Old ballplayers never die

Happened to be watching Match Game '74 on Buzzr a few days ago, and saw a former baseball player named Al Ferrara as a contestant. He said he was a "freelance piano dealer" - an interesting job - and only lasted one game on the show. He went to a tiebreaker but lost. As ballplayers can tell you, you win some and you lose some.

Al was never a star or anything close, though he had a couple decent years in 1967 and 1970, according to Baseball Reference. His OPS numbers in those years - .812 and .816 - would be worth pretty good money nowadays as a semi-regular outfielder. Wikipedia says that after his playing days ended in 1971, Al worked mainly as a home improvement contractor. The encyclopedia that anybody can edit prominently mentions his turn on Match Game, by the way.

Al now does some community work for the Dodgers. (The boys in blue are big on community stuff.) You can glimpse him in a recent video on YouTube. He looks hale and hearty for a guy in his late seventies. Maybe baseball plus Match Game makes for a vigorous old age.

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