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On Tuesday evenings, grownups have been taking over Highland Road Park and reliving their childhoods. I know this because I’m one of them.

We fan out onto the baseball diamonds to play a game few of us have even thought about since fifth grade¬—we play kickball in an adult kickball league.

The teams sport names like Kickball Jihad, PBR and Team Team. Some of them wear pink, others wear orange. The Bayou Ball Busters wear every shade of green they can find.

Now in its third season, Red Stick Area Kickball has doubled in size. The competition is friendly, but intense in an ironic kind of way. The league slogan is, “Come play with RSAK!”

I play for the Orange Jews. Our team includes a Jewish captain, a bunch of English graduate students, a local activist and a chemist. The team name comes from an old joke of my father’s. He would drink a big glass of orange juice and say, “I just love good orange Jews.” On the phone, I told my dad about my team. He interrupted to ask, “Did you really think I was drinking people?”

Anyway, as the team names imply, this league is all about fun. But just like school kids at recess, these teams play to win. The Misfits pulled a surprise tournament sweep at the end of last season and are gunning for a repeat this summer.

Baton Rouge’s growing love affair with adult kickball began in February 2005 with a guy named Scott Murry. At one of the aftergame pool parties, I asked Scott what he thought about how far the league has come. “It’s not just my friends anymore,” he said.

Travis Ducote, one of the paid refs, chuckled, “It’s like it’s about to be real.”

Friends lured out for one game generally stick around the entire season. Teams trade players between seasons, splinter, form new teams and socialize regularly.

It’s surprisingly easy to get caught up in the heat of competition. Eric Elliot, captain of the Hell’s Satans, told a group of newcomers, “It’s more serious than you’d think. Be prepared to get sucked in.”

Especially when you’re at the plate and that big, squishy red ball starts bouncing towards you.

Maybe I’ll see you on the diamond. Come on—you know want to come out and play.

I double-dog dare you.

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