The Oldtime Baseball Game returns to Cambridge on Thursday with former Red Sox players Lou Merloni and Jonathan Papelbon taking to the field to play.
The game has become a tradition in the community as play dressed in flannel uniforms inspired by older baseball eras. It raises funds for a charity and, as organized by Steve Buckley, longtime sports columnist for the Boston Herald and The Athletic, always has its share of celebrities. Merloni was the Sox chief utility infielder from 1998 to 2002; Papelbon pitched from 2005 to 2011.
For this 30th annual game, who isn’t on the field is just as important.
Since its start in 1994, the Oldtime Baseball Game has taken place at St. Peter’s Field because Paul Ryder, Cambridge’s director of recreation, offered to host the game there. Ryder would attend the games yearly with his wife and children.
This year, Ryder’s cousin will throw the first pitch to his son to honor Paul Ryder, who died in February.
Sheila Ryder recalls how her husband would ensure the park was in pristine condition for game day. “It was a source of pride and joy for him,” she said.
The game is set to honor four more supporters who died in the past year, too: Tim Wakefield, former Red Sox pitcher; Dave Leibovitz, owner of Royal White Laundry; Jim Caple, ESPN columnist; and Cambridge’s Paul Monagle, game fundraiser.
Monagle helped find local organizations in need of support, but never wanted to be in the spotlight, said his wife, Kathleen, and son Daniel. “Seeing him at that game was sort of just another one of his weird ways where he would express himself and what he clearly cared about,” Daniel Monagle said.
Paul Monagle helped his son and nephew participate in the game – first as bat boys, then as players. The games have “just kind of been a fixture in our lives,” Kathleen Monagle said.
The OldTime Baseball Game plays this year in recognition of people with multiple sclerosis; The Boston Home, a Dorchester community of 96 wheelchair users, is the fundraising partner again after 2023, when Aidan Freeburg, a player who has multiple sclerosis, worked with Buckley to find an MS foundation to work with.
The game raised $80,000 for programs at the home. It was “magical,” and a lasting connection was formed, said Victoria Stevens, director of communications for The Boston Home.
Fundraising is needed since MassHealth pays for only around 75 percent of what it costs to provide a quality life for residents – including such things as an art program or a wheelchair enhancement center that some might consider unnecessary add-ons, Stevens said. The Boston Home sees them as necessities, so they fundraise to cover the costs.
Some staff and residents were able to attend the game last year, but one resident had an issue getting accessible transportation home. With funds raised from the previous game, The Boston Home was able to buy a new wheelchair van, Stevens said.
Boston Home residents help meet fundraising goals too, creating programs to sell at the game or unique baseball player cards featuring each resident.
For its community involvement, fundraising and baseball game, the event will be “a quintessential Cambridge evening,” Kathleen Monagle said.
Oldtime Baseball Game at 7 p.m. at St. Peter’s Field, 65 Sherman St., Neighborhood 9, Cambridge (rain date: 7 p.m. Friday). Free. Bring a beach blanket or chair. Concessions by Wahlburger.
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