How long is too long? That's the question every athlete must answer at some point in their career. Five future Heartland Baseball League Hall of Famers are pondering that question right now as their careers come to a close. None have formally announced their retirements but with varying degrees of success it's also hard to imagine any returning for another grueling season.
Artie Wall(43), Toby Stell(42), Steven Harris(41), David Howard(41), and Lee Welch(40) combine for over 12,500 games played, 70 All Star appearances, 15 Hitter of the Year Awards, and seven HBL Championships and each one is winding down his career with eye popping stats and accomplishments. Their names pepper the career leaderboards and single season record books and all will be remembered long after they hang their spikes up.
Davis Howard is the most decorated player, not just of this group, but possibly of any HBL player ever. He has seven Hitter of the Year Awards, 18 All Star games, and seven Best Fielder Awards but by remaining in Davenport his entire career he has failed to win an HBL Championship. Howard and his nine HBL North Batting titles is a sure fire, first ballot Hall of Famer. Despite his age Howard continues to play the majority of his games at catcher and needs just four games behind the plate to reach 2500. He's also still effective at the plate hitting .330 with 44 bases on balls a little more than halfway through the season.
Lee Welch has a record four HBL Championships and holds the career records for hits and RBI among others. His chase for 4k hits is likely his reason for pushing on into his forties. Welch also is a first ballot Hall of Famer but as the youngest of the five he is struggling the most this season hitting 100 points below his career batting average. It's hard to imagine Welch returning after such a dismal year.
Artie Wall just turned 43 years old and he has the distinction of being the oldest active player in the HBL. No HBL team would offer him a major league contract before the season so he took a minor league contract with Duluth in order to continue his career. He made the team out of spring training but has put up his third sub par season in a row. After 1700 runs, 3000 hits, and 1500 RBI it seems it is time for Wall to give it up.
Long known as David Howard's sidekick in Davenport Toby Stell has carved out a great career for himself. He is not as decorated as the first three players on this list but you have to remember they all competed for the same awards year after year. Stell has accumulated over 3000 hits, 1750 runs, 700 doubles, and 650 stolen bases but, like his long time Bullfrog teammate, he has never won a championship. After two years out of the HBL Stell also signed a minor league deal with Duluth. So far he's been a bargain hitting over .300 as a part time OF and PH.
Steven Harris has had a different kind of career than the other four guys here. Harris has been injury prone for his entire career and has missed major chunks of time over his career. He has appeared in over 130 games just six times since he entered the HBL in 2001. Harris also signed with Duluth in the offseason and has played well but he once again finds himself watching from the clubhouse due to another lengthy injury. Harris has over 1850 fewer at bats than the average of the other four guys. Although his career numbers are nothing to sneeze at it is interesting to think what he could have done with those other 1850 at bats. His numbers would definitely be more in tune with those of his counterparts. His 2700 hits would be more like 3400. With his injury history I'm surprised Harris didn't hang'em up a long time ago.
The purpose of this article is to let you know that history is happening right in front of you but maybe not for long. Head out to your local Heartland Baseball League ball park and catch one of these living legends while you still can. Who knows, maybe Steven Harris will sign you band aid while you're there.
