Baseball Team Holds Reunion Decades After Last Game to Surprise Coach Battling Health Issues

Decades after playing their last game, a group of former baseball players reunited with their old coach who is battling health issues. 

It was at Wright Elementary School in 1967 that the Holmes Sluggers learned how to play baseball. They never could have imagined they'd be here 50 years later, reminiscing the good ol' days, but it's all because of the influence one man had on each of their lives.

Holmes Sluggers Baseball coach, Cecil Martin, is battling medical issues and has difficulty speaking, but his son, Cecil Martin III, had a unique idea to cheer up his father. 

"I told him, 'hey I called practice for the first time in 50 years," Martin's son said to his father as they drove up to the field.

Martin's son rounded up members of the Holmes Sluggers Baseball team to play some catch and take some swings at their original practice field to surprise their old coach. 

"He just couldn't believe it, and he goes I'm going to get to see these guys again," Martin's son said. 

Players from around the country came back to the ball field to make this reunion their biggest home run yet. 

"It means a lot to a lot of us that he's been there for all of us for many, many years, he coached our team from second to ninth grade," Martin's son said. 

One player, Steve Burge, flew in from San Antonio to see Coach Martin and his old team. He said his favorite memory is when he asked his coach if he could try out the catcher's position. 

"I said I really think the catching position would be a cool place to be. He said why would you want to do that," Burge said. 

Although Burge can't play the game anymore due to injuries, it hasn't kept him off the field.

"I still am involved in baseball. I umpire baseball in Texas," Burge said. 

He said thanks to Coach Martin, he found his perfect spot behind home plate. 

"My best place to be is behind the plate. And I think about him all the time when I'm back there," Burge said.

Martin's son said he's thankful for his team, for not just being there on the field, but throughout life. 

"It means a lot to my dad I'm sure, but it's kind of special to us as well," he said. "Just the fact that we get to see everybody."

The Holmes Sluggers spent the rest of their afternoon on the diamond, celebrating America's favorite past time—and the man that brought them all together.