MINNEAPOLIS _ Bill Dircks Sr. answers his phone and immediately asks to step away so he can turn his TV down. He's watching Game 4 of the 1991 World Series between the Twins and Atlanta Braves on MLB Network.
This is how the 88-year-old gets his baseball fix these days: replays of Twins classics.
"I bought season tickets the minute they moved to town," he says.
That was 1961. He's been a season-ticket holder ever since. He has attended almost every opening day and still gets to 60 home games every season with wife Terry.
Like many fans, Dircks misses baseball right now, especially the joy of being at Target Field. He begins every morning the same way: He goes to the guest room of his downtown condo at the Carlyle, looks down at Target Field's second deck and wishes he could take in a game later that night.
"I miss it horribly," he says. "I can't wait for them to start playing again."
Baseball is a communal activity for all ages. But for many senior citizens, a ballgame often serves as a primary social connection or simply a lovely way to pass the time. Either in person at the ballpark, if possible, or in senior living centers throughout Minnesota.
Dircks calls himself an "old-timer." His father used to take him to Minneapolis Millers games as a kid in the 1940s. He has loved baseball for as long as he can remember.
"When it gets in your blood," he says, "you don't get rid of it."
He still likes to keep score at games, and he doesn't join the beat-the-traffic crowd that leaves games early.
"If they're behind 20-1, I might leave," he says, "but other than that, I don't."
Not even for extra innings. Dircks and his wife made it through the 22-inning game against Cleveland in 1993 and a few marathon games at Target Field.
He loved watching the Twins set an MLB record for home runs last season _ "A once-in-a-lifetime season," he says _ and is ready for the encore.
"I'm a little bit nervous about the pitching, but we've always been that way as Twins fans," he says. "The only time I wasn't nervous was back when they won the two World Series."
