Play ball! Nursing home veterans shine like diamonds at Miracle Field game

Mike Fender, The News Herald
·1 min read

PANAMA CITY BEACH — They arrived with a police escort. With patriotic music playing in the background, veterans from the Clifford Sims State Veterans Nursing Home faced a crowd of fans waving flags and cheering them on as they exited their bus.

A friendly game of baseball brought out the veterans for the spring version of their semi-annual game Tuesday at Frank Brown Park's Miracle Field.

Air Force veteran Ted Turza makes contact for a base hit as residents of the Clifford Sims State Veterans Nursing Home play baseball at Frank Brown Park's Miracle Field on Tuesday.
Air Force veteran Ted Turza makes contact for a base hit as residents of the Clifford Sims State Veterans Nursing Home play baseball at Frank Brown Park's Miracle Field on Tuesday.

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Hosted by the Rotary Club of the Emerald Coast, Panama City Beach, the players split into American League and National League teams. Most of the veterans played the one-inning game in wheelchairs.

Two were World War II veterans, Jean Strickland and Ed Johnson.

Army veteran Gary Gilltrap makes contact during the Clifford Sims State Veterans Nursing Home baseball game at Frank Brown Park on Tuesday.
Army veteran Gary Gilltrap makes contact during the Clifford Sims State Veterans Nursing Home baseball game at Frank Brown Park on Tuesday.

The contest was originally scheduled for April but had to be rescheduled because of inclement weather. The heat Tuesday caused some of the activities around the game to be shortened or eliminated. After the game, the veterans returned to Sims for a lunch provided by Wicked Wheel and desserts provided by Publix.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Bay County's Sims nursing home baseball game a big hit with veterans