Worrell, 74, still fast on the softball field
BUTLER TWP – Ray Worrell clearly heard the conversation behind him.
“If this old guy gets on base, I want you to run for him,” he heard his manager say to a teammate.
Another skeptic. This one was already planning to protect the 74-year-old man he saw in the batter's box.
Substituting for a Silver Division slow-pitch softball team at North Park in Allegheny County, Worrell was referred by a friend of the team's manager. Teams in the Silver Division feature players 53 and up. This manager wasn't sure what to expect of Worrell, who is a Butler Township resident.
Worrell lined a pitch into left field and slid feet-first into second base for a double. The manager shook up his strategy.
“I heard him say 'Never mind',” Worrell said. “If you get on base, he'll run for you.”
In February, Worrell put his wheels to the test. Running from home to home with 70-foot bases at the Tournament of Champions in Lakeland, Fla., Worrell finished in 14.8 seconds to win his age group of 70 and older.
His reward was a certificate and a new pair or baseball shoes. Pride was the biggest prize.
“I wasn't real excited I won, but I would have been disappointed had I lost,” Worrell said.
Worrell's next-door neighbor, Bill Mizerak, 77, has played softball with him for seven years. Mizerak insists that Worrell's speed doesn't turn many heads in North Park.
How he runs the bases in the Gold Division, ages 65 and up, and turns more heads.
“He's very aggressive on the basepaths. The other thing, too, is that most guys in the senior league don't slide,” Mizerak said. “Ray slides every chance he gets.”
Worrell, who grew up in Eastern Pennsylvania, started playing softball in 1955 and travels all over the country to play. He plays for the Pittsburgh Gold, who have played tournaments in Ohio, New York, Cleveland, Florida and South Carolina. Also, during the winter Worrell plays indoor every Thursday morning in Cheswick.
Worrell says that people tell him he's the fastest 70-year old in North Park. Larry Gaertner, who manages the Gold, has another name for him.
“We call him beep-beep,” Gaertner said. “He's fast for his age. Some guys our age can't even run.”
Worrell keeps up a busy schedule. The league at North Park has a 28-game regular season schedule with double-elimination playoffs. For the traveling team, Worrell normally plays in one tournament a month.
“Softball is his number one love,” Mizerak said. “He's very passionate for the sport. I've only known him for nine years, but he told me he played softball in the Philadelphia area before that.”
Even when he has some free time in the schedule, he fills in for Silver Division teams.
Gaertner said running is just part of what Worrell does well.
“Certainly running is one of his (strengths),” Gaertner said. “He's able to play multiple positions. He's able to play in the outfield or infield if we need him.”
Worrell plans to keep playing softball and let the skeptics keep buzzing.
“When you're talking about guys 74-years-old, a lot of guys have to walk with a cane,” Worrell said. “I don't.”
