GRAFTON — Paul Harrington, at the time a lifelong Boston resident, moved to South Grafton with wife Naomi 15 years ago.
A native of Jamaica Plain and a graduate of Boston Latin who later lived in West Roxbury, Harrington sought some small-town, suburban living.
“I started to get tired of the politics in Boston, but in a way, politics in Grafton aren’t much different than politics in Boston,” said Harrington, who worked for the Registry of Motor Vehicles in Boston. “But I love it out here, it’s a real nice town to be in.”
Several years before the move to Central Mass., Harrington founded the Boston Amateur Baseball League in 2003, an organization which has blossomed into 25 teams over four age-group divisions, from age 38 and up. The teams play approximately 26 games per season, plus playoffs, and at fields mostly within the Route 128 circumference.
Still, Harrington has run the league from South Grafton, and for many years remained a treasured presence at BABL games around Greater Boston. But because of recent health challenges, he only drives locally and off the Interstates, and hadn’t been able to attend a game in two years.
Inside 128, the league has been thriving, providing fun baseball for players of all ages and ablilities. But while Harrington continued to crank out all the league’s logistics from home, someone was missing from the Boston diamonds.
“These guys were missing him,” said Miles Byrne, catcher of the Hyde Park Blue Jays in the BABL’s 60-and-over division.
“And I missed a lot of these guys,” said Harrington, who turns 68 in November.
So when a game between the Blue Jays and three-time defending division champion Waltham Braves needed to be rescheduled following a rainout, Byrne proposed and organized bringing the BABL to Harrington in Grafton, for a Sunday morning ballgame, a prime opportunity to honor Harrington with a most heartfelt thank you.
Harrington was on hand with Naomi, to whom he’s been married nearly 40 years, along with daughter Laura and two grandchildren, who during the game playfully rolled ground balls to each other in front of the bleachers.
Not only did the teams and umpires beat the Mass Pike traffic to Grafton High for the makeup game, but scores of other players from around the BABL divisions stopped by the third base dugout to thank Harrington personally, before a pregame ceremony including presentations and a ceremonial first pitch. Some did so before immediately taking off back to Eastern Mass. for their own ballgame.
“Paul’s the type of guy that will recognize the little guy, the guy who loves baseball,” John Robles, 53, a Boston native who today lives in Leominster, said, just before heading east for his South Shore Giants game. “I was playing on a 28-and-up team where I was sitting on the bench for four years, and I wrote Paul an email. I didn’t know him, but he responded within one hour. Immediately he found me a team in the town where I lived (Watertown), and there I was able to evolve into the baseball player I am today.”
“He recognizes the guy that doesn’t have the talent to play in the upper-skill leagues and brings them here to play the sport they love and be a part of. This is a friend’s league, a gentlemen’s league.”
The BABL truly has welcomed players at all levels, many who hadn’t played after Little League. On the other end, Flutie brothers Doug and Darren participated during parts of seasons in the 38-and-over division.
“When he started this 23 seasons ago,,” added Byrne, who caught at Ohio Wesleyan, “Paul had already played in four of five different leagues, and when he realized that the league he was in was collapsing, the only options for him was going to play farther and farther outside the city. And he said no, and he started this, and people who had been played with him for 10 or 15 years are saying I’m with you, Paul.”
“I got encouragement from people to start a more Boston-focused league,” Harrington said. “It’s not cutthroat baseball. It’s about going out there playing and having fun. If that means we’re bush league, so be it — we’ll be the best bush league in the league.”
“We’re all working people, we all want an outlet, and what he’s done is given us a chance to play ball and live the dream, thanks to Paul.,” said Ken Powtak, 65, player/coach with the Waltham Braves. “There’s so much work that goes into it — fields, umpires, permits and make sure you collect the league fees, he does it all, he’s a one-man band.
“This helps us non-athletes have great memories,” Powtak added, “we can go out and play baseball, make great friendships, and it lasts a lifetime.”
“We have great guys,” said Harrington, who has spinal stenosis and been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. “Some can play, some can’t. Some come back and get their skills back.
“It’s like being a proud parent,” Harrington added, slightly overcome with emotion. “These guys are the best.”
So many visited Harrington in the third base dugout pregame that the contest began well after the 11 a.m. scheduled start. The Blue Jays pulled out their first win of the season, a 3-2 walk-off, on a squeeze play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning. Former Tufts University catcher Greg Byrne, Miles’ brother at 66, pitched the distance for the victory.
Harrington couldn’t have been more grateful for the tribute, but remains uncomfortable with the attention.
“I like being with the guys, but I don’t want this to be about me. It’s about them.”
“He’s a unique human being in understanding how all can coalesce around this game,” Miles Byrne said.
—Contact John Conceison at john.conceison@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ConceisonJohn.
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