Meet the Pa. grandpa who, after retiring from U.S. Postal Service, is giving college baseball a try

When the ballplayers first saw Jim Fullan swinging a bat last year, they figured he was just someone’s dad, hanging around practice.

Fullan, 56, is a dad. He has nine grandkids too.

On a rainy, windswept afternoon, last month, the Montgomery County Community College Mustangs were practicing inside, fielding grounders in the gymnasium and taking pitches in the batting cage before a busy week of games. The pitching machine was set to 85 mph and no one dialed it down when Fullan stepped in. He uses a shorter bat, to get around on Gen Z fastballs. He’s got a longer glove too, because he can’t jump as high. Any trick in the book to keep the dream alive, he said, including yearly medical checkups.

“I’m gonna have to miss on Friday,” he told his coach afterward. “I have an appointment with my cardiologist.”

Recently retired from the U.S. Postal Service and rounding third on middle age, Fullan, by most standards, could have eased into a life of beer-league softball or weekend fantasy camps. Sipping cocktails on a beach somewhere would have worked for most people too. Fullan was itching to play fast-pitch hardball, though, and yearned to represent a school. Montgomery County Community College gave him a shot. He moved from the Poconos to Ambler to enroll for the fall semester. He takes a full courseload of college classes and swallows a lot more aspirin.

[link:https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2023/04/meet-the-pa-grandpa-who-after-retiring-from-us-postal-service-is-giving-college-baseball-a-try.html|