just got back from arizona, where i played for berry's of san diego in the over-58 tournament. it was on one level a great week - berry's, the defending champs, went 6-0 in pool play but lost to san antonio (with a number of my old friends playing), 2-1, in a finely pitched semi-final game. san antonio then lost to detroit, 9-7, in the final.
another time, perhaps i'll post something longer about the talent levels i saw in the over-58 group - briefly, i'll say here that my eyes were opened: i saw 60-plus-year-old pitchers who can still throw in the mid- to upper-70s; lithe, quick 65-year-old shortstops who can get to balls in the hole and throw liners to first, catchers who are 72 - yes, 72 - and can throw strikes to second, and batters in the middle of their golden years who can sock a ball 300+ feet with a wooden bat. it suggests if we all stay in reasonable shape, there's lots of baseball left for all of us.
except for this: we may need help. i'm speaking of defibrillators, and the notion that we might want to explore buying them for the fields we play on.
here's what happened: we had a 61-year-old guy named bill smith from chicago die – and then be brought back to life - on tuesday at the chicago cubs' spring training site.
bill was pitching for the chicago skyliners and about the second inning, he threw a ball and keeled over. face down on the dirt. the players from both teams rushed in, turned him over and saw that he was struggling to breathe. they tried cpr but it didn't work. his eyes rolled back in his head, he turned blue and his pulse disappeared.
while this was going on, guys were shouting to call 911. as that happened – good fortune there – the team on the next field over – san antonio - had an emergency physician, earl smith. earl raced over and just as he got there, someone discovered that there was a defibrillator in the concession area. a player ran back with it, and earl applied it to bill’s chest. two shocks from the machine brought bill back to life. he was taken to a phoenix hospital, where the next day, he had a pacemaker put in. the last report we got was that his progosis was good, bill should be fine and be able to play again, and earl was celebrated, justly, as a hero.
but the incident raised the issue of what we might be doing here in albany, where, as you may recall, two guys had heart attacks and one a heart attack scare two years ago : maybe we should have a defibrillator put at each diamond and have two or three guys from each team trained in its use? they cost about $2,000 each, and five would cost $10,000 – divided by 400 guys that's $25 a guy. i would imagine they could be installed in a safe box in one of the dugouts. the value, of course, would be not only to us, but to anyone who uses the fields we play on - which would make our purchases a good public relations effort everywhere we play. if we don't want to buy five now, perhaps we could buy one or two and then add to them each year?
I support this. I will volunteer to be trained as well.
I suspect the practicalities of how to safely store these at each field will be the biggest hurdle to overcome, but I'm confident we can find a solution to that.
I will gladly contribute $25 to help save someone's life --- especially mine.
Defibrilators save hunderds of lives each year. Police, sports clubs, universities, etc., are now equipped and trained to use the machines. They are also being used as implantable devices in some cases. They actually can be bought for less than $2000 each. Great idea for any MSBL. Great investment. JimK
Mike - Would you be willing to write a Letter to the Editor on this subject (defib. machines) to HardBall Magazine? We will be covering that story in Winter issue (the one that covers the World Series), but before that is the Holiday issue which is almost finished and we're short on letters and it would be very timely. Just send any letters to info@hardball.net.
If you do go ahead and get defibrillator that might be a story for a future issue also, and a guide to other teams and leagues who might want to do the same thing....
Mike I know that you have brought this up several times but it seems as if now is the time to go for it. Let's make sure that you are indeed at the board meeting upcoming and we'll get it put before the members and I don't see any way that it would be shot down. Don't forget to write that letter to the editor of hardball mag
i wrote jackie, and hopefully in time. i suggested she publish what's here - along with the responses. if anyone doesn't want his response published, let me know asap. i also suggested that if she finds it too long, i'll edit it down.
i want to thank everyone who replied to my idea - and favorably, too, which was nice. and i'm grateful to our webmaster - kevin jackson? - who kept the note at the top of the bulletin board so that everyone could see it.
here's hoping we can put the issue on the table for the winter meetings.
Hi, Jackie from HardBall here. Could not fit this topic in the Holiday issue (that's at the printers right now) but it will go, in some form, in the Winter issue (the one that covers the World Series tournament). Hopefully will generate even more debate in future issues. Thanks for everyone's input on this very important topic. - Jackie, HardBall Magazine info@hardball.net
I suggest that each team be charged a small fee per player for the purchase of league defibrillators. With the number of players involved a fee of $10.00? can be assessed per player for the purchase of these life saving instruments. This is only a thought and I put it out for debate.
I say keep it at $25. The cost to build safe boxes the maintenance and the guys that were willing to volunteer to instruct us should be compensated.
If we're gonna do this let's do it right. People's lives are at stake.
I commend those who brought up this important issue. I have a connection at the American Heart Association, as well as AARP, maybe they can kick in to the kitty as well.
No one who has ever seen someone die from a heart attack will ever be against having defibrillators available on our fields, however, I think that the quickest route to their presence at our games would be more efficiently handled and monitored by our esteemed colleagues in the ranks of the umpires we use.
