Tom wraps up 11^th season in Florida

Tom Giffen (seated), Tom Moore (left), Mike Williams

Former sports editor Tom Giffen, the guy in charge, BJ newsroom retiree Thomas C. Moore and BJ advertising makeup retiree Mike Williams wrapped up the 2014 Roy Hobbs Baseball Series for older players in Fort Myers, Florida.

The diamond dandies cavorted Oct. 22-Nov. 22. 

Champions were crowned to 23 divisions, determined by the players’ ages.

Rick "Mac" McGalliard of Barberton and  Roger Begue of Uniontown must be pretty good at it because they were inducted into the 2014 Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame class.

Tom Moore wrote:

“Wrapped up another year with the Roy Hobbs World Series (my 11th) and as usual it was great with more than 230 amateur baseball teams from all over the U.S, Canada, Russia, Dominican, Puerto Rico.

“It just shows there is a great life after retirement and the Akron Beacon Journal.”

For Tom and Mike, it’s a break from Akron weather on the Gulf Coast.

 In the photo are three guys with a combined 90+ years of BJ experience: 29 for Tom, 44 for Mike and 13 for Tom, who has more years with other Knight newspapers.

The league was named after the character played by Robert Redford in "The Natural," a 1984 movie based on Barnard Malamud's 1952 book. Roy Hobbs goes from obscurity to a hitting sensation at age 35, using his Wonderboy bat that was made from a tree struck by lightning.

Locally, where Giffen took over the Roy Hobbs League during his days as BJ sports editor, the Hudson Explorers clinched the 2009 Northeast Ohio AAA division by beating the Firestone Park Rangers, 9-8, in the double-elimination tournament. Later, Giffen bought the Roy Hobbs name from its California creator, took it to Fort Myers and has been enjoying luxury for its profits.