Tom Watson, Titans stand up for the geezers

No, this isn't another column about golf, but I would like to mention 59-year-old Tom Watson's heroic near-win at the British Open a couple weeks ago.

I'm guessing there wasn't a soul 40 or younger not rooting for the old guy, who, if he'd had just one more good putt in him, would have become the oldest geezer to win a major championship - by a mile.

I mention Watson because, in the Daily Herald's never-ending quest to bring you the local focus as well as the big picture, I want to tell you about a bunch of old guys in Naperville who give the young guys a run for their money; in fact, they've emerged victorious more often than not.

About 16 years ago, the Naperville Park District started its euphemistically titled Masters League. It's for 12-inch softball players 40 and older who want to relive their glory days. A few rules are changed to protect their aging bodies (i.e. to reduce Pete Rose-style collisions at home plate, there's a scoring line that a runner must cross; the catcher, in turn, must have the ball in hand and step on home plate to retire the runner).

The postseason tournament plan has evolved a bit over the years, but basically the winner of the Masters League would be sent to one of the citywide tournaments, often to be the sacrificial lamb against one of the much-younger teams playing the more competitive leagues.

Then along came the Titans.

They have given the Masters League and all us old guys newfound respectability, winning the postseason tournament two of the past three years. Their most recent title came just last week. And, as the lone representative of the old guys league, they emerged as champs among the 15 teams with the best records in the B, C and Recreational men's leagues, players who could be half the age of some of the codgers.

As a longtime Masters League participant (my team, the Geezers, marked our 15th year this season), I figured the Titans, a fairly recent entry into the league, were a bunch of guys who had been playing in the competitive league, turned 40 simultaneously and came into our league to beat up on geezers such as the Geezers.

Not so, says Titans captain Ken Tyrrell. True, the original incarnation of the team played competitive softball, but the team was formed 30 years ago. A few of those originals play with the Titans today. Their oldest player, in fact, is the same age as Tom Watson.

Tyrrell, 58, says only five players on a roster of 20 are 45 or younger.

So what is the secret to success?

Maybe it's picking a non-self-deprecating name. The Titans play such teams as the Weakened Warriors, Heavy Hitters, Curmudgeons and, of course, Geezers. That's my theory, anyway.

Or perhaps, as Tyrrell suggests, it's having years of experience. He also stocks his roster thoroughly to be well-prepared for the inevitable injuries that befall the older ballplayer.

But, in an interesting twist, consider this: For tournament play, a "courtesy runner" (pinch running for a hobbled player after he gets on base but permitting him to continue in the game) is not allowed, unless the other team agrees.

Tyrrell says his younger competitors used two or three courtesy runners per game.

"I only had one courtesy runner the entire tournament," he said, "And that was a guy who had a hip replacement."

jdavis@dailyherald.com