Seniors win softball championships with teamwork, heart

By Kory Johnson

When you think of members of the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame, you might think of Jim Boeheim, Danny Biasone, or Jim Shampine.

Al Guglielmo would like you to also think of the Syracuse Merchants softball team, as well.

Started in 1998 by Paul Kaiser, and organized by Dan Johnson and Mike Byrne, the Merchants’ goal was to form a championship senior softball team with local Central New York players.

They weren’t looking for just anyone, however. They were looking for the best.

“As Paul put it, ‘I just want to win championships’,” Guglielmo recalled.

Current members include Guglielmo as coach, Tony Campitello as manager, and Fred Brown, Gary McSweeney, Ron Mitchell, Jim Mix, Brett Gorham, Mike Muldoon, Mike Murphy, Dan Kelley, Paul O’Brien, Don Kline, Butch Sweeney, Jim McLaughlin, and Sal Rizzo as players.

The Syracuse Merchants range in age of 58 to 63 but compete in a 55-year-old division.

Age certainly hasn’t stifled their competitive spirit.

“We still play because we enjoy it. We’re still good at it and we enjoy each other’s company, and we’ve been playing together for a long time,” said Guglielmo.

“And we’re good,” Guglielmo re-emphasized.

Good may be an understatement. Since their inception in 1999, the Merchants have been moving up in competition and winning tournaments and championships at a rapid pace.

In 2008, the team was crowned Eastern National Champions, USA National Champions, and World Champions of the 55+ AAA SSUSA Division, taking all three top senior softball titles.

In 2002, the Merchants won the 50+ Double-A International Senior Softball Association Championship in Manassas, Va., prompting recognition from the mayor’s office for Dec. 6 to be “Syracuse Merchants Men’s Senior Softball Day” in the city of Syracuse.

In 2003, the team won the SSUSA 50+ Triple-A Eastern Championships in Glen Burnie, Md., and followed it up with winning the International Softball Federation Championship in Manassas in 2004.

Over Memorial Day weekend, the Merchants played in Niagara Falls, Canada for the Slo-Pitch Nationals Championship and won.

Their continued success and fame in the softball circuit are reasons they’re being considered for the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame.

The players all come from different backgrounds, such as a policeman, a school principal, an engineer, a teacher, a mason, a train conductor, an architect, and many others, but the one thing everyone shares is a love of the game.

“We’ve been ballplayers all our lives,” Rizzo said.

The Merchants cite chemistry and camaraderie as key to their winning.

They’re careful to only include players who mesh well with the team, and they aren’t afraid to get rid of players who don’t, said Kelley.

Unlike some teams, they said, they’ve kept their identity throughout the years.

“We’ve kept our name and our personnel,” O’Brien said.

“We’re a family. We stick together. When someone has a problem, everyone is there, said Guglielmo. He cited as an example when the entire team showed up in uniform for the funeral of one of the Merchants’ family members.

“We don’t do it for recognition. We do it because that’s who we are,” Guglielmo said.

Building a dynasty — Many teams change faces and names, but the Syracuse Merchants have remained the same for over 12 years and over 95 percent of the original members are still playing, O’Brien said.

“We started out as a double-A 50-year-old division team and many of us were actually mid-50s and older. We are now a 60-year-old major division team and continue to win and prosper with the same team that started as 50-year-old players,” O’Brien said.

“Someone once told us that the Merchants are the best local team that Syracuse has never heard of. When we are out of town for tournaments, all the teams know who we are and most are glad that they are not in our division,” O’Brien added.

Rizzo said the team practices or plays in tournaments year-round, except for March and December, working in indoor facilities during bad weather.

During the summer, members often play two to three games a week.

Part of the Merchants’ training regimen is to play games against much younger softball teams, often against young men in their 20s.

The first time they did so, the opposing team was in disbelief.

“They look like our freaking grandfathers,” a chuckling Kelley recalls them saying.

But Guglielmo said their goal isn’t to beat the kids, but just to keep sharp.

“We’re 60-year-old men. We’re playing against kids with young arms and young legs. We’re not in it to win it. We’re in it to keep in shape so when we play guys our age, we can compete and compete well,” he said.

The team plays in about four or five tournaments a year across the country. Often these round-robin tournaments will have them playing multiple games in a short period of time.

“Last year in Virginia when we played, we played five games, back to back. It was 90 degrees and we played five games with no break—all the way into the championship game,” Kelley said.

“It takes a lot out of you, especially at our age,” he said.

Still, after the games, the Merchants are as much a team off the field as they are on the field.

“We see other teams at tournaments. They play, and then they scatter,” Guglielmo said.

In contrast, he said, the Merchants go out to dinner, or on the town, and always spend time in each other’s company.

Moving on up — The team will soon be moving to the 60-65 age bracket, as some of their members are entering their sixth decade.

“Five years doesn’t seem like much until you’re 60 and playing against 55-year-olds,” Kelley said.

Still, the team expects to have the same success in the 60s bracket as they’ve had in the 50s bracket.

“We like each other, we respect each other. Like a family, we have disagreements, but we love the game,” Guglielmo said.

“We’re giving up time with our family and we pay for all this ourselves, but we make up for it by taking care of our wives and we appreciate all they do,” Guglielmo said.

“We eat breakfast together, we eat dinner together, and we bust on each other,” he added.

When the game begins, however, they’re all business.