NEWBERRY -- Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame first baseman Willie Stargell once said, "When they start the game, they don't yell, Work ball. They say, Play ball."
When 40-year-old Chuck Edwards pulls on his Newberry Pirates jersey to catch nine innings on a 96-degree summer day, he doesn't consider it work either.
"I just love playing the game," Edwards said.
And while these Pirates playing their games in the predominantly African-American Community All-Star Baseball League on a roadside field off U.S. 176 a few miles outside of Newberry are as far as you can get from the major leagues, that does not matter to men such as Edwards.
Despite playing against men 20 years younger, Edwards does not let a sweltering day stop him from putting on the catchers gear for more than three hours.
After all, he could be working.
Despite playing against men 20 years younger, Edwards does not let a sweltering day stop him from putting on the catchers gear for more than three hours.
After all, he could be working.
"It's not that bad," he said. "I do landscaping, and it's hot every day. I don't worry about it."
Edwards is emblematic of the league, having played in it since his teens. The games serve as more than an outlet for men who want to play baseball for as long as they can. They are also a focal point each weekend for communities where teams are based.
A few homes stand out past the left-field corner, and the occupants come out to watch as well. The concession stand in the Rutherford club next door stays busy selling cold soft drinks as the game slowly unwinds.
Edwards couldn't be happier. And neither could the Pirates fans who cheer him on.
Game timeOn a steamy Sunday afternoon in late June, Edwards is joined by about 30 other players and a hundred or so fans. They love the game, too.
"I like hardball. I don't like softball. I got addicted to this game," said Delores Caldwell, who is wearing big sunglasses and sitting in a lawn chair directly behind home plate.
She loves to watch the Pirates play. Who wouldn't? They have won four consecutive league championships and, midway through this season, are gunning for their fifth.
Even the coach of the rival Rock Hill Titans, whose team has an off day, is there to watch. He can't get enough either.
"The competition is the best," Frankie Houze said. "We've got real, real good teams [in the league], and the Pirates are the best."
His Titans won the first meeting between the teams this season, but he is not taking anything for granted.
"Any team that has won four (championships) in a row, you know theyre going to be there at the end," Houze said.
The league fields 13 teams from towns in the Midlands and upper part of the state. On this day, the Pirates are playing host to the Kelton Tigers at Rutherford Field.
The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., but the first pitch is not thrown until 90 minutes later. Many of the Tigers players, it seems, attended a funeral before they could make the drive from the small community north of Union.
Full story at~ http://www.thesunnews.com/sports/story/967468.html
