Baseball’s hold on Americans is unmistakable.
Kids grow up playing the game and debate the merits of their favorite teams well past the end of their playing days.
But at Howell, a group of Highlander alumni will once again gather this weekend to renew acquaintances, step into the batter’s box, or try to snap off another curveball, just like they did when they were younger.
The 12th Howell Alumni baseball game will begin at 12:15 p.m. Saturday at Howell High School Varsity Baseball Field, 1200 W. Grand River Ave.
It’s a fundraiser for the Howell baseball program and a labor of love for Rich Robinson, the 1979 alum who has organized the game from its inception.
“I think it strikes a chord in people.” he said. “Nostalgia is a powerful thing, and we like to look back on parts of our lives that we enjoyed, things that were more pure than the life of an adult with all its complexities.”
The game is open to alumni and participants who get their own jerseys and hats to mark the occasion.
Among those who have signed up is Rick Humphries, whose Howell baseball career ended in 1977.
“Family and friends do like to come down and see the old guys play,” Humphries said, “For me, I get to see former players I’ve coached and guys I played with in the late ‘70s.”
Robinson said pregame ceremonies will highlight Howell players who have gone on to play at the next level, including brothers Stuart and Steve Hirschman, who will throw out the first pitch. Both were standouts at Howell and at Michigan State during their baseball careers.
The game will run seven innings, and a most valuable player will be selected as recipient of the Bert Tooley Award, named after a Howell grad who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers more than a century ago; Tooley Road, near the Howell airport, is named after his family).
Awards, though, are incidental to the thrill of playing hardball again in front of friends and family.
“It’s interesting in that you could not see a person for 20 or 40 years, but if you saw them standing in the (batter’s) box, you knew who it was, even if you couldn’t see their face,” says Mark Jenkins, a 1978 grad who has played in all but two of the games. “No matter how old you get, you still look exactly the same when you’re in the batter’s box. It’s crazy.”
