Lewis: ‘Player of the Century’

Life is fulfilling when you’re doing something you love. No one knows that better than Palisadian Herb Lewis, who was recently chosen ‘Player of the Century’ for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Adult Baseball Camp in Vero Beach, Florida. ‘I’ve always loved the game,’ says Lewis, a resident of Castellammare for 38 years. ‘I played in high school, I played in the Army, I played pick-up games whenever I could. No matter where I was I made sure I had my glove and a pair of spikes handy.’ Lewis will turn 90 on June 1 but he still runs the bases himself and he is still a capable fielder in the most physically demanding positions’short stop and second base. His latest trophy, which he says had to be shipped because it was ‘too heavy to carry back’ is but his latest honor. He is already enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, as the oldest active player in the United States and, of course, he’s in the Hall of Fame at Dodgertown, too, where he gets reunited every year with some of the Dodgers’ all-time greats like Dusty Baker and Bill Russell. ‘I thought my playing days were over when I had a heart attack right on the field when I was 40,’ Lewis recalls. ‘It was a hot day in the middle of August and here I was trying to turn a double play and I had base runners knocking me into center field.’ One of 45,000 people nationwide involved in Men’s Senior League Baseball, Lewis gets as excited about his Sunday afternoon games as a kid playing little league. ‘I love being out there and I hate it when we’re rained out,’ he says. ‘There’s no place I’d rather be.’ Lewis claims his wife of 63 years, Anne, encouraged him to attend his first Dodger Adult Baseball Camp 17 years ago after reading about it in the newspaper. Though he had just undergone quadruple bypass surgery and had not touched a baseball in 32 years, Lewis passed a physical and was cleared by his doctor to play. ‘Baseball has been my husband’s fountain of youth,’ says Anne, who has performed in numerous plays at Theatre Palisades, most recently as the lead role in Driving Miss Daisy. ‘All of the younger players call him Herbie. He’s their inspiration because they know if he can play as long as he has then they can too.’