Watch One of the Country's Oldest Softball Players
Tony Snetro started playing organized baseball during the Great Depression.
— -- Even on a softball team for players above age 65, Tony Snetro stands out at 96.
The World War II veteran will turn 97 later this month and has been on the team for 20 years according to his son, Anthony Sinatra.
The longtime midfielder plays twice a week for the team and has become the its "lynchpin," according to Sinatra.
In a statement relayed through his son, Snetro said playing softball on the Young Viejos keeps him "out of a wheelchair."
"Keeps me young, likes the exercise," he said. "[It] keeps me moving and my blood moving. Almost like a therapy."
Sinatra said there had been talk of finding out if his father is the oldest-ever softball player in the U.S., but so far the team hasn't been able to make it official.
Sinatra joked his father was likely at least among the top five oldest players at the moment.
Snetro may be the oldest player on the team, but he's also one of the most beloved. On his 90th birthday, 200 people showed up to his party, including all of his teammates, according to Sinatra.
Snetro has been a long time fan of baseball after first playing an organized version of the game, when he was working at work progress camps during the Depression.
"When it gets rained out, he’s disappointed," Sinatra said of his father's bi-weekly practices. "In the heat of the summer ... he misses it. He likes the exercise."
Even approaching age 100, Snetro still manages to hold his own and joking with his teammates.
"They all get on me all the time, but that’s ok," Snetro told ABC News affiliate WPLG-TV in Miami, Florida.
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