John Lewis will be the second baseman this week when the Sidetrack Classics take the field in the 35th annual Gay Softball World Series, being held in the Chicago area for the first time since 1983.
And Lewis, "still looks graceful," said Rick Tivers, co-coach of the Sidetrack team that will compete in the new 50-and-over Master's Division.
Lewis is the team's oldest player—at age 70.
"We are very excited about playing in the inaugural Master's Division. We hope the Master's Division grows yearly to be a huge part of the Gay Softball World Series," said Tivers, 54, who pitches and plays third base. "We have 15 players on the team aged 50 and above.
"This is my first World Series, but other team members are veterans. Our team is comprised of members of the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association (CMSA), and many of whom were founding fathers of the league. We have several Brodie Award winners on the team, such as Bob Nicholson, David Bartnick, Gary Vien, Dennis Roszak and Peter Meyer."
The Brodie Award is given to the players who most represent team play, commitment and a desire to give back to the league. Peter Meyer also is a founding father of the Senior Cup, the September tournament held in Chicago for players 40 and over.
"Our team is highly cohesive due to our unique histories, and we are offensively and defensively solid," Tivers said. "Many of us have been previously married [to women,] including me, my co-coach Doug King and center fielder Mike Fabian. Our power hitters are Mike Bora, Bruce McCaffery, Kevin Henry, and Lou Joachim."
Mark Vild and Fidel Campos also are key players.
"Our strength is really our experience and our strong level of commitment to our mutual support of each other," Tivers said. "We are honored to represent Chicago in the Master's Division. For many of us, it fulfills a lifelong dream. As we are ages 50-70, we share the history of discrimination and exclusion, based on our sexual orientation. This is a time we can be authentic and share in our passion and love of the game."
Tivers said the team will win its division, "if we produce offensively like we can and if we consistently hit our cut-off men.
"We really hope to see the Master's [Division] expand. We want to thank our family and significant-others over the years. I especially want to thank my co-coach, Doug King, for his tremendous support during this process."
The team begins play at 1 p.m. Thursday at the fields in Elmhurst
