Rich Hill was the starting pitcher for Kansas City Tuesday night, pitching against the Chicago Cubs, the team that drafted him out of the University of Michigan in 2002. His first Major League start was in 2005. This was the first game of his 21st season, with his 14th Major League team.
When he went to the mound, I bet he had the nerves of a rookie.
Hill is a serious guy. Baseball is his life, pitching is his passion. He had 11 starts for the Omaha Storm Chasers this season before joining the Royals, riding the bus like the kids hoping to crack the Majors.
Rich Hill, nicknamed Dick Mountain, is a real life “Crash Davis,” Kevin Costner’s character in the 1988 film, “Bull Durham.” He fascinates me because he is fighting to be relevant against the best hitters in the world.
At 80 years old, I too am playing in the Majors, dreaming about used machinery deals and trying to put together every shred of serendipity in order to make magic and profit in a tariff-scarred world.
It is tough. I feel like I’m still riding the buses. Buyers are indecisive. Work is trickling back from China, but big companies are looking to keep one foot in Asia and a few toes in America.
The competition from the Mexican plants owned by foreign behemoths complicates things even more for small and midsize machining firms in this country.
From a personal standpoint I feel blessed that I have capable people in my business and a son who enjoys working with me and challenges me consistently.
I think my peers who have retired look at me as a bit of a freak, yet I know many of them envy me for waking up with a purpose and a son who is happy to connect with me every day.
Writing this blog is another difficult and fulfilling task.
I write it old school in longhand, but I demand of myself fresh ideas and the creativity to weave them together. My work has to be enticing enough to pull in readers so advertisers will find it worth paying for the privilege of sharing my prose.
I watched the grizzled Rich Hill throw his weird assortment of sweepers, splitters, and not very fast 4-seam fastballs. He lost the game, but he pitched well for five innings.
I wanted my Cubs to clobber him, but a little piece of me hoped the old dude would pitch a no-hitter in the first game of his 21st season.
Question: How are you dealing with aging?
4 Comments
I’m 67. One of the oldest remaining in my company. We are a semi conductor manufacturer and HV Power Supply manufacturer. Tough business. I’m the IT manager. Business is shrinking. We have hundreds of computers, printers, and various network devices. Diverse. I have one other guy. He is the infrastructure guy. Sets up all the new stuff. Maintains it. I manage him and 2 programmers. And do Helpdesk and whatever else I’m asked for. Mostly I love the satisfaction of helping everyone help this company succeed. Been here 36 years. Some days I have tired legs. Not that great walking around. I yell at myself and press on. Try to make a difference. Try to be of good cheer. My biggest challenge is working NIST CMMC2 certification. Huge effort. I’m aging but resisting it! I don’t have my son out here but work with a stellar group of young engineers. Keep steppin’.
Loved your comment.
…with arthroscopic knee surgery…
Lloyd, I’m not far behind you at 78. I left my heatsink manufacturing business at age 70, after owning it for 13 years and consulting for the new owner for three more. Since then I have kept busy using my engineering and manufacturing skills to assist several non-profit organizations, and finally getting to do more with my several hobbies. The key is to find things to do that YOU find fulfilling and that are challenging enough to keep life interesting. I’m on the Board of Trustees at our church, which has responsibility for the physical facilities at our two buildings. There is always something that needs fixing, painting, or improving. My latest big project was managing the $6 million renovation of a 22,500 square foot building dating back to 1917 into a new home for an art museum in the small town of David City, Nebraska, which was a tremendously exciting undertaking that consumed hundreds of hours of my time with no financial compensation, but was WAY more fun than fishing or playing golf. The project even won awards for three of our contractors from a two state contractors trade association.