Naples man proves there isn’t any growing old in baseball – however enjoyable stays

It’s a time for giving thanks, and a Southwest Floridian is doing so daily. He’s grateful to be energetic and take part in a sport he loves. 

Oh, and we should always point out he is 91-years-old!

Tony Esposito of Naples had warmed as much as swing away for his newbie baseball recreation at JetBlue park in Lee County. He was enjoying within the Roy Hobbs World Series, however at a key second within the recreation between Team America and the Mudville Nine, Esposito’s supervisor tells him to bunt. That would, hopefully, advance a base runner.

Esposito laid down an ideal dribbler, shifting a teammate into scoring place.

“If the man’s on first you put it along the first base line,” Tony defined later. “If he’s on second or third, you put it along third and make the third baseman field it.” 

Words of knowledge from a person who’s performed ball since he was 5 years outdated. And he is nonetheless a star participant because the oldest ever within the three many years of Roy Hobbs newbie baseball in Southwest Florida. The Hobbs World collection attracts newbie gamers from everywhere in the nation. Esposito performs in a league known as Forever Young, open to gamers 75 and up.

“I think when I was born, I was born with a baseball.,” Esposito mentioned. “It’s that way.  And has been ever since.”

Esposito was a star participant in Chicago, and the St. Louis Browns, later a part of the Baltimore Orioles, signed him the identical day he graduated highschool. That was 1953.

“And they offered my mother $7,500 signing bonus, and I think it was $305 a month to play baseball,” Tony recalled.

It was a small fortune in these days, and Esposito mentioned he left Chicago that night time on a practice to hitch a minor league workforce within the Browns group. But his professional profession within the minors lasted just one yr. Playing infield daily introduced out the worst in an outdated soccer knee damage.

“Been bone on bone, grinding away,” Tony mentioned.   “And injections — I was getting them every year, every six months, every three months. Until they stopped working.”

Esposito mentioned he returned to Chicago and joined the police division. One outdated picture reveals him in uniform, delivering a Thanksgiving pie to the spouse of legendary Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

Later Esposito and his spouse based {an electrical} contracting enterprise. It nonetheless operates within the Chicago space. Tony now has an enormous household together with great-grandchildren.

For many years, and regardless of knee ache, Esposito has performed newbie baseball, each in Chicago and in Southwest Florida.

“Here, I am the oldest player,” he mentioned earlier than the sport at JetBlue Park. “Don’t know what to say about that, except it is fact.  I just want to be able to play the game I love.”

Tony grew up with out his father within the residence, and mentioned one way or the other that motivated him to realize, to by no means surrender.

“Of all the mistakes I’ve made in my life, I conquered them and kept going,” he mentioned. “And baseball is what’s helped me.”  

For the current recreation within the Hobbs World Series, Tony additionally had warmed as much as pitch. And he did so, recording scoreless innings.

And he coached third base for an inning or two, utilizing his deep information of the sport to assist team-mates on the bottom paths.

Opponents mentioned Esposito conjures up them, they usually have nice respect for him.

“Well at 91, and I’m 78, that’s 13 years,” Steve Overt of the Mudville Nine mentioned. “You say: How does he do this?  I mean he’s such an incredible athlete. And he has so much understanding of the game, the strategy. I think there’s a warrior in every baseball player. It’s the little boy in all of us.” 

“Age is just a number,” Bill Smith of the Mudville workforce mentioned.   “That’s what you see when you see him.   if  I can still play at 91, I’d be so happy.”

Esposito mentioned he’s scheduling a knee alternative for the winter of 2026, and plans to return to the sphere subsequent fall.

“I don’t ever want to stop,” he mentioned. “Growing up, I never wanted to stop.  That comes from my heart.”

Mike Walcher is a reporter with WGCU News. He additionally teaches Journalism at Florida Gulf Coast University. WGCU is your trusted supply for information and knowledge in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your assist is extra important than ever. Keep public media sturdy and donate now. Thank you.