Mitchell Powers threw his last pitch for Southern New Hampshire University in late May, winning an elimination game in the NCAA Division II College World Series, the day before the Penmen were eliminated.
“Sad to say, I’m done playing (baseball),” he said on Tuesday. “I feel like I’m an old-timer already.”
Which is appropriate.
Powers, a 2014 graduate of Cheverus High, will be among about 60 players who will participate in the 25th annual Oldtime Baseball Game in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday evening. The game, established in the summer of 1994 when major league baseball players were on strike, has become one of the highlights of the summer baseball season in the Boston area.
Local amateur players – as well as celebrities and former major leaguers – wear throwback flannel uniforms from several different eras of baseball, and fans line St. Peter’s Field while sitting on blankets or chairs. This year, former Red Sox players Tim Wakefield and Lou Merloni will play, along with NHL Hall of Famer Ray Bourque and his sons, Ryan and Chris.
Matt Pare, a former Deering High player, also will play. Pare, who spent five years in the San Francisco Giants’ minor league system as a catcher and designated hitter, has been part of the game as a player or volunteer four times while attending Boston College.
This year, he will receive the Greg Montalbano Award, named after the former Red Sox minor leaguer who died from cancer at age 31 in 2009. The award is presented to a former participant in the game who exemplifies Montalbano’s spirit and love of the game.
Although Pare will be on the home team, he will wear a 1927 St. Louis Cardinals road uniform – the same jersey Montalbano wore in 1998, the first year of throwback uniforms.
“It’s an honor,” said Pare, who now lives in Los Angeles, where he is learning to be a writer and actor. “Everything I’ve heard about Greg shows that he was an amazing man. I’m just completely grateful for the award and extremely honored.”
But Pare didn’t need the award to want to come back to Boston to play in this game again.
“It’s such a cool experience, throwing on those uniforms,” he said. “And it’s cool to see all the people there. It’s got that old feel to it, like you’re back playing at a local park.
“You’re not at some stadium, there’s no admission (fee), you have old-timey music playing. It’s a fun atmosphere for baseball and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s supposed to be.”
The event is also a significant fundraiser. This year’s beneficiary is the American Heart Association, in memory of Steve Harris, a longtime sportswriter at the Boston Herald who died in February.
Harris’ wife, Kathy, will throw out the first pitch to Rick Middleton, the former Boston Bruins star.
The founder of the Oldtime Baseball Game is Boston Herald sports columnist Steve Buckley, a former sportswriter at the Portland Press Herald.
He never expected it to be anything more than a one-time game. But it has become a very special event.
“It means a lot to me,” said Portland’s Powers, who graduated form SNHU with a degree in business administration. “I just ended my career and you want to play in any game you can after that. But this is an amazing game to be invited to. There’s a lot of history to it, a lot of important people there, a lot of baseball players, a lot of past baseball players.
“It’s a good experience for anyone to have. And it’s something special that brings people together.”
Mitchell, who will wear the San Francisco Seals 1930s Joe DiMaggio No. 10 jersey, got invited to the game in an interesting fashion.
On May 1, he threw a perfect game for SNHU with 11 strikeouts against St. Michael’s College.
Perfect games, apparently, are a thing in his family. His father, Marc, once threw a perfect game in the 1981 New England Babe Ruth tournament, a game that Buckley covered.
“My dad actually still has that newspaper,” said Powers. “I’ve seen it a few times. The headline was ‘Perfect Powers.’ People still call him that.”
After Mitchell Powers’ perfect game, his brother, Matt, got in touch with Buckley, who immediately invited young Mitchell.
“I was pretty psyched,” said Mitchell Powers.
Pare is also looking forward to the game because he’s getting the chance to catch Wakefield, a knuckleball pitcher.
“That will be interesting because I’ve never caught a knuckleballer before,” he said. “It’ll be a lot of ‘Fetch it. Fetch it.’ And I’m OK with that.”
Pare is also hoping to catch Powers. Pare was a close friend of Mitchell’s older brother, Matt.
“But they never wanted me to play with them because I was too young,” said Powers.
That’s apparently changed.
“I’m going to catch until Mitchell throws,” said Pare. “I’m going to make sure I catch Mitchell in that game.”
Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or:
mlowe@pressherald.com
Twitter: MikeLowePPH
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.