BABA alumni game brings together friends, family

The Carroll family may be royalty when it comes to the Gresham Gophers of the Badger Amateur Baseball Association.

Brian Carroll, 58, of Gresham, his five brothers and their sons have all played in the league.

“It’s pretty much a family affair,” Carroll said. “We all played high school and continued on to play in the BABA. My mother and my father, before he passed away, were at every game.”

He, and at least three of his brothers, will get another chance to round the bases Saturday, as the BABA holds its annual East-West alumni game in Caroline.

It’s a chance for Carroll to catch up with old friends and remember long-ago summers.

“Thirty years ago, there wasn’t anything else going on in the area. On Sundays, everyone played baseball, so you made friends up on Menominee County, down in Clintonville and Shawano,” Carroll said. “You were competitors on the field, but after the game everyone hung around and talked to each other. If you see each other on the street, you had a common thing.”

The alumni game started four years ago as the 68-year-old league began highlighting its history.

“There was a lot of interest in the older fan base,” said Craig Brei, BABA commissioner. “They come to our parks and support us all the way through. … It was strictly out of requests from the older players that we try something like this.”

Caroline is hosting the game this year and it rotates between the home parks of East and West division teams, which results in a rotating group of alumni players that show up.

“Every year that we do it, we get a different set of players,” Brei said. “When we did it in Leopolis, we had a pile of Leopolis guys.”

Last year, the game was held in Gresham, and five Carroll brothers played in the game.

The current BABA All-Stars will play a game following the alumni game, a new tradition started this year.

Throughout the day, a collection of historical photos and equipment will be on display.

“We try to find quality photos of every person that ever played,” Brei said. “It started in 1946, so a lot of the fans now, their fathers played at that time. Their gloves, old bats, pictures are coming our way, which is really cool.”

Carroll isn’t doing a lot to prepare, preferring to get ready the day of the game.

“When you get to be our age, you just hope you don’t pull anything,” he said. “It’s all that day. You don’t want to get hurt ahead of time.”

Brei says even if the alumni are past their prime, they still can play.

“These guys still spike them up,” he said. “They go out there, and they hustle. It’s a good time.”