Joe Zich Talks About Pitching in Hardball at Age 81

JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Joe Zich doesn’t have one secret to staying on a baseball diamond at age 81. He has several, and he’ll tell you all about them.

It’s the running two to three times a week, the stretching regimen, the tossing to a backstop two to three times a week with a rubber ball he bought from Dunham’s Sports. He’ll tell you all about the mechanics he uses on the mound, skills that have enabled him to keep pitching after all these years.

To reiterate: “Lefty Joe” pitches for his baseball team. This isn’t slow-pitch softball.

“I’ve learned through the years to keep the shoulder closed, keep the elbow up and just throw,” said Zich, the oldest member of the 62-and-older league that plays once a week at the Rock Sports Complex in Franklin, Wisconsin, home of the MSBL Rock League. “The key to sports is just to learn about technique and work at it.”

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