A Comeback For The Ages

Photo: Jim at 13 in Thousand Oaks, just before he started growing his iconic mustache.

By Bill Tarrant

No team had ever overcome a seven-run deficit by scoring 10 runs in the final inning in the history of the Culver City Senior Softball League, according to historical records I made up. That’s what Gold did on Sunday to a stunned Black team, holding on in the home half of the inning to nail down a 20-18 victory.

It wasn’t due to a plethora of walks or a defensive meltdown by the Black team, either.

“It seemed like I was getting two strikes on just about everybody and then it was hit after hit,” Black pitcher Bob Richardson told me after the game. “No errors on our side, just good hitting that inning.”

The top of the order inevitably returned to form, powered by Jim Devico with two homers, a double and seven RBIs. For the season, Jim now has a gaudy 13 home runs, 72 RBIs and 54 runs scored, all of which lead the team. 

Swinging Jim

Funny thing about Jim. Though he’s been playing adult softball for much of the past 40 years, it was only when he took up golf six years ago that he took his baseball game to an elite level.

Don’t get me wrong. He’s always had elite power. A story in the  Thousand Oaks News Chronicle on April 20, 1979, noted the then 16-year-old hit a home run that travelled an estimated 400 feet. Unlike most big boppers today, Jim did not pause to admire the trajectory.

“I had no idea. I just put my head down and ran. I didn’t know it was home run until I got to second base and someone said, ‘hey you hit it over the fence!”

The football coach immediately recruited him to be a defensive lineman. (He had also grown a flourishing mustache by then that would have fit right in with the Oakland A’s at that time ).

But learning how to swing a golf club – especially without slicing the ball, which every beginner struggles with – also made him a better hitter, Jim says.

“The swing mechanics are incredibly similar. Go watch a golf pro swing in slow motion. Club at the top like a batter in box. Left arm up, chin tucked into shoulder, keeping right elbow tucked to chest. Make a turn back. Don’t move the hips too soon. It’s the same movement (as a baseball swing) but on a different plane.

“I’ve never hit better in my life since I started playing golf.”

Jim’s attention to technique and the science of swing may reflect his professional life. He has founded and led IT companies, managing corporate operations, cybersecurity and technology departments across various industries. One of those gigs was running his company’s 3000-square foot booth at the annual Comicon in San Diego, where Japanese Manga comics were the featured attraction.

“I manage companies the way I managed softball teams. We’re all in this together.”

He is currently COO at a company he helped found called Consilien. It comes from the word consilience, which means bringing different disciplines together into one overarching theory. Like how baseball and golf swings can converge, for instance.

Jim’s family moved to Thousand Oaks from Long Island in the early 1970s, part of the great post-war migration to SoCal from the East. He graduated with a BS in math and computer science from UCLA. There he met his wife, Sara, who was his boss at a Westwood movie theater, where he worked during college. (Sara is a founding member of the highly successful 10 Women Gallery in Santa Monica). They have a son and daughter and 4-year-old identical twin granddaughters and celebrated their 40^th wedding anniversary in June.

Jim started playing adult slow pitch softball his senior year in high school and still plays in the all-ages Santa Monica League.

“I used to Love beating the old guys. Now I love beating the young guys.”

But it’s not about beating the young and old or even hitting tape-measure home runs.

“It’s the friendship and relationships I’m building. It’s given me a community. That’s what I like about it.”