2024 MSBL Honor Roll Inductee: Stephen King, League President, Central Arkansas MSBL
By Steve LaMontia, Director of Communications
Stephen King is a 45-year-old physical therapist and is also the president of the Central Arkansas MSBL, located in and around Little Rock. “I moved to Little Rock in 2002 and immediately joined a softball league,” explained Stephen. “Fast forward through graduate school, getting married, and settling in on my career, I revisited this desire to play baseball again.
I emailed the then-commissioner, Randall Guard, and found out how to get involved. After talking with him, I decided to not only play but form a team consisting of friends and grow it from there. My first team in 2011 immediately began having success that continues to this day.”
Because of Stephen’s passion and success over the past dozen years, MSBL Founder and President has inducted Stephen into the 2024 class of the MSBL Honor Roll.
Biographical Information:
Your name: Stephen M. King
City or town of residence: Alexander, Arkansas
Age: 45
League name: Central Arkansas MSBL
Town where the league is based: Little Rock
Where did you grow up? Pine Bluff, AR It is a town rich in sports history, particularly baseball and football. For a population of 63,000 (before industry left), this small Arkansas city produced quite an impressive list of high-level athletes and coaches over the years. Great place to grow up in the 80’s and 90’s.
What do you do for a living? I’m a physical therapist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. My focus is primarily on Orthopedics
Family information: This will be my 20th year with my beautiful and hard-working wife, Cristina. We have two beautiful and fun children, Garrett and Josie, along with a pug named Amos.
General Questions:
Describe your baseball resume: I grew up playing baseball from 7 years old on through high school. I played both competitively and sneaked onto fields on early afternoon Saturdays with friends to play HR Derby. I was fortunate to play around exceptional athletes growing up and play for some legendary coaches (Billy Bock). I grew up catching and still catch for my 25+ MSBL team. I came along in a time when Pine Bluff was nationally competitive in all levels of baseball (Babe Ruth, Legion, and HS) and I was a part of a nationally ranked HS football team. 4 State Championship rings to prove it. My baseball days ended following high school where I went to the University of Arkansas to solely focus on my current career. That’s what I thought…
What is your greatest baseball moment, either watching or playing? I don’t have a singular greatest baseball moment, per se. The most joy I’ve ever had playing baseball was playing with some of my best friends through Little League and Babe Ruth. I’ve had games that I had game-winning hits, HRs, etc. Those memories a great. However, the only discussion we have when we get together is about the comradery and dugout/hotel memories. My greatest moments were playing alongside my best friends. Fun fact: In the summer of ‘96 playing Legion, I faced Cliff Lee and AJ Burnett in almost consecutive weekends. Those two ended up being the starting pitchers in Game 5 2009 World Series (Lee for the Phillies and Burnett for the Yankees).
When did you start playing for MSBL and how did you hear about it? I moved to Little Rock in 2002 and immediately joined a softball league. There was a guy on there that talked about playing hardball as well. I asked him about it and found out there was a local MSBL league in Little Rock. Well fast forward through graduate school, getting married, and settling in on my career, I revisited this desire to play baseball again. I emailed the then-commissioner, Randall Guard, and found out how to get involved. After talking with him, I decided to not only play but form a team consisting of friends and grow it from there. My first team in 2011 immediately began having success that continues to this day.
Do you still play? I still manage the Central Arkansas White Sox and play catcher. I am also the president/commissioner of our league
What team and age bracket? We have one league in Central Arkansas. 25+ MSBL.
What is the best thing about your league? The league’s reputation for good baseball continues to grow. That is evidenced by the level of skill that continues to improve within our teams. Since I joined in 2011, I have witnessed a growing parity that was not present in my earlier years. We are attracting higher skilled players while maintaining the interest of your average joes, like me. Also, we are partnering with good community parks and recreation outfits to promote physical activity for this age group.
Do you participate in any MSBL national tournaments? I have not had the opportunity yet to participate. It is a goal of mine to manage and bring a team to Phoenix each year. We have many players who participate each year and strongly encourage me each season based on their positive experiences.
Questions just for fun:
Who is your favorite player of all time and why? Gary Carter. #8 for the Mets was as gifted as a defensive catcher during his time. I began really paying attention to pro baseball around the time of the ‘86 Mets team and being a catcher, I really locked on to him.
Are there any additional personal comments you wish to add about your playing or life thus far? I wrote an article during graduate school centered on “Play”. The gist of this article was that as a kid being active is called “playing” and as an adult it is called “exercise”. Why can’t we as adults “play”? It’s in our nature, it is more sustainable than grinding in the gym, and you get to have fun with whatever you are “playing”.
Are there any comments about MSBL you wish to share? As I tell anyone that is new to our league or my team or that I’m recruiting…baseball has been part of most of our lives to some degree or you wouldn’t be interested in playing as an adult. It typically had a nostalgic and overly positive impact on each of us, right? Well, I’ve found that MSBL has provided me with the same unique experiences as I had in my younger days. I still look forward to dugout conversations, competitive games, and after-game discussions each summer. This can fill that void of “playing” for you.