Name: Rick “Uncle Jessie” Brewer
Occupation: Dairy Farmer
Team: Stewart’s Creek Scouts
Preferred Bat: Personalized 36″Smacker “Baller”
“Uncle Jessie” is a Yankee from Ohio and a TAOVBB Rookie who plays 1st sack for the Stewart’s Creek Scouts.
TAOVBB: What kind of baseball experience do you have?
Uncle Jessie: I have been around baseball as long as I can remember. My dad and I used to finish milking the cows in the evening and then play catch until it was too dark to see. I played all through high school, college, and then pitched for a few summers of semi-pro ball. I played slow-pitch softball, and with my best friend and wife, Laurie, coached both of our sons in Little League. Matt, one of our sons, is now coaching his sons. Laurie and I have season tickets to the Nashville Sounds. I love the game.
TAOVBB: We love the game too. What makes Vintage Base Ball special?
Uncle Jessie: It brings people together from so many different backgrounds and occupations. There are ballists around the league who have found common threads that link them, and show just how small the world is. Will “Twitch” Renfro, a chef, came into the co-op one morning to buy field chalk, and when I asked him about it, he told me about the league. I went to a game the very next day, and have been hooked since. I am having a ball playing again, especially at 64 years old.
TAOVBB: Do you have any stories about baseball that are particularly interesting?
Uncle Jessie:I grew up on a dairy farm in Ohio, and we recently sold it to the city. Part of the land became a park, and earlier this year, there was a Vintage Base Ball game played there. My mother went down to the game, and it turns out the one of the ballists who played is the son of a milk truck driver that worked for the farm years ago! It is incredible the ways that the game connects people.