LIVERPOOL, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — There comes a time in every baseball player’s career when they are told they have to hang up their cleats.
Someone forgot to tell Larry Hughes that.
Hughes plays baseball in the Syracuse MSBL, a baseball league for adults 25 and older. He joined the league 31 years ago at the age of 30. At the time, that was the minimum age.
That means Hughes, 61, is decades older than some of his teammates. But he’s okay with that. He’s grown into the mentor role.
“Yeah, I like being the older guy and taking a little bit of heat from them,” Hughes said. “That drives me a little more. Just to try to keep up with them.”
During his time in the league, not only has his hair grown a little grayer, but his game has changed as well. Hughes, a pitcher, used his velocity to attack hitters when he first joined the league.
“When I first started playing I could throw the ball really hard and fast,” Hughes said. “That’s all I really threw because I could throw the ball by people when I was younger.”
Now that he’s lost some miles per hour on his fastball, his pitch mix is different.
“I throw a submarine pitch, a curveball, and a really fast 50 mile per hour fastball,” Hughes said with a laugh. “So when it’s really windy I get a lot of movement on it.”
While the speed on his pitches may have dropped, his love for the game hasn’t. That love started years ago when Hughes was growing up.
“I grew up in Baltimore,” Hughes said. “And I’ve followed [baseball] ever since. I’ve played it ever since. And I just love playing baseball.”
The biggest reason why that love has remained? The unique combination of team challenges with individual ones.
“I love the whole idea behind the game,” Hughes said. “It’s a great team concept. Within the game there’s also individual challenges. You know, batting. Or as a pitcher, every batter I face is a challenge.”
Who knows how many pitches Hughes has left in his arm, but one thing is for sure.
He plans to use every last one.
