Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 25, 1993 TAG: 9307250025
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
One thing is certain about the game played by slow-pitch softball's sluggers in Salem this weekend:
It's a scorekeeper's nightmare.
It's a game in which it's not only acceptable, but expected, that a pitcher's earned run average will be in the ozone. In a Saturday game between two Steele's teams at the Moyer Complex, the score was 30-20 - in the fifth inning.
Home run, single, home run, home run, home run, single, liner to first, home run, home run, fly to short, fly to right. That was the top of the first inning for Converters Unlimited, a LaGrange, N.C., team . . . that lost 37-31 to top-ranked Ritch's/Superior, the Connecticut clouters who came into this weekend with a 53-2 record and 952 home runs.
Ritch's pitcher is the aptly named Paul Drilling. Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Joe Carter may be an All-Star, but he isn't hitting .640 with 111 homers since April - as his younger brother, Larry, is for second-ranked Bell Corp. of Tampa, Fla.
The only thing soft about this game of ball are some of the players' bellies. At the top, the major level, this is a sport where free agency and team-jumping have been commonplace for years, where owners spend lavishly on travel, where teams have shoe and apparel deals.
How do you get there?
"You play," said Fincastle's Monty Tucker, in his 15th season of major slow-pitch softball. "I started in the church leagues in Botetourt County. You play a lot and get lucky."
The good-natured Tucker is as big as the scores in his sport. He's listed a 6 feet 9, 315 pounds, the latter a statistic he likely dwarfs. When a guy's batting .695, however, what's a few pounds?
Tucker switched teams, from Steele's to Bell Corp., this season. Tucker is an insurance agent for the Virginia Farm Bureau, and Bell Corp. is an insurance subrogation firm, but that probably isn't why they're on the same team now.
Tucker's 90 homers are more likely his selling point. This season, he's averaging a home run every 2.7 at-bats in the cleanup spot.
Tucker said Woody Bell "is a super sponsor." What else would you expect Tucker to say, when Bell, at most weekend stops, rents a suite and spends $900 on a tournament eve spread for the players.
Bell said he spends about $150,000 annually on softball, and it's his 18th year in the sport at a national level. He pays his players' hotel and meal expenses, and their travel expenses from homes spread across 10 states.
"The publicity may have helped us some in our business," Bell said. "Mostly though, you do this because you love the game."
Of course, these major players are still amateurs. They can't be paid to play, so they have "personal services contracts." They also have employers who are willing to give them most weekends off from May to September.
Tucker said the average contract is in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. When Tucker played for the well-known Steele's, softball was a full-time job. His "personal services" were required at trade shows. Now, it's more of a weekend sport for Tucker.
It isn't always easy, either. In one game Saturday, Tucker hit into a double play, grounded to third and flew to left before ripping a double - after which he asked for the ball to be thrown out of the game and saved because he'd gotten a hit.
Tucker has played in Hawaii and Canada, "places I probably never would have seen if it hadn't been for softball. It's been fun, except after games like this."
Tucker said the most difficult place to play is in his own backyard, in front of familiar faces.
"I always struggle when I play in Roanoke or Salem," Tucker said. "I guess that just proves that no matter what you've done, there's still something to give everybody butterflies."
by CNB