Joe Walsh of the FBI softball team presents members of the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team with a trophy they earned with a 35-10 victory Friday night at George Mason University. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
This article first appeared in the Stars and Stripes, May 7, 2011. It is republished unedited in its original form.
FAIRFAX, Va. — Greg Reynolds doesn’t believe in limitations.
The Iraq veteran lost his left arm and shoulder in a motorcycle crash, yet last Friday morning he
was at batting practice with a softball team made up of wounded warriors who have lost a limb.
Reynolds came close to giving up after he was injured, but his mother said something to him that changed his attitude.
“She said, ‘Just give yourself a year and if you still feel this way, we’ll find a way to take you out of your misery,’” said Reynolds, a former Army staff sergeant.
Greg Reynolds takes batting practice. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Knowing that his mother would keep her word, Reynolds dedicated himself to recovering and getting into peak physical shape. After a recent practice game, he impressed onlookers by pumping out 52 one-arm push-ups.
David P. Van Sleet is the head coach and general manager for the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team, the first of its kind. He went through Veteran Affairs and the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit group, to recruit amputees. Hundreds of people applied.
“We’re trying to show that these guys got injured, amputated, rehabilitated and look what they can do now,” he said.
Being on the softball team with others who have lost limbs breeds camaraderie, Reynolds said, but it also brings out his fierce competitive streak against the able-bodied teams they play.
“You don’t have all your limbs like everyone else on the able-bodied team, which makes you play harder,” he said. “I want to perform better than the guy with all of his limbs. That’s my goal.”
The team had its first game of the season last week against a team from the FBI. Before the game, catcher Michael Meinen, a former Army sergeant who lost his leg in Iraq in 2003, sounded confident about the team’s chances.
Two more runs cross the plate for the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team in a 35-10 rout of an FBI team at George Mason University. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Greg Reynolds of the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team connects for a hit during Friday night’s game against the FBI, an Iraq War veteran, lost his left arm in a motorcycle accident in 2008. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
After flipping the ball in the air, Nate Lindsey takes off his glove to make a throw. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Greg Reynolds of the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team gets a hug from former major league outfielder Jose Cardenal after Reynolds’ team beat an FBI squad. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team catcher William “Spanky” Gibson holds his ground as baserunner Joe Walsh of the FBI team playfully tries to find a path to the plate. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
“I think we’re gonna beat the piss out of ’em,” he said at Friday’s practice.
They defeated the FBI team in a 35-10 rout.
Louisville Slugger has donated $20,000 worth of equipment to the team, said company spokesman Rick Redman, who went with the team to Arizona for spring training.
“I just came home inspired by what I saw … and it made me realize I can never say I can’t do anything ever again,” he said.
The guys on the team don’t treat each other with kid gloves, said William “Spanky” Gibson, a former Marine master sergeant who lost his left leg in Iraq in 2006.
“I played on the Hill softball league last year because I was working on Capitol Hill as a congressional fellow, and every time I would bat or come up to play, guys would naturally kind of take it easy, make a pitch light,” he said. “That kind of angered me. Amongst us, we don’t give a crap. We will beat each other and we’ll torture each other and that’s the good part.”
Nate Lindsay lost his right arm below the elbow in Iraq in 2007. Until then, he was a right-hander, but he has since learned to live and play ball as a left-hander.
On the field, that means he has to drop his glove after catching the ball so he can pick the ball up with his left hand and throw it.
It’s important for servicemembers who have lost a limb to come to terms with the fact their lives will never be the same, said Lindsay, a former Army sergeant.
“If they lose a part of their body, they’re never going to get it back. I mean, we’re not geckos,” he said.
Still, the team can show amputees just how much they can accomplish, said Karl Dorman, a former Army staff sergeant, who lost his right leg in 2002.
“Sometimes you’re not sure where you’re going or how you’re going to get there,” he said.
“You just have to go as far as you can see, and once you get there, you can go a little bit further.”
