Steve Sigler says softball never appealed to him, so in 1985, he put a notice in a Long Island, N.Y., newspaper looking for men interested in forming a baseball team.

More than 20 years later, Sigler is at the helm of the Men’s Senior Baseball League (MSBL)/Men’s Adult Baseball League (MABL), a national organization with 325 local affiliates, 3,200 teams and 45,000 members who play organized amateur baseball in local leagues, 30 regional tournaments and six national tournaments.

Across the country, former Major Leaguers take the field with attorneys, former members of Congress and blue-collar workers to keep playing the game they loved as boys and young men.

In 1988, the fledgling league was profiled in Sports Illustrated. Sigler allowed his name, address and phone number to be printed, and he was bombarded with thousands of calls and letters.

He told Growing Bolder about the league’s early days and how it feels to face a hardball in your wiser years.

For more information about the league, click here.