3 Min reading time
Once upon a time there were three friends. And they agreed: they had nothing left for football. But they discovered another sport. As luck would have it, one of them owned a large leather glove, the other a heavy wooden club, and the third a small, white ball. Perfect. At the model airfield in Ost, the trio tried out whether everything fitted together. And it fit. Thus began the history of the city’s first baseball team in the mid-1980s. On Saturday, May 13, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., there will be a reunion on the Bruchweg sports field. And anyone interested in the American batting game can drop by.
Rules copied from a computer game
“Things were lying around in each of our rooms, more like decorations,” recalls the man who brought the ball into play at the time. His name: Peter Godde. He grins, adjusts his cap. The boys didn’t even know how baseball worked. “We painstakingly copied the rules with the help of a computer game on a Commodore 64,” reveals the 52-year-old with a laugh. And with success. From then on, about 15 young people became enthusiastic about the hobby and spent their pocket money on baseball equipment.
“It’s comparable to Brennball,” Godde tries to explain the basic elements as simply as possible. So: A player throws a ball, which the player of the other team has to hit with a bat at a distance of 18 meters. If he succeeds, he accelerates powerfully to circle the playing surface and score a point while the opponents chase the ball. Well, that has to be enough. Godde prefers to talk about his former school friends. For ten years, they met weekly to throw, bat, and run. “It was a great time, but as we got older we parted ways,” Godde says, regret in his voice.
Club could have started immediately in the 2nd division
The team from Recklinghausen could have gone far. “We considered founding a club, then we would have started immediately in the second German baseball league, since there were hardly any clubs in North Rhine-Westphalia,” says Godde. But they lacked the money and time to travel across the country. “The effort would have been too great. We were still schoolboys,” points out Marc Perle, also the organizer of the reunion. “That was a shame.” He shrugs.
It is all the nicer that some of the friends ran into each other by chance years later and arranged to meet up for a match, with pizza, beer and now with friends. The class reunion turned into a family celebration. The youngsters are also fascinated and grab their bat, glove and ball. On May 13th it’s that time again. For the tenth time to be exact.
“We still have to mow the lawn on the paths and mark them with chalk,” explains Marc Perle, looking across the meadow. Not forgetting chairs, tables, gazebos, drinks and food. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it,” emphasizes the 51-year-old. The good weather has already been ordered. Concerns that Perle might have forgotten how to play baseball are unfounded. “I’ll get back in there very quickly.”
He doesn’t go to the field without a curly wig
On the big day, the voting takes turns until the two teams stand. The organizers do without a referee. Godde: “We’ll all do that together.” Perle: “The loudest one is right.” The two agree. And of course Peter Godde will be wearing his black locks again (glued to the helmet). “In the ’80s, baseball stars always had long hair,” he explains. He thinks that’s cool. And one thing is certain: “In the end we’re done,” he says, “we’ll fall down, lie on the grass and are glad it’s over.” See you next year, when it says again: Once upon a time there were three friends …
2023-05-12 17:38:43
#Recklinghausen #baseball #team #celebrates #reunion
