The way the senior softball league here in Boise got started had its own twisty, meandering style of showing up: It was back in ’98 when two fellas walked into the city recreation office within a few days of each other, with the same idea—how about some senior softball? No one really knew what they were talking about, so they hooked those two grey mavericks up with each other to see what they could do.

It took umpteen phone calls and endless hours of explaining, but sometime in the early spring of that year about a dozen guys over 50-years-old showed up at a rag-tag grass field for the first practice. Looking back at the snapshot taken that day, only four of the guys presently are still active in the game. But what they started has grown to dozens of teams and some hundreds of ballplayers active in the area today.

Although they didn’t get enough players that first spring to register as a league with the city, they kept growing in numbers and slapping together “practice” teams on their own. By the time the fall season rolled around they managed to register four teams to make an official league. The age spread was from 50+ all the way up to a few 70’s.

The whole thing was formed by word of mouth and some vague attempts at advertising. City recreation was still mildly amused that there was even enough interest to form an embryo senior division and they became increasingly alarmed at the bevy of new rules which the seniors proposed. The entire affair was actually conducted like a blind man bluff game that first season, with no one even sure of whom the blind man was. We won’t even begin to discuss what happened to the unsuspecting umpires.

A member of the “original 10” players now emerged to step forward and sharpen up on some of those diplomatic skills he had honed so perfectly those many years out there in the real world. This elderly gentleman, whom we will call J.J., got onto the softball board by way of being the senior league representative and then he quietly went to bat. He brought all of the past history of senior ball in America to the front. He outlined the basic rules of their game and explained why they were necessary in each and every case; he explained that with minimum toil the recreation department and umpires could learn the rules and be able to apply them. Then, appealing to their money-natured senses he explained to the board that the only logical way was up, WAY UP, for a senior league to go; as every player soon gets older and ends up in this league. Keep the old geezers playing and keep the money rolling in.

This all sounded reasonable and good to the majority. Sure, there remained a hard core bunch that did not want to change rules for so small a division of players. But they were wisely over ridden by the female director of the board who stood her ground. It was bottom of the first inning and the seniors still held their lead.

The next spring brought only five teams out onto the senior field, but the enthusiasm was very high among these re-born elderly ballplayers and it became contagious. By now the umpires were grumbling mightily and this continued on for some years. By the next fall there were two or three more teams aboard. And the spring following, (beginning of the third year) saw the organized old yard boys spreading out in-mass to advertise, talk-up senior ball via phone calls, and set up recruiting booths around town. Many new players signed up to play and by the start of the spring season there were so many players that the readied managers (forming a loose board of their own) divided the whole lot into two age group divisions: Basically it went, 50+ to 57 and 57 on out.

From then on, it was just a lop-sided game with the seniors bashing all comers. They beat down the restrictions on the little rules that they wanted for their game and the board meetings slid into adjusting to the USA Senior Softball playing rules (which is what they wanted from the beginning).

After Boise had the league for five years the seniors were large enough to break up into three divisions: 50-54, 55-59 and 60 on out. Things have gone like any other senior league since then. We are holding our own with fluctuations in the normal “growth pains” department.

The really big bonus was when another senior league in the next town over started up. This senior league was a sort of renegade: Once again due to low numbers of players, all players were mixed in together on the teams, beginning at 50+ and reaching up to 70+. The upside was that it was lots cheaper over in the other town and the games were less competitive (for the first year). But best of all, the league felt new, loose, and just plain fun.

A Draft league had now begun. It took some polling of all of the players in the new town’s senior league, but enough wanted to try it. They all put their names in the draw. Six teams came out according to numbers, and to top it all off, they devised an age distribution plan that dealt all the players in the pool out evenly, starting with the oldest ones first, working down to the 50+ age category.

Then, to completely change it all up for making a fun/safe league, they opted to use wooden bats. Even the tricky skill needed to use a wooden bat was a challenge they were up to. Knowing where to hit the ball, both on the bat and into the field becomes more important than brute strength. Most games were decided last year by one or two runs. The scores are lower and if you hit .500 you’re a good batter.

So what’s on the bench for this year? Why, it’s you. You’re the next happy player to grab your bat and glove for a few hours skylarking…and it really doesn’t matter how old you might be. There really is always a way, senior softball just won’t die. If it takes a wooden bat to keep you from it, maybe you should consider such a thing….