Willie Wilde Hits Round Tripper at MSBL World Series at 68 Years ‘Young’

Daryl William Wilde is known to the world as ‘Willie’ and resides in Sun Prarie, Wisconsin, located just outside of Madison. Willie is 68 years old and just this past year at the MSBL World Series he hit his first ever home run in his life. He saw a World Series Daily News article showcasing the 16 year old who knocked one out in the Father/Son division, while being touted as the youngest ever to do so. That got Willie to wondering who may be the oldest.

“I had an inside the park home run this year while playing for Donny DeCordova’s Tri Valley Giants in a playoff game,” said Wilde. “I am 68. It was the first homer I have ever had in baseball. I could have had one last year but stopped at third because of a slight pull in my quad, even though Donny was waving me in.”

Willie plays in the Madison MSBL and plays in both the 45-over and the new 55-over divisions. “In 2016 I led our 45-over team during the regular season with a .459 average but never hit a round tripper. I was wondering if the planets would ever align properly!”

His World Series appearances are also extensive. “My first time going to Arizona was in 1995 after getting back into baseball in 1994. I went my first seven years of being back in the game and then didn’t go for about six years or so and then went another seven years. I missed in 2015 because of knee surgery but hopefully this streak will continue. 2017 was my seventeenth trip to Arizona. ”

“I have played two weeks in the World Series every year starting in 2011, except in 2015 when I had knee surgery. That was the last of nine surgeries in nine years on various body parts. It feels good to be healthy again. Maybe someday I’ll play all three weeks but two is fine for now.”

So what is the story behind his first ever round tripper? “In our first playoff game we played San Antonio, who beat us by 14 runs in the round robin,” explained Willie. “We were on Tempe #6 and I already had two triples in the game and then hit one in the left-center gap and it rolled to the fence. When I rounded second I had a flashback to my triple the previous year where I slowed up because my quad hurt but decided that wasn’t going to happen again. I made it standing up. Unfortunately we lost 21-20 in ten innings but I had quite a game.”

Willie wanted to thank those who have meant so much to him in his baseball journey. “I want to thank my family and fiancee for being supportive of me while I continue to live out a dream of mine of playing baseball at this age. It is appreciated more than they will ever imagine. I also want to thank all the teammates and opponents here locally in Madison and at the MSBL World Series in Arizona. I especially want to thank Donny de Cordova for asking me to play on his teams over the past few years.”

So there is Willie’s story but his question still remains. Is he the oldest to hit a World Series home run? Let me know at msbllamontia@aol.com. I’ll be sure to pass it along. Happy New Year everyone!