Senior League

By Lois Gilman

After battling melanoma in 1996, schoolteacher Rem Remlinger reckoned that his working days were done. That was until a former student, employed by the Seattle Mariners, suggested that he work the home games at the new Safeco Field in Seattle. Now, when the Mariners play at home, Remlinger, 67, works the media gate, schmoozing with fans as the procession of press and visiting ballplayers enters the stadium. "I look forward to going to work every day," he says. "I get to see a lot of people, socialize and just have fun."

Glance around any ballpark these days, and you're likely to see a number of gray-haired ushers, ticket takers and gate attendants. Many ballparks--particularly those in Sun Belt states--are discovering the benefits of cultivating an older labor force, and they are implementing new measures to keep older workers happily employed. "They're personable, dependable and trustworthy, and they take pride in their jobs," says Kurt Kleinknecht, manager of guest services and guest relations at the Arizona Diamondbacks' Bank One stadium.

From an early age, Lenny Litzky, 74, loved baseball, playing American Legion ball in the Bronx during high school and later coaching and managing Little League, Mickey Mantle and Connie Mack teams in New Jersey while his son was young. As a teenager, Litzky sold peanuts and scorecards at New York Giants and Yankees games.

So for Litzky, who now lives in Sun City, Ariz., working as an usher at the Diamondbacks' stadium felt like a homecoming--one he very much needed after his wife died six years ago. "It kept me so busy there wasn't a chance to think," says Litzky, who also helps coordinate 500 volunteers at the sports complex in Peoria, Ariz., where the Mariners and the San Diego Padres hold spring training.

When the Diamondbacks started up six seasons ago, they made a concerted effort to lure retirees like Litzky into customer-service positions. Management scoured outlying communities for willing seniors, advertising in local newspapers and posting notices at senior centers. To ease the long commute to and from some areas, the Diamondbacks organized a shuttle-bus service to transport workers to the stadium in downtown Phoenix. The bus today carries 40 to 45 employees back and forth to their jobs at home games.

Of course, working at a ballpark can be physically demanding, and teams don't push those who can't handle it. Retired policeman Dave Gustafson, 55, and his wife Joanne, 53, walk three to four miles daily on the job at Bank One ballpark. Ellis DeLay, 77, on the other hand, stands in an area between two sections of the upper concourse of the ballpark and monitors activity there. When seniors need an accommodation, says Kleinknecht, "we try to put them in areas where it's not too strenuous or where they don't have to go up stairs."

As for compensation, there's not much: new employees at Bank One ballpark start at $7 or $8 an hour. But few seem to mind. "Just having fun" is the common refrain heard among these boys and girls of summer. "I tell everyone, when they ask me how I'm doing, that every day's a holiday," says Remlinger. Gustafson agrees: "How hard can it be when you're at a ball game?"