When Butler formed its first Little League in 1953, Sanford Wishnev saw a quick way to get on the field.

"The first day of tryouts, they asked how many kids could play catcher and three kids stepped forward,"Wishnev said. "There was going to be four teams, so I stepped forward with them."

Fifty-five years later, Wishnev is still playing catcher — at age 67 in the 45-and-over division of the Men's Senior Baseball League near San Francisco.

He is hitting over .300, carries an on-base percentage above .500 and throws out a runner trying to steal at least once every two games.

Wishnev had his best season in 2005 — hitting over .400 — a year after suffering a heart attack.

"I'd like to say I'm in great shape, but then, why did I have a heart attack?"he said. "My cholesterol was 221. But I'm much better now."

And his baseball career is still going strong.

"As long as I can throw and keep up with the younger people, I'll keep playing,"Wishnev said. "And I always have the 55-and-over division to fall back on."

The MSBLhas leagues all over the country with more than 40,000 players involved. There are six teams in the 45-and-over division in the Bay Area.

Wishnev will be back in Butler this weekend to attend his 50th high school reunion at the Butler Country Club.

"I have a lot of great memories from back there," he said.

The original four teams in the Butler Little League were the Rotary, Optimist, Kiwanis and Lions. Wishnev was 12 years old at the time.

"Doggie Cavalero was my coach,"Wishnev said. "He was about 4-foot-11 ... and he knew baseball."

Wishnev went on to play Pony League and Prep League ball in Butler. He wound up going to Penn State and was playing catcher as a freshman when he injured his throwing arm.

"There was no way to cure an ailing arm in those days," he said. "I couldn't even throw the ball back to the pitcher.

"The trainers there said I'd never play baseball again. I guess I proved them wrong."

Wishnev wound up transferring to Pitt in 1960, got a scholarship there and was a teammate of Mike Ditka's.

Ditka played football, basketball and baseball at Pitt. He was the Panthers' right fielder.

"He couldn't make it to our practices because he had to go to the spring football practices,"Wishnev recalled. "But he always made the games. He was always a very intelligent person."

After playing a few years of Eagle County League and Pittsburgh Federation League baseball, Wishnev moved to New York City and played in the Queens Alliance League there.

"I was one of two white guys on the whole team,"he said. "I don't know how that happened, but we all got along."

Wishnev moved to California in July 1966 to work for his wife's uncle and did not play baseball again until 1988.

His own son was playing Little League ball then and Wishnev was playing catch with him before a game.

"My son's manager noticed that I could still throw a baseball and told me about the MSBL,"Wishnev said. "I was 46 then and yearning to get back on the field."

He hasn't gotten off the field since. And he's never played another position but catcher.

Since being in the MSBL, Wishnev played against a team managed by former Minnesota Twins outfielder Steve Brye and he batted against former Oakland A's pitcher Dave Hamilton.

"I didn't touch him,"he said, laughing. "That guy could still bring it. Since 1985, more than 100 former major leaguers have played in the MSBL."

Wishnev never came close to the big leagues. At age 67, he hasn't come close to retirement, either. He's played as many as 45 games in a season and has caught both ends of three doubleheaders this year.

"I'm not a big guy," he said. "I weigh 150 pounds or so. I love playing the game, so why stop?"