2015 Honor Roll Inductee: Rick Fryman, Columbus MSBL
By Steve LaMontia, Director of Communications
MSBL Founder and President Steve Sigler initiated the MSBL Honor Roll as an honor reserved for the dedicated few whose efforts and sacrifice help make the Men’s Senior Baseball League the premier adult baseball league in America. Rick Fryman is the president of the Columbus Men’s Senior Baseball League located in Ohio and heads up his 19 team league that offers play in a 25 and over and 35 and over division. Rick has recently been honored by Steve as the newest member of this special fraternity.
Rick took over the helm in 2013 from long time president Jim Durham, who stepped aside to give someone else an opportunity. “Being president of the league is challenging,” said Fryman. “I am just so fortunate to have had a great teacher in Jim Durham, who was president for close to 20 years.”
Rick is 47 years old and lives in Napoleon, Ohio and is the President of T C Marketing and also is a Managing Member of Top Class Logistics, LLC. He is married to Celeste and they boast a daughter, Karlee.
Rick continues to play in his league with the Pirates in the 25-over division and he travels quite a bit to tournaments as well. “I love to continue playing in the league because it gives me the opportunity to meet new people,” explained Fryman. “We offer very good competition and we also get to play at Huntington Park, which is the Clippers AAA stadium.”
Rick and the Pirates also hit the road to find competition. “We play in the MSBL Fall Classic in Florida in November and have also played in the Disney Classic,” said Fryman. “We try to attend regional tournaments, too. We went to Indianapolis for ten years, we went to the Chesapeake tournament in 2013 and Atlanta in 2014. We just fire up the chartered bus!”
Rick’s MSBL days began back in Dayton, Ohio in 1995 after a career playing for Malone College in Canton, Ohio. He then switched to the Philadelphia MSBL from 1996 through 2000. He went from there to Columbus in 2000 and the rest is history, as they say.
A big fan of Kirk Gibson, Rick is also the tournament director for the annual Capital City Classic. 2015 will represent the 12thedition of the Classic and will be held this year on October 10-11 in Columbus and offers competition in the 25, 35 and 45 age brackets. If you have an interest in playing in the tournament you can contact Rick at rfryman38@gmail.com.
Rick is a man with many irons in the fire but loves the thrill of being able to continue to pursue the game he loves. “MSBL is a great organization,” explains Fryman. “Players really appreciate the opportunity to continue to play baseball well after high school and college. The MSBL World Series and Fall Classic are especially an exclamation point for the end of the regular season. We all look forward to that time of year.”