David J. Sweeten Plans on Keeping His 15 Year World Series Streak Alive in the 73-over and 75-over divisions in 2020
By Steve LaMontia, Director of Communications
David J. Sweeten is a tough Texan who plays in our senior divisions of the MSBL World Series in Arizona. He will be playing this year in the 73-over and 75-over divisions with George Hughes’ legendary Ohio Classics. The real story is that unlike many of our senior players who began their MSBL career a decade or two before that, David came back into the game in 2006! He went to the MSBL World Series that year and hasn’t missed since. The road from Texas to Arizona is best explained by David himself. In his own words:
I have played in Phoenix at the MSBL World Series for 14 straight years, mostly as a player/manager. I was with the San Antonio Texans the first two years, another year I took the San Antonio Dillos (Armadillos) and the rest I recall as we played as the San Antonio Red Sox.
My first year in MSBL was in San Antonio in 2006 and I was playing in the outfield with our former mayor Nelson Wolff (Current County Judge) and he said I should go to the World Series. I told him I had been to the World Series (I was Joe Morgan’s CPA for 10 years during his Big Red Machine times) and to the College World Series in Omaha three times while rooting for Baylor. Nelson said no, it’s the Men’s Senior Baseball League World Series and once you go, you’ll never quit! He also is the author of a book ” Baseball for Real Men” about the Senior Men’s World Series. So, with the help of our then local manager, Bill Howard, we put together a team, I think in the 58-over division, and went to Phoenix.
Our local team had been 1-15 that year but we won two games in Phoenix, so it was a success. My fondest memory was in my first at bat against Red Deer on Paul Molitor field I was so excited and barely able to breathe that when I saw the take sign with the bases loaded I then hit the next pitch over the center fielder’s head for my first triple in Phoenix. Bill Howard now says that what he uses for the take sign really means “hit a triple”.
What an exciting event in my life then and for the past 15 years. I plan to go this year but will not take a team for the first time in many years, as I’m battling some health issues. I’m going to win the health battle and don’t want to possibly have to cancel out on the guys so I plan to play with George Hughes’ Ohio Classics in the 75’s and possibly the 73’s as well and take some of my local teammates to play with the Classics. We played with the Ohio Classics in 2017 and our Red Sox team beat them in last year’s 2019 Round Robin. Thank you and we’ll see you in Arizona in a few months!
David J. Sweeten #10