Published: April 16, 2008 12:01 pm            

Player discovers you're never too old

Dream of playing college baseball comes true

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — jd’abruzzo@ncnewsonline.com



Steve Reider is not looking for fame.

He’s not in search of a Major League contract or looking to steal any limelight. In fact, he hates the thought of being a distraction to the Westminster College baseball team.

But Reider’s story is one like no other in Lawrence County.

He’s 44 years old and is a retired Master Sergeant with the United States Army.

The fact that Reider has not played competitive baseball in more than 25 years — he is more than twice the age of his average teammates and looks more like a coach on the bench — is not stopping him.

Reider’s spot on the roster is no joke and he shies away from any attention that would make him a sideshow. He takes his role very seriously because he’s fulfilling his goal to become a member of a team again.

“In what I did with the Army, it is very team oriented and I really missed being on a team,” Reider said. “Personally, that’s probably the biggest reason why I went out.”

Westminster baseball coach Carmen Nocera never doubted Reider when he jokingly entertained the thought of coming out for the team more than a year ago.

Reider knew the Titans lacked depth at catcher and explained he would learn the position as a way to help out and join the team. Nocera, who is only two years older than Reider and actually played on the same Connie Mack team when Reider was 13 and he was 15, took him up on the offer.

“I looked into it and he had the grades and his doctor gave him the OK, but it was too late in the year at the time,” Nocera said. “We talked again before this season, so he decided to give it a chance.

“I thought it was wonderful. If you have a bunch of players who are hungry like he is and will do anything to get the job done, it’s just wonderful.”

Reider is a catcher and an outfielder. More importantly, to him, he is a junior in college, majoring in history while minoring in secondary education and carrying a 3.8 GPA.

He has a goal in mind and that is to one day teach and, hopefully, coach the game he loves.

“I could have been a volunteer assistant but I don’t think I would have learned as much,” said Reider, who lives on the East Side with his wife, Christine Tuscano-Reider, and their three daughters, Alexa (8), Sophia (6) and Nina (4). “It is also one of the many reasons why I wanted to catch because you have to learn so much and be so much a part of the game that you’re forced to learn every aspect of it.

“I’m learning baseball again just like I’m learning my subjects.”

Reider played the outfield for three years at New Castle High and graduated in 1982. After high school, Reider worked a handful of odd jobs before finding his career in the military.

It was no surprise to Chris Norris when he awoke in Florida to the smell of freshly cooked omelets.

Norris, a Sharon native and senior infielder on the Westminster baseball team, was one of eight Titans players who shared housing during the team’s annual spring trip to Fort Pierce in mid-March.

The eight teammates were given a week’s worth of supplies — enough for the Titans’ seven-day trek — but they didn’t last.

“You have eight guys in a house and down there breakfast is really the most important meal of the day because you normally play baseball all day and then don’t get to eat until the evening,” Norris said. “We were all eating two to three bowls of cereal a day and everything was gone in three days.”

So when Norris walked into the kitchen that fourth morning, his eyes widened when he saw a cooked meal ready for him and the rest of the his housemates.

“I wake up and smell eggs,” Norris said. “Then there’s Steve, in the kitchen with eight omelets ready for us. He did that the rest of the trip. Every day, he had breakfast for us. He is awesome. He went out, got enough food for us and he paid for the eggs and cheese with his own money.”

Norris knows Reider’s gesture was pure and not an effort to get his teammates to accept him — because they already had.

“A lot of the guys were a little confused at first, but everyone warmed up to him right away,” Norris said. “He’s the same age as a lot of our dads and it can be weird to be on the same field with someone that age. But for me, it’s an honor. He has put himself before others his whole life and now he is putting himself before his teammates every day.”

Junior outfielder/third baseman Mike Williams, who is a Union High graduate, has a lot of respect for Reider.

“After 20-plus years in the army ... what motivates a man to come and play collegiate baseball? His answer to that is he missed being a part of a team, and with open arms we took the guy in,” Williams said. “At the age of 44, he is more energetic and enthusiastic than any other player on our team. That is saying a lot about his character and personality.

“I talk to Steve a lot during the games because he brings nothing but positive things to the table. If I make a mistake, I don't put my head down, I walk over to Steve Reider and chitchat with him until my mind is on a different cloud leaving the error behind me.”

And his coach has taken notice.

“He’s the first one at practice and the last one to leave,” Nocera said. “He carries the bats, picks up trash after games and does whatever it takes to be a part of the team.”

Reider isn’t looking to impress anyone; he’s simply being himself.

“What they can take from me is that I’m the master of the mundane,” Reider said. “What nobody wants to do, I have no problem doing because that’s a part of being a member of a team.”

According to Reider, it didn’t take long before he felt like a Titan.

“They (the seniors) have all the freshmen sing karaoke on the bus ride down to Florida and I had to do it, too,” Reider said. “I was treated the same as all the freshmen. That really showed me the true leadership of this team and it really broke the ice.”

To this day, Reider carries a baseball in the back compartment of his backpack.

The ball, which he belted into center field against Mitchell (Conn.) during his second career collegiate at-bat, is a keepsake from his first base hit with the Titans.

“Why (the ball’s) in there, I don’t know,” Reider said. “On a personal level, I have many military accomplishments, but those were a part of my job and that was what was expected of me. But this is something different.

“I’ve been thinking about what I should do with it. I know it’s there and I won’t lose it. I also know it’s like a good luck charm right now.”

Nocera hasn’t gone out of his way to make sure Reider sees playing time. Reider has played sparingly with the varsity, but has seen action in every JV contest.

Nocera, though, made sure he helped Reider when it came to being nervous. As the skipper was ready to send Reider to the plate for his first at-bat in Florida, Nocera waited until the player was completely dressed in his catchers equipment.

“I didn’t want him standing there and thinking about it,” Nocera said. “I had him hurry up and take the gear off. He had no time to let the nervousness set in.”

Reider’s first at-bat didn’t go too well, though.

“I took three healthy cuts and then I sat down. I struck out,” he said with a grin.

But the his next trip to the dish — the very next game — was one to remember.

“My legs were so excited, I almost fell over going to first base,” Reider explained. “The more I reflect on it, I would really hate to be that pitcher because he gave up that hit to a 44-year-old. I’m sure his teammates rode him pretty hard.”

“I had tears in my eyes,” Nocera said. “It was wonderful. Wins and loses take care of themselves, but to fulfill someone’s dream of playing college baseball is what it’s all about.”



John D'Abruzzo writes for the New Castle (Pa.) News.

        

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