They're addicted, but it's not to drugs or alcohol. These people get high the natural way — on a softball diamond. And they just can't get enough.
They're your friends and your neighbors. And some of them can hide it well. It's hard to tell who these people are until you actually catch them in the act. Some of them have been playing softball for as long as they can remember, and some of them are just starting out, but none of them can tear themselves away from a ballpark when softball's on the schedule.
Husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends and children either learn to love the action or spend March through October alone.
"My boyfriend plays on 10 softball teams," said Chelsea Mikalauski, who works at the Orem adult softball diamond as a scorekeeper.
She's an ex-pitcher for Mountain View High and Utah Valley State, and she plays on a slow-pitch team or two herself — but her boyfriend is even a little too addicted for the young woman who used to practice her pitching three hours a day in rain or snow and in sickness or health.
"I like that he plays softball, but to tell the truth, I'd rather have a boyfriend. We play on different teams, and I never see him during softball season," she added about the man she met — how else? — while playing in a slow-pitch league.
Mark Hansen, who is in charge of all adult softball leagues in Lehi and American Fork, laments the fact that he doesn't have more softball diamonds to work with for the sport that has caught such fire.
"We don't have any fields set up for just softball," said Hansen, who runs a spring/summer league in American Fork and a fall-only league in Lehi because all the fields are used for other things during different times of the year.
"My phone is ringing non-stop with people begging to get in," he said, adding that his fall league in Lehi can only accept 40 teams and is now full with 15-20 more on a waiting list, crossing their collective fingers that he can work something out.
None of the fields in either Lehi or American Fork run any leagues for women or coed teams. Those women addicts find themselves heading further south if they want to hit the diamonds for a little softball action. And Spanish Fork is adding a second complex with three more fields to its four-field softball complex that is only five years old.
"They'll have no problem keeping all the diamonds busy," said Don Andrews who is an avid softball player and coach for the Spanish Fork High School softball team.
And sometimes this malady affects not just one person, but entire families.
"That whole family eats, breathes and drinks softball," said Kathleen Street, who would be a softball widow if she didn't accompany her husband to his many softball games every week. He plays on a team with his brother and his father. They play in leagues and in tournaments across the state. The men in the family not only play on their own team but find themselves subbing for friends in other leagues and sometimes playing fast-pitch as well.
And it all started with patriarch Danny Street, who's been playing softball for as long as he can remember and watching other men come and go along the way. But this man is truly one of the addicts and readily admits it to anyone who wants to know.
"The day after each of our first two children were born, she was at the ballpark watching me play," he said of his wife, who had her newborns in tow at the dusty fields. The kids literally grew up at the park.
And they're all still living there as his sons play on the team, his daughter and her four children come to watch every game, and his daughter-in-law brings her six-month-old to watch Daddy play.
"It's a good getaway," said Street. "I've been playing on this team for 15 years watching the young kids come and go, but I'm still playing hard and staying fit."
He's moved in from the outfield, past the pitching mound and is now in the catcher's box for his team.
Friend and pitcher Bruce Plympton, who is also 50 years old and still kicking up the dirt every week, said he played for many years in California before moving to Utah and joining up with Street.
These people have a way of finding each other.
"I just keep taking my Geritol," said Plympton, who is serious about his sport. "It's a good release (to come out to the park and play), but this is a pretty serious team."
And while some teams out there are just out to have a good time, others scratch and claw for that victory so they can brag for a year about winning their league and maybe helping a buddy or two win theirs.
This seemingly benign sport, isn't for the faint of heart. Most of the men and some of the women that find themselves out in the field, say only "wusses" play with pants. And most everyone sports shorts when running the bases. Shorts are good for the weather, but can be hard on the legs when sliding into second. While player after player reports scrapes and scratches that just don't heal until the off-season, Plympton notes that his legs have seen so many years on the diamond that his callouses don't scar any more.
Hot, humid tournaments have caused many a player to collapse after playing up to six games in a day. But only a select few wind up in the hospital with dehydration. Shoulders are torn up from sliding in left field to make that one great catch, and collisions between a first baseman and a determined runner have sent certain people in for stitches.
And the pros and kids don't have a monopoly on confrontations with umpires either as these players are so caught up in their games that they've been known to get nose-to-nose with "blue" and even be kicked out of the ballpark during "recreational" action.
And if you do know one of these addicts, don't assume he or she will leave the action at the ballpark. You'll be reliving the week's game(s) morning and night until those memories are replaced by those of yet another game.
For these addicts truly never escape the diamond.
Softball in Utah County
AMERICAN FORK
Spring/summer leauges: 24 men's teams
Steel Days Tournament annually with 12 teams
LEHI
Fall league: 40 men's teams (15-20 on waiting list)
No tournaments — used to run four a year and looking to do it again
OREM
Spring/summer leagues: 70 men's teams, 23 women's teams, 53 coed teams
Fall leagues: 52 men's teams, eight women's teams, 38 coed teams
One tournament annually — 20 teams
PAYSON
Spring/summer leagues: 40 men's teams, 18 women's teams
Fall leagues: 40 coed teams
Four men's tournaments, two coed tournaments, with an average of 14-18 teams per tourney
PLEASANT GROVE
Information unavailable.
PROVO
Spring/summer leagues: 103 men's teams, 12 women's teams, 44 coed teams
Fall leagues: 55-60 men's teams, 38 coed teams
Two men's tournaments (average of 26 teams each) and two coed tourneys (16 teams each)
SPRINGVILLE
Spring/summer leagues: 10 men's teams, 10 coed teams
SPANISH FORK
Spring/summer leagues: 45 men's teams, 20 women's teams
Fall leagues: 20 men's teams, 32 coed teams
One tournament in each month from May to August — 10-20 teams each
E-mail: jolsen@desnews.com