, and it was the beginning of a yearly trek to Tempe, Ariz. to compete in the MSBL World Series.

Fast-forward to November of 2007 — the 19th consecutive year in which I attended the World Series in Arizona to play in the largest baseball championship ever conceived as nearly 400 teams from the United States, Canada, the Virgin Islands and elsewhere once again congregated, attempting to capture a ring in various age divisions.

The Stars had made playoffs twice in all of the previous years, and had been bounced out quickly each year. In 2007, we moved “up” to the over-55 age division. I don’t dare give my age away, but this rookie had a sense of excitement going into the 2007 Series!

We went 4-2 in pool play and won our first two playoff encounters to advance to the championship game against the undefeated and heavily-favored Washington D.C. Senators, who had thumped us 7-1 in pool play. We knew we were the underdogs, but we also knew that with teamwork and perseverance anything could happen!

The home team Senators took a 6-5 lead into the top of the ninth inning. With two outs, our team miraculously plated two runners to take a 7-6 lead into the bottom of the ninth. With men on second and third, and with two outs, a Senators ground ball to first base was fielded and the final out was recorded.

That euphoric feeling of the springtime of 1970 was felt once again as we stormed the pitcher’s mound to celebrate. After nine nine-inning baseball games in six days, the Hollywood Stars had written the perfect script for a World Series Championship.

And 37 years later, one man’s passion had come full circle!