Bob Nicklason, a shortstop in the Fresno Senior Softball League, lifts his cupcake, presented to him for his 80th birthday. He has played in the league for 21 years.

FRESNO, Calif. — As Bob Nicklason sprints around a softball field, a teammate watches in awe.

“That’s an 80-year-old man! I hope to be just like him when I grow up,” 73-year-old Carl Waxman said.

Nicklason’s batting and sprinting is rewarded with an endless string of home runs during a recent game.

What keeps him playing at the age of 80?

“Whiskey, wine and wild women! No, don’t put that down!” Nicklason adds with a laugh as he watches me scribble his words into a notebook.

“Too late now, Bob!” exclaims one of his many teammates now laughing alongside him. Nicklason’s playboy reply appears to be an act shared for their amusement.

“Scratch (that): I wouldn’t be here if it was that,” Nicklason said of his three fabled Ws.

The semi-retired raisin farmer and veteran was married for more than 50 years. His wife died three years ago.

Nicklason’s teammates surprised him with a birthday muffin and the singing of “Happy Birthday” on the softball field before the start of a game last month.

It’s a milestone year for both Nicklason and the league he plays for, the Fresno Senior Softball League, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Nicklason — who has played for the league for 21 years — is one of just four players in their 80s of the league’s 248 players, said league secretary Ike Pursell, who estimates the average age of players is 60.

The 69-year-old Pursell himself plans to keep playing softball as long as he can.

“We have a saying,” he explained, “you don’t quit playing because you get old. You get old because you quit playing.”

As for a winning mentality, Nicklason has some advice: “Live day-to-day. You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”