Players for the senior St. Albert Cardinals walk a fine line — between having fun and playing serious baseball.
The Cardinals play in the Alberta West Central Baseball League. To play, you have to be at least 30 years old and many are over 40.
After the Cardinals 6-3 win over the Edmonton Blues on Monday at Legion Memorial Ball Park, they improved their record to 6-6 on the season with six games remaining.
But for many of the players, they’re playing just as much for the fun of playing the game as earning wins.
“I’m in my twilight career here,” said Paul Radchenko, who would only say he’d reached his mid-40s. “I just come out for the camaraderie, to have some fun and to meet some new people.
“I’m new to the city so it’s always good to meet some new people. It’s a good group of guys and I think the team has evolved over the last three or four years. It was more of a recreational kind of thing, more about fun, getting here, but we’ve turned a corner this year. We’re starting to get more serious, according to coach Gary Tater.”
Radchenko played senior baseball during his six years in Medicine Hat prior to moving to the Capital region, and was raised in Saskatchewan. He now works for the provincial government in Edmonton.
This is his first year on the Cardinals team and he enjoys the environment. Radchenko added the team has become stronger and more competitive lately, but that hasn’t affected how much fun the players have. In fact, the opposite has occurred.
“It’s funny how much more fun you can have when your skill level improves,” he said. “At this level of our competitive life, we’ve got to know when to say enough is enough and not get too competitive. Something like this is fun.”
Another important part of being part of a team like the Cardinals is being versatile and Radchenko is no exception. Though it’s not that unusual for him to strap on the pads and go behind the plate to catch, he’s not the regular catcher (Tully Lutz), but he filled in on Monday.
“I don’t mind coming in sometimes, but all the time?” he said. “No, I don’t like that either, and I don’t think Tully would like that either. We’ve got a pretty good rotation over the year here so far.”
Also missing from the line-up was player-coach Gary Tater, so assistant coach Jeff Calkins filled in to lead the team.
The team has 18 players on the roster and usually have 12 to 14 play every game (12 on Monday).
Radchenko, on offence, busted out of his slump, going 2-for-3 with two RBI singles.
“It’s been a struggle for me since about midway through the season,” he said. “We were out here, I guess on Saturday, and about half the team came out to do some (batting practice). I think I found the groove again, so hopefully that’ll stick with me for the rest of the season.”
The top four teams in the league will make the playoffs at the start of August, and a couple weeks later, the Cardinals will host their tournament with two divisions: 35 and over, and 45 and over.
