Olde Timers ready to hit the diamond
ABOVE: Ray Lucero takes a cut during a practice with his team, The Mister Teez Grandpas, on Wednesday. The team was practicing for the annual Gallup Olde Timers Softball Tournament this weekend. BELOW: Art Burrola connects with the ball during practice with the Mister Teez Grandpas on Wednesday. The team was practicing for the annual Gallup Olde Timers Softball Tournament this weekend. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — Dr. Lawrence Andrade is in the curious position of being the board president of a softball association he’s not old enough to actually play in.

But that’s OK with him. According to Andrade, his duties as president of the Gallup Olde Timers’ Softball Association give him the opportunity to support an organization his father has played with for years. It also gives him the opportunity to give back to others.

“It gives me a chance to help out the community that raised me,” said Andrade, a local physician who is serving in his first year as president of the softball association. In addition, Andrade sponsors a 50-and-older team, Los Viejos (”The Old Men”), and his father’s 60-and-older team, Los Mas Viejos (”The Older Men”).

The Gallup Olde Timers’ Softball Association sponsors the city’s popular men’s Labor Day Weekend tournament, an annual event at Ford Canyon Park that attracts hundreds of people for a weekend of slow pitch softball games, a cook-out, and communitywide fun. This weekend’s tournament will feature 15 teams — nine 50-and-over teams and six 60-and-over teams — from Gallup and Albuquerque, a home run derby with wooden bats, a ceremony to remember players who passed away over the last year, and a ceremony to honor the tournament’s founders. Organizers are also trying to add an air bouncer, climbing wall, concession stand, music, and perhaps a dance group to Sunday’s events.

Andrade is encouraging any man who played during the tournament’s first three years — 1987 through 1989 — to participate in a special ceremony at noon on Sunday. The tournament was founded in 1987 under a different name, he explained, which was subsequently changed in 1994.

This weekend’s games are scheduled to run all day Saturday and Sunday, with the awards ceremony to be held late afternoon or early evening Sunday.

“That’s all dependent on the weather,” said Andrade, who noted that the last games could get pushed to Monday by rain storms. “Hopefully they don’t,” he said, “as the guys need a chance to recover before they go back to work.”

According to Andrade, the softball association would like to see more 50-and-over softball leagues formed across the state, with the idea of establishing a state tournament in Gallup that would attract teams from New Mexico cities and Native communities. “That’s kind of a long range goal,” he said, adding that such a tournament would offer the opportunity to showcase the city of Gallup.

Information: Andrade: lamd2000@mac.com or Gloria Lopez: (505) 863-3245 (evenings) or 863-6811 ext. 250 (day)