ROYAL PALM BEACH, FL--Every Monday and Wednesday in Royal Palm Beach Mike Garone gets together with other guys to hit and run, field, and have fun playing senior softball.
They are the boys of summer, fall, winter and spring. The only time they don't play is when it gets bitterly cold in January in south Florida or it rains.
Other than that they are out here playing a game they love.
The softball field is a melting pot...a former high school principal from New York, a retired FBI agent, a retired railroad conductor, former New York police officers and firefighters, a construction company owner, a jeweler, a former newspaper columnist, a Wall Street trader.
The average age in the Royal Palm Beach league is about 64.
Sure, at their age they get sore and pull muscles. Some have bad knees and hips. It makes no difference to them.
Mike Sandy is a bail bondsman. He's 65 and says, "competitiveness. Most of all the camaraderie. There's a brotherhood that develops amount these players that's almost as important as playing."
And the exercise gets the heart pumping.
Fred Seidman is 61. He taught science in New Jersey for 33 years. He says, "it's a lot of fun. Something I always wanted to do as an adult. It's great to be here with these guys and it's great camaraderie."
Mike Garone gets on base more often than not. He played minor league ball. His is a lifelong love of the game. His feelings: "..just coming out with the guys and just camaraderie, ya know, and that kind of team play and it's something to do in your retirement and if you feel you can do it, do it."
Garone is a shining example of doing what you want, when you want to. "How old are you?" "81. May 24th, 1928 I was born. I'll be 81 years old."
No. You are never too old.
