play ball!

By Joe Earle

One chilly mid-week morning in March, eight men gathered at a ballfield in a Cobb County park. They drove from towns scattered across north Georgia, from as far afield as Blue Ridge and Dallas and Sugar Hill. Most were in their mid-60s to mid-70s.

They met at Clarkdale Park to toss around baseballs, shag a few flies, get in a little batting practice and generally loosen up their bodies after the inactivity of winter. To these men, March meant Spring Training. It was time for the Midweek Men’s Senior Baseball League to open a new season.

“This day has such meaning,” said Frank Jones, the 87-year-old vice-president of the league who jokingly calls himself its resident “zookeeper” who organizes practices and communicates with the about 60 players on the league mailing list. “If you’re here, it means you’ve lived through the winter.”

And the mid-week players aren’t the only seniors returning to ballfields around metro Atlanta this spring. The 65-plus league is one of several leagues organized by age that are part of the Atlanta Area Men’s Senior Baseball League. There also are organized softball leagues for players in their 50s or 65 or older.

Think of these players not so much the Boys of Summer as the Men and Women Who Still Can Play. These ballplayers may be years removed from Little League, traveling teams or high school ball, but they have what it takes to keep on playing decades after most players yield.

“They say when you’re thinking of things to do, think of things you did when you were a kid,” said Tom Bailey, who’s 67 and said he’s played baseball with one senior baseball team or another for 15 years. “I was about 50 or 51 and I got bored and thought, ‘What did I do when I was a kid?’ I played a lot of ball. I loved it.”

He still does. He enjoys the game and the camaraderie he finds with the other players. They mostly know one another from years of playing baseball together. “It’s like a brotherhood,” he said. “It is a brotherhood.”

Second baseman Billy Viger grew up playing baseball in Long Island, N.Y. His father introduced him to the game and to his favorite team, the New York Yankees. Viger still recalls his first Yankees game, at age 6, with wide-eyed wonder. He’s such a fan that he has the

Yankees’ logo tattooed on his arm.

Viger said he switched to soccer in college, played soccer for years and now helps coach the soccer team at Cartersville High School. At age 67, he’s back playing baseball. “I love this game,” he said. “It was the first sport I was introduced to.”

Dewey Hom, commissioner of the Cherokee Senior Softball Association and who turns 58 this year, said the 23-year-old league, comprised of players older than 50, groups players into teams based on skill level. About 350 players compete on 30 teams, he said.

“Some of these guys, that’s all they live for,” Hom said. “It keeps you going. It keeps you young.”

Doris Warpole started playing softball in high school. Her family moved around and she played all over, in Ohio, Florida and elsewhere. She started playing softball again with the Gwinnett Senior Softball league about two decades ago. She’s been the league’s secretary “going on 17 years,” she said.

She’s 73 now, but hasn’t slowed down. The Gwinnett league schedules games twice a week during a 12-week season and she plays on a women’s tournament team, too. “I just like it,” she said. “I’ve always been competitive in sports, even through high school. You name the sport, I’d try it.”

Warpole, who counts herself one of a handful of women among the 80-or-so players in the league, is far from the oldest on the softball field. Emmett Vollenweider, for instance, is 84. He’s a member of the Senior Softball Hall of Fame. He was at Best Friend Park near Norcross one recent rainy evening to take his place on the field once again. “It’s fun,” he said.

Bob Burns played softball much of his life. He switched to baseball about two decades ago, after Jones, his friend and fellow electrician, convinced him he ought to try playing hardball. “I was 48 before I was officially on a baseball team,” he said.

He has no plans to slow down. “I’m 68 and I can still run and throw and hit,” Burns said during a break from batting practice at Clarkdale Park. “I keep saying every year I’m going to quit, but I figure it’s kept me in pretty good health.”

Jones plans to keep at it, too. Every spring brings back baseball, after all, and ballplayers, even ones who have been playing for decades, hear the call to return to the field. “It’s a wonderful thing,” Jones said that cool March morning. “[People with] different ages and backgrounds out here just for the love of the game.”

If you’d like to take part in baseball or softball for senior players, here are some ways to get in touch with local leagues.

• Atlanta Area Men’s Senior Baseball League: aamsbl.pointstreaksites.com/view/aamsbl

• Gwinnett Senior Softball: atlantaseniorsoftball.com

• Cherokee Senior Softball Association: cssa.teampages.com

Finding a New Joint

When The Hip Hurts

If you’re over 65 years of age, you’re among the 14 percent of the country’s population who probably did not grow up attending an aerobics class or taking part in routine gym workouts, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.

Hip and knee implants account for more than 85 percent of the joint reconstruction and replacement market, says the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR). In fact, more than 7 million Americans have had a knee or hip replacement surgery, states the AJRR website.

About 2.5 million have replaced a hip (or two), notes the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). Long-time Decatur resident Kathy Parker is among them.

“I took a fall on my right hip about 15 years ago,” said Parker. She noticed a lot of pain, but thought everything would heal as it always had. It didn’t.

Parker said the pain continued for years. Finally, there was increased stiffness after lengthy sitting. Her first x-ray after going on Medicare showed the right hip was almost bone-on-bone. She shopped for a surgeon and finally scheduled hip replacement surgery in 2013, about 10 years following that painful fall.

“It’s the best thing I ever did,” remarked Parker.

The only downside is the airport, she added. Parker must remember to report her new hip to TSA agents at airport screenings and submit to a full body scanner. Otherwise, she’s likely set off an alarm!

The most common joint disease, according to Harvard Medical School’s publication is osteoarthritis. It develops as cartilage deteriorates. Cartilage is that soft cushion that keeps joint bones from painfully rubbing against each other.

Before age 70, (between 40 and 70) osteoarthritis is more common in women. According to the experts, both genders struggle equally after age 70. While the hip is a common site for osteoarthritis, the knee can also produce pain, swelling and unwanted tenderness.

as he was one of the first orthopedic surgeons in the U.S. to use 3-D printing for knee replacements.

Levengood said he’s recreating the patient’s normal anatomy with a specialized 3-D procedure.

The implants Levengood uses are actually developed by using a 3-D image of the patient’s knee. The 3-D printers (located in the Boston area) can use a CT-scan to recreate the patient’s own anatomy, which becomes the exact size and shape of the natural knee.

He said that it feels more like a normal knee from day one. Patients are able to get up and start moving faster. With seniors, Levengood worries about their loss of enjoyable activities if they don’t have the corrective surgery.

There are about 4.5 million people who have already replaced at least one knee in the U.S., says the AAOS website. The reasons can vary from early sports injuries to general wear and tear on the joint.

Fixed Shoulders

What most people call the shoulder is actually several joints combined with tendons and muscles to allow a wide range of arm motion, according to the AAOS. This includes circular motion, which other joints can’t do.

Shoulder joint pain or discomfort is often noticeable when you reach over your shoulder to scratch your back or throw a baseball. Patients say it can be an elusive kind of pain, such as when you move a certain way, or pain that can interrupt a friendly game of table tennis.

Many rotator cuff (type) symptoms can be treated non-surgically, according to the experts. Dr. Mark Duffield, OrthoAtlanta, agrees.

He has provided orthopedic care to patients in Cobb, Douglas and Paulding counties since 1995, as a doctor of orthopedic medicine.

In addition to his practice, Duffield makes the time to serve as a team physician to area high schools. And somehow finds even more hours to educate seniors on the importance of good bone health.

Duffield said, “Up to 80 percent of patients with rotator cuff injury can be treated with a conservative treatment plan.”

The AAOS suggests rotator cuff surgery can involve the minimally-invasive procedure known as arthroscopy or traditional “open” procedures.

“For involved reconstructive surgery or replacement, an open procedure is required,” said Duffield. For those who don’t respond well in 4 to 6 weeks, Duffield said, “We will often suggest an MRI scan to evaluate the problem.”

While speaking to a group of Cobb County seniors earlier this year, Duffield said, “For shoulders, think about auto alignment. If your car is out of alignment, it’s unstable. The same can be said of shoulders.”

“There’s a need for soft tissue balancing in the shoulder,” said Duffield. “When there isn’t balance, that’s when we start to see the beginning of rotator cuff symptoms.”

Injuries and falls are a common cause of shoulder problems. Duffield discussed the importance of preventive care with his audience.

“Keep joints healthy, so you don’t need surgery,” said Duffield. “Your cartilage is about 90 percent water… and drinking water is important.”

After 12 years of providing superior healthcare to Members of our residential community, Park Springs Health Services opens to the general public this Summer. Our state-of-the-art health center features the HOUSEHOLD MODEL, a new family-inspired approach to senior health.

The Household Model looks like home and feels like family with compassionate caregivers and personalized attention that reflects Member’s interests and preferences while fostering engagement and independence.

The New Health Center Opens Summer 2017 are about the whole family and the whole

Grey Baby came to the Atlanta Humane Society in early December 2016. She’s a very sweet girl who just wants to be loved. Her beautiful blue and cream coloring and large green eyes make her just as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside. Grey Baby is an extremely playful girl who gives soft love bites. She’d benefit from having an owner who can keep her active with kitty toys.

If you think she’d be a good fit for your family, you can visit her at our Howell Mill Cat Room located at 981 Howell Mill Road in Atlanta. You can also see the hundreds of other adorable pets up for adoption at the Atlanta Humane Society at atlantahumane.org/adopt.

Of course, we can help you with your daily needs. But did you know you will also have options for fitness, socializing, healthy fine dining, and more? And services are tailored to you, so you’ll get just the right amount of help you need, when you request it. But the best part? No matter if you need a little help or a lot, the difference you’ll feel will be amazing. Please call The Piedmont at Buckhead to schedule your complimentary lunch and tour.