Some approaches to making your scuffed up baseball skills new again

After 30 baseball-less seasons, Tom Brennan had a modest goal. "Hit the cutoff man," said the 44-year old Atlanta attorney. "And I did. Not real accurately, but I got it there."

It is how every over-40 or over-50 player should approach their rebirth in the national pastime. Easy. Methodical. Think like a middle-aged man, not like Albert Pujols. When Brennan, a southpaw, decided he wanted to play baseball again this spring he began to throw long-toss in late March with his 11-year-old son Ryan. They would simply walk into the cul-de-sac in front of their home and throw long.

"It was good for me, and it helped him, too," said Brennan, whose only throwing had been pitching batting practice to his son from 48 feet. Brennan has played centerfield, second base and first base for the Angels, a 38-plus team in the Atlanta Men's Senior Baseball League. He has knocked off enough rust to get a jump on fly balls and make the long throws from the gaps in the outfield.

"The arm, the hitting eye, the physical part of the game, doesn't come back as quick as it used to," said Dwayne Mitchell, who runs the Angels with his brother, Glynn. "A lot of guys try and come back too quick, and they hurt themselves and they are done before they really got started. They will try and show off the good arm they used to have and get hurt. You can't do that. The arm is one of the first things to go. Take some time."

It is difficult, however, for the over- 40 crowd to find time for their baseball revival. Work and families, of course, also demand time. The Angels start to get loose in February with weekly practices, but once the 18-game season starts in May they gather only in small groups of three and four to work out. The only time they are together as a team is for the Sunday afternoon games.

Brennan tries to stay fit with tennis during the week. Pitcher Jay Bellissimo, who pitched for Southern Illinois University, throws into a screen in his backyard. "The neighbors think I'm nuts when I'm out there throwing," said the 43-year old video editor. Bellissimo has been able to pitch nine innings for the Angels, who were 6-5 in mid-July, but manager Glynn Mitchell prefers to use more than one pitcher and develop depth for the playoffs in August when the team will play more than one game a week.

When he first heard about the league three years ago from Arno Baars, a coworker who plays first base for the Angels, Bellissimo balked. "It got to where my arm didn't hurt anymore from all the pitching I did when I was younger, so I was not in a hurry to get back out there," Bellissimo said. "But the minute I stepped on the mound it all kicked back in, and I remembered how much I love it."

Bellissimo hurt his back in May and considered his three-inning stint one July afternoon a "rehab start." There are others like him who grapple with balky knees, aching backs and sore hamstrings. The aches and pains add to the basic challenge of the game, which has not changed since these men first played the game 20 or 30 years ago.

"The hardest part is hitting," Brennan said. "There are some pitchers here that are good enough to take control of the plate. You are not used to seeing pitches, especially the curveballs, and there are some pitchers who can hit corners. They live on the outside."

By most accounts, the best managers in MSBL are reassuring and patient as players try to reclaim their talent. Of course, teammates might not be so reassuring and patient. The Angels watched from their dugout one Sunday afternoon as an accomplished player on another team, a former professional player, stormed off the field following the collapse of his over-40 squad. He packed his bag and left the park in a fury.

Glynn Mitchell shrugs, then shakes his head from side-to-side. "That guy couldn't play for us, we wouldn't let him," he said. "We want to be competitive and we want to win some games -- and we win our share -- but that is not the right attitude for this league."

Brad Spratte, who coaches a youth baseball team in the Atlanta area with Brennan, said the best way to manage a men's senior baseball league team is to roll with inconsistency. "The teams that stick around in this league are the teams with good managers," Spratte said. "You have to have good leadership and you can't be running people off."