Batter up! An exclamation Peoria resident Greg Goodman has heard probably thousands of times. He's been stepping up to the plate for decades and has no plans of giving up his favorite sport any time soon. His love of the game is a driving force and it seems he just can't get enough. He brings that love of baseball to his new home in Peoria.
Founding of Long Island Mutiny
Goodman, a securities arbitration attorney and native of Long Island, NY, started playing baseball as a young boy. He played throughout school and at C.W. Post in Long Island where he went to college.
“I played in little league as a kid and kept going,” said Goodman. “I played and I also managed baseball teams.”
In his 30s, Goodman joined a team in the Men's Senior Baseball League (MSBL), an amateur baseball league for adults 18 years of age and older. The league was founded in 1988 and is the fastest growing adult baseball organization in the country with 45,000 members and 3,200 teams.
In the late 90s, Goodman found himself on a team called the Hicksville Pirates. He played for several years as a Pirate, but when things within the team started to go awry, Goodman and another teammate decided to leave and start their own team. Many of their teammates followed, and thus, Long Island Mutiny was born.
“Since it was a mutiny from the Pirates we decided to use that as our name,” he said.
Goodman takes the tongue-in-cheek name of the team even further by sending out communication to the team written in pirate style and even flying pirate flags at games. “We like to have fun,” he said.
There have been several incarnations of the team over the years, but one thing has remained a constant, Goodman says. “We tend to win!”
Long Island Mutiny Comes to Arizona
Goodman moved to Peoria from New York in January 2020. He joined a local MSBL team and his teammates found him to be a great leader. He was asked to manage the team and soon the itch began to reform his beloved Mutiny. “In the summer of 2021, the Mutiny was reborn in the desert.”
The Mutiny now has a roster of 20 players and plays in the 45+ division of the MSBL, meaning all the players must be 45 years old or older. “It's old man baseball,” laughed Goodman.
In addition to managing and coaching The Mutiny, Goodman also plays catcher and was a middle in-fielder. After playing for so long one might wonder why Goodman keeps going. His reason is simple—he simply loves the game.
“I love the camaraderie,” he says. “My dad instilled the love of the game in me and I've had great coaches all my life, and that makes me want to give that back to others.”
Long Island Mutiny is an Arizona Hit
Goodman also says he loves traveling to away games and tournaments. And of course, he loves the thrill of winning. He says the team takes competitiveness seriously and has boasting rights beyond winning games.
“We've been told we have the best looking uniforms in the league, we have home and away uniforms and all the accessories.”
This is the first summer the team has played in Arizona, but Goodman is confident he has built a strong team that will carry on the Mutiny legacy of success.
“The Mutiny has always seemed to attract really good players,” he said. “When we win tournaments we get trophies and rings, it's great.”
The current team has players from all walks of life with one thing in common—they love the game. During the winter and spring, the team plays on local high school fields and in the summer they will play at the various Major League Baseball training facilities around town. The summer season runs April through August, and the team will play 20 games plus have playoffs during that time.
Long Island Mutiny is always looking for great players to join. For updates, follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/LongIslandMutiny.
