The question rang out over the speakers Thursday at St. Peter’s Field during The Oldtime Baseball Game’s pregame ceremony: “What are the two greatest words in the English language?”
A group of kids answered excitedly: “Play ball!”
The game, a 30-year Cambridge fundraising tradition organized by Steve Buckley, longtime sports columnist for the Boston Herald and The Athletic, brings volunteers to the field to play dressed in flannel uniforms inspired by older baseball eras.
Phil Perry had the same answer as the kids as he fulfilled a decadelong dream to be a ball player. After some baseball in high school and a career in sports journalism, Perry met Buckley and spent a decade telling him he was ready to participate.
Ten years of dreaming paid off. Before the game, Perry hadn’t fielded a fly ball in 10 years. During his two innings on the field, Perry managed to catch one, which he called a miracle. The ball just “found its way in his glove,” he said.
Perry said his experience in the game was everything he’d hoped, “to get to wear the uniform and play with some unbelievably talented players, including some friends of mine that are in the media, it’s been awesome. I had an absolute blast. I got to play a couple of innings, and everything hurts.”
Perry played with 30 other volunteers on the Abbott Angels, the home team, against the Anderegg Family team. (Anderegg beat the Angels, 9-6.) The game saw a record number of volunteers this year: 64 people offered to play.
Dan Findley, coach for the Angels, volunteered to navigate the chaos of coordinating a team ranging from excited high schoolers to former Red Sox players and get each volunteer playing time. “Everyone knows that it’s a charity game, so they drop their egos at the door, and they understand that they’re only going to play a few innings,” Findley said.
Findley got to coach Lou Merloni, Red Sox chief utility infielder from 1998 to 2002, as he played his 12th OldTime Baseball Game – and discovered a palpable energy from the crowd.
“I love seeing this place packed. It is again tonight, and it’s a special one,” Merloni said.
Some of the excitement was likely anticipation for Jonathan Papelbon, former Red Sox closer, to take his turn on the pitcher’s mound after his flight to Boston was delayed.
The Angels had another leader who was no stranger to baseball in Lindsay Berra, granddaughter of catcher, manager and coach Yogi Berra, who wore her grandfather’s iconic 1940s New York Yankees uniform. Papelbon and Berra were able to wear their vintage uniforms side by side when Papelbon arrived toward the end of the game.
Jonathan Papelbon and Lindsay Berra at The OldTime Baseball Game in vintage Red Sox and Yankees uniforms. (Photo: Steve Buckley)The goal of The OldTime Baseball Game has always been to bring the community together and to provide support to local organizations. That purity makes the game “a true celebration of baseball,” Perry said.
Before the first pitches were thrown, five people who died recently were honored for their contributions to the OldTime Baseball Game. Dave Leibovitz, Tim Wakefield, Paul Monagle, Jim Caple and Paul Ryder, whose “wisdom and ceaseless friendship” were listed in a ceremony as reasons the event was able to come together.
Merloni collected the Greg Montalbano award, given in memory of the late Red Sox pitching prospect who participated in the Oldtime Baseball Game, after missing the game in 2022 because it was delayed by rain. Merloni had a unique connection to Montalbano; his father coached Greg Montalbano’s father in Little League.
Families sat on their picnic blankets, settling in to watch as Dorchester’s Dave McKay sang the national anthem. Between the nine innings, residents enjoyed Wahlburgers, applied bug spray and visited the tables set up by the game’s charity partner, The Boston Home.
Some volunteered to help The Boston Home, a Dorchester community of 96 wheelchair users, reach its fundraising goal by selling merchandise and running a silent auction. Residents of The Boston Home made baseball cards, featuring a photo of each resident, to allow people to sponsor a resident. The Boston Home raised enough money last year to buy a new wheelchair van that was used this year to get residents to and from the field; this year it surpassed the amount, bringing in $85,000 to support programs not paid for by MassHealth.
Over 30 years, the OldTime Baseball Game has been able to partner with local organizations to raise almost $2 million.
Even though Buckley’s received offered to move the game to large, iconic stadiums, the tradition of the Abbott Financial Management OldTime Baseball Game is set to stay in Cambridge.
“We’re never going to leave this field,” Findley said.
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We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful charity event in Cambridge. Thanks for the coverage.