JULY 9 • 2020 | 23
L
arry Lipnik wears a mask
while he plays softball
during this summer of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’
s not comfortable, espe-
cially when you’
re running the
bases, but it isn’
t a big deal after
you get used to it,
” said Lipnik,
who pitches for the Bais Chabad
Torah Center team in the week-
ly Inter-Congregational Men’
s
Club Summer Softball League.
“When you’
re learning how
to play baseball or softball, you
have to learn how to wear a
mitt,
” Lipnik said. “When you’
re
learning to play football, you
have to learn how to wear a hel-
met. There’
s no difference here.
”
Lipnik, 62, said he takes his
mask-wearing seriously because
public health experts say wear-
ing a mask is an effective way
to stop the spread of the coro-
navirus.
He wears his mask nearly
the entire time he’
s playing in a
league game, taking it off only
for the few seconds it takes to
get a drink.
Wearing a mask for long
stretches isn’
t a new experience
for Lipnik.
He wears one all day in his
job as an internal medicine
doctor.
“I tell my patients to wear a
mask, so I’
m practicing what
I’
m preaching when I wear one
during a softball game,
” he said.
While it isn’
t a mask, Lipnik
wears a face guard while he’
s
pitching in some league games.
“
A line drive glanced off my
face during a league game a few
years ago,
” he said. “I got my
mitt up and deflected the ball,
but that was enough to con-
vince me to get the face guard.
I wear it when we play against
teams with really good hitters.
”
Wearing a mask isn’
t required
for players or umpires during
league games, which are played
at Drake Sports Park and Keith
Sports Park in West Bloomfield.
A few players and at least one
umpire are wearing a mask.
Social distancing measures
like keeping a 6-foot distance
when possible, avoiding tagging
or sliding, using hand sanitizer,
and stationing the home plate
umpire, catcher and batter
farther apart than normal are
part of the “new normal” in the
league’
s 25th season.
Plus, there’
s free substitution.
A team can loan players to an
opponent to play in the field
so there are no forfeits in the
shortened league season, which
began June 21, seven weeks
later than scheduled, because of
the pandemic.
HELPING THE COMMUNITY
League players raised $390 for
the Detroit Justice Center in a
pair of exhibition games June
14, a week before league play
began. Each of the 39 players on
four teams donated $10 to the
cause.
“I made sure each team had a
pitcher and I kept family mem-
bers together, then I divvyed
up the rest of the players,
” said
Steve Achtman, a league orga-
nizer, about how he put togeth-
er the four teams.
Achtman’
s son Ryan Achtman
made the recommendation to
designate the Detroit Justice
Center as the recipient of the
fundraiser.
“I have some good friends
who are involved in the orga-
nization,
” Ryan said. “My dad
asked me for a recommenda-
tion on where the money raised
by the exhibition games should
go because he trusts me when it
comes to social justice issues.
”
Ryan sent an email to each
league player after the exhibi-
tion games to explain why the
DJC is an appropriate fundrais-
er recipient.
In the email, Ryan noted the
DJC’
s mission statement, which
describes the organization as
a “nonprofit law firm working
alongside communities to cre-
ate economic opportunities,
transform the justice system,
and promote equitable and just
cities.
”
“
As Jews — descendants of
oppressed peoples — we have a
duty to stand up against injus-
tice, whenever and whenever
we see it,
” Ryan wrote in his
email.
“Today, in America, our focus
has been directed to the eco-
nomic, educational and political
systems that have oppressed
the Black community long
after slavery. We have a duty
to ‘
never forget’
the tragedies
experienced by our own people
and use this fire to stand up for
those now being killed, directly
or indirectly.
”
Ryan lives in Denver, Colo.,
and is a freelance graphic artist
and web designer.
Sports
Larry Lipnik can
mask his emotions
while he pitches
for Bais Chabad
Torah Center.
Who Is That
Masked
Man?
Bais Chabad pitcher Larry Lipnik says
wearing a mask while playing softball
‘
isn’
t a big deal.’
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
NATALIE LIPNIK
“I tell my patients to wear a
mask, so I’m practicing what
I’m preaching when I wear
one during a soft
ball game.”
— LARRY LIPNIK