Playing Hard Ball

Posted August 1, 2007, 7:00 pm by Growing Bolder Staff


Ask anyone over 40 what activity created some of their most vivid memories of their youth. Chances are they'll be about their experiences with Little League baseball. Signing up each spring used to be a part of life, a right of passage, a badge of manhood. There's just something about baseball.

For many of us, that joy comes to an abrupt end in our teenage years. Some of us are lucky enough to play high school ball, even fewer play college, but by our mid-20s, virtually none of us still get to smack the hardball around in a competitive league.

Why do we allow that to happen? That's a question Steve Sigler asked himself. So, he signed up for a softball league, and he hated it. To understand why, it's critical to accept a very important premise that any man out there will get loud and clear: Softball is not the same as baseball.

Sigler explained it very clearly in a conversation with Growing Bolder. "First of all, I've always hated that stupid ball. It's a grapefruit. It's too big to fit in your glove and it's too small to shoot into a basket. It's absolutely useless. Second, just think of the name of the game. 'Soft'ball? How good do you feel about yourself if you're playing 'soft'ball? I want to play 'hard'ball. That's a man's game! Third, the bases are ridiculously short, the fences are in way too far, the underhand pitching is so ridiculous that anybody can hit, the uniforms are just plain weird and the whole thing is, well, my apologies to anyone who enjoys it, but it's emasculating."

So, Sigler did what he does best. He spoke out. Loud. Anywhere he could find groups of athletic-minded men, Sigler was there, appealing to their competitive drive and those memories from their youth.

"My motivation was simple. I needed someone to play with! I wanted it so bad I was willing to take the initiative. In 1986 I put an ad in 'Newsday' to see if anyone was interested. When we first took the field that year we had four teams. This is our 20th season. Now we have 45,000 members playing in 320 cities all across the United States."

Sigler had hit one of the most unlikely homeruns in baseball history. Word started to spread like a 7th-inning rally.

"We got unbelievable media coverage at the beginning, but the craziest was 'Sports Illustrated.' They did a two-page color article, which was great, but they actually listed my home phone number and my address. I instantly knew I was on to something," Sigler said. "For weeks, the phone would ring, literally 200 times a day. The mailman brought the mail to my house in those big sacks like Santa Claus. I realized I was in the right place at the right time. I knew I had the initiative, the passion and the drive to call sports editors across the country, and it worked."

"It really embellished the message we're putting out. Just because your older doesn't mean you have to stop playing baseball. You're a good athlete and people are in much better shape in our generation than they were in our parents and recreation is much more important. Again, baseball is the game of your youth. You grew up with it. If you're able, why not play it?"

Sigler says he finds it very gratifying to know that men play baseball and that the sport impacts their lives.

"They've met new people, they've improved their physical condition. It brings me great pride in knowing I originated it and it's struck a chord in so many lives," he said.

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