Lopez: In Pico Rivera senior league, where love of the game never gets old, softball is 'better than medicine'

Infielder Eddie Castorena, 75, wore 2 braces nether his Old Spice uniform, 1 for his genu and 1 for his back.

Big Red catcher Tony Spallino, 67, was moving beauteous good down the plate, hoping helium won’t request a 2nd hep replacement.

His teammate Agustin Quezada, 83, limped done the dugout betwixt innings, leaning connected his bat arsenic if it were a cane.

“When I archetypal started, it was like, man, it smells similar Bengay here,” said Big Red utilityman Ruben Enriquez.

But determination is nary glory successful compromise, and nary thrill similar blasting a shot into the spread and circling the bases, nary substance however galore paramedics it mightiness instrumentality to get you home. So the games spell connected each Thursday astatine Smith Park successful Pico Rivera, location of the Go-Getter softball league.

“I ne'er played shot before. Never. I learned here, and I emotion it,” said Isabel Enriquez, 73, who plays respective positions for Big Red and made a sure-handed drawback of a towering alert shot to near successful a crippled against the Force.

Reflexes are mostly bully and the bats inactive person immoderate popular successful them, for the astir part, particularly for players person to 50 than 80. When it comes to chasing aft a shot oregon sprinting the basepaths, the effort is there, adjacent if the feet can’t ever present what the bosom desires.

Big Red hitter Tony Spallino, 67, walks distant successful vexation aft making an retired during a crippled against the Force successful the Go-Getter league.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I anticipation erstwhile I’m their property … I’ll beryllium flexible and beryllium capable to tally down the basepath similar that,” said Pico Rivera Mayor Johnny Garcia, who stopped by to instrumentality successful immoderate of the enactment successful a league that’s much than 30 years young.

Lorenzo Sanchez, who pitched Rolling Thunder to a 14-2 triumph implicit the Warriors, wore a boyish grin and looked thing similar 83. He said that successful 15 years of lacing up his cleats, helium could lone callback 1 insignificant musculus pull.

“I’m successful bully condition,” Sanchez boasted.

“I effort to stress to my caller players, spell retired with the grandkids, bash immoderate moving and propulsion the shot backmost and forth,” said Rolling Thunder manager Gil Perez, 76. “Some of them bash and immoderate of them don’t.”

Perez and his wife, Deborah, 71, who plays catcher, enactment retired regularly.

“I’m doing 2½-minute planks,” said Deborah, referring to the workout successful which you get into a push-up presumption and clasp it for arsenic agelong arsenic you can. “So my halfway is beauteous tight.”

Several players encouraged maine to get retired of the property container and onto the field.

I’d emotion to, I said. But I’ve had 2 genu replacements.

That drew a sharp, one-word effect from Dichosa “Dee” Quezada, Agustin’s woman and a loyal spectator who watches each crippled from a tract seat down the backstop.

“So?” she asked with a withering glare.

A crippled successful the Go-Getter league.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

I wouldn’t beryllium the first, Dichosa told me, saying determination was a feline with 2 genu replacements connected a squad from Anaheim.

In years past, 1 erstwhile Go-Getter utilized a walker to get to the field, swung a mean bat, and fto a pinch-runner instrumentality implicit aft she banged retired a hit.

And past there’s Spallino, with the hep replacement, who told maine helium tried to travel backmost excessively soon aft his 2017 surgery. A small much remainder did the instrumentality and that hep is inactive holding up, Spallino said, “but I’m having problems with the different 1 now.”

The players person a consciousness of reassurance successful knowing that erstwhile softballer Lupe Diaz, a retired registered nurse, comes to each the games with her archetypal assistance kit. Once, respective years ago, determination weren’t capable tools successful that kit.

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1. Rolling Thunder pitcher Lorenzo Sanchez, 83, watches the formation of the shot portion batting during a Pico Rivera Co-ed Senior Softball League crippled astatine Smith Field. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) 2. Deborah Perez, Rolling Thunder catcher, sets up down the sheet astatine the Pico Rivera Co-ed Senior Softball League astatine Smith Field. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

“I retrieve it similar it was yesterday,” Diaz said. “I was catcher, and I was getting acceptable to propulsion the shot backmost erstwhile I saw this subordinate lying connected the crushed successful the outfield.”

Diaz raced retired and began CPR connected the fallen fielder, whose bosom had fixed out, portion idiosyncratic called 911.

“I brought him backmost and they carried him to the dugout,” she said.

The subordinate recovered astatine the infirmary but died astir 2 weeks later, arsenic Diaz recalls.

On Thursday, Big Red outfielder Art Montano, 77, swung astatine a transportation and missed. He ended up hammering a crisp azygous to right, but helium was inactive frustrated by the earlier whiff.

“My vision’s not similar it utilized to be,” Montano said, and sometimes the encephalon isn’t reacting rapidly capable to messages sent by the eyes. “Let’s accidental the shot is pitched, and you’re waiting connected it, and the encephalon is telling you it’s close there, but you can’t propulsion the trigger.”

Big Red pitcher Agustin Quezada, 83, faces disconnected against the Force astatine Smith Park.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

In the Rolling Thunder rout of the Warriors, outfielder Uvaldo Davila showed disconnected a slick mitt and a beardown arm, and aft banging retired a hit, helium scampered astir the bases to score. But backmost successful the dugout, helium said he’s been battling a large challenge.

“I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s astir 8 years ago,” said Davila, 64, who told maine his manus tremors are getting worse, and his neurologist told him helium whitethorn soon person immoderate equilibrium issues.

“I’m taking medicine,” Davila said, and helium intends to support playing arsenic agelong arsenic helium can, due to the fact that softball is “better than medicine.”

The Force, this season’s strongest team, showed nary mercy connected Thursday, routing Big Red by a people of 21-1 to amended to 8-0.

“We person a batch of bully hitters and nary drama,” said Force journeyman Lee Wabash, 75. “In the past, determination were a batch of arguments. But this squad has it together.”

At 1 point, with cipher connected base, a Force batter deed a regular grounder. Big Red’s 2nd baseman fielded it cleanly, but threw to 2nd alternatively of first.

“Senior moment,” a disappointed Big Red teammate muttered successful the dugout.

In the sixth inning, respective Big Red players noticed that their pitcher had gone missing. They looked astir and spotted him successful the parking lot, pedaling distant connected his bicycle.

“Rick!” 1 subordinate called out, to nary avail.

“He’s going home,” said another.

Agustin Quezada often uses his bat arsenic a cane. At 83, helium pitches and plays infield successful the Go-Getter league.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

But 2 games stay successful the regular season, truthful there’s inactive clip to find a groove. And past each six teams suffice for the playoffs.

Anything tin happen, said Ruben Enriquez, and conscionable showing up to get immoderate workout and beryllium with friends is simply a triumph successful itself.

“Better to play,” helium said, “than to rot distant astatine home.”

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Steve Lopez

Steve Lopez is simply a California autochthonal who has been a Los Angeles Times columnist since 2001. He has won much than a twelve nationalist journalism awards and is simply a four-time Pulitzer finalist.