The desert heat was nearing triple digits on the Fahrenheit scale but Calvin Ruttan didn't mind.
He was having too much fun winning on the softball diamond.
Called into service to play shortstop for the Can-Am Stickmen at the Huntsman Word Senior Games in St. George, Utah., the 56-year-old from Prince George played a key role in helping his team claim the silver medal in the 50-plus men's D Division.
The Stickmen stumbled out of the gate with some erratic pitching which led to two straight losses. After that it was up to pitcher James Kopp of Prince George to find the strike zone and he did that. With Kopp on the rubber, the Stickmen reeled off five consecutive wins to advance to the gold-medal game two weeks ago against Salina, Utah, who beat them 13-9.
"James is one of the best pitchers around but he had eye surgery abut a year ago and wasn't even supposed to play,"said Ruttan. "He's probably the best pitcher I've ever played with. I play (shortstop) with him and he can more or less turn to me and tell me the ball's coming to me. He pitched well and he hit well. He doesn't have the legs but he hit almost .750."
The two-week world senior games is an annual event in St. George. It featured such activities as mountain biking, golf skills, cowboy action shooting, shuffleboard, volleyball, pickleball, square dancing, bowling and badminton. Ruttan's team was on the field for at least two games per day and stayed overnight in Mesquite, Nev., a 90-minute drive, so he didn't get to see any of the other sports. But he was blown away by the level of competition and the quality of players he saw on the senior softball diamond.
"I realized how many good athletes there are over 50 years old," he said. "The only thing they've lost is their speed. Some of these guys were hitting the ball 70 feet over a 300-foot fence. They were ex-high-end ball players and this is the only place they had to play. Unless you live in a big city, there aren't enough leagues for seniors, so you just have to go to tournaments.
"We play in the league (in Prince George) against the young guys and in an eight- or 10-team league we always end up fourth or fifth."
Ruttan grew up in the small Ontario town of Campbellford, about halfway between Toronto and Ottawa, and started playing baseball at age five. His teams regularly won at the provincial level. At age 22 he moved to Campbell River to take a job as a sheet metal worker and he played senior men's baseball and softball on the Island. He moved to Prince George 11 years ago and now plays for the Arc Angels senior team in the Nechako Mixed Slo-Pitch League.
He works as a janitor at the Prince George & District Senior Citizens Activity Centre on Brunswick Street. He's not getting rich but loves his job and the people he interacts with daily. To help pay for his trip to Utah, the ladies at the centre organized bake sales and The Coffee Guys, a couple of seniors centre regulars, threw in some bucks to help Ruttan take his place on the field.
Ruttan is also an exceptional pool player and was once the second-ranked 9-ball player in Canada.
He still runs the base paths in a hurry and he held a hot bat in St. George. He hit over .500 in the tournament and his quick reflexes and dependable glove helped him turn six double plays for the Stickmen.
Most of the 11 Stickmen players are from the St. Albert area in Alberta, three were from the U.S., one was from Saskatchewan, and Ruttan and Kopp were the two from B.C. One of the St. Albert guys - "Big" Steve Corbett - is from Prince George and came with a reputation as a heavy-hitter. Corbett proved that in the tournament with seven home runs in eight games.
One of the St. Albert players, thinking his team wouldn't make the playoff round, had to cough up $700 to change his flight home when the Stickmen advanced to the gold-medal game.
"Winning the silver medal was the highlight - this was the fourth year for this team going down there and they'd never won a game," said Ruttan.
"We are a good enough team to be in the A or B (divisions) on any given day. A play here and a play there and you're 0-for, and just the opposite, if we'd made a couple plays we'd be in the higher category."
