Oakwood baseball player still swinging after eight spine surgeries

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Tim Sullivan, at the age of 47, still plays baseball despite having eight spinal surgeries since 2002. He is standing in front of his Oakwood home.

Ron Alvey Tim Sullivan, at the age of 47, still plays baseball despite having eight spinal surgeries since 2002. He is standing in front of his Oakwood home.

By Sean McClelland, Staff Writer Updated 12:23 AM Sunday, April 18, 2010

Football and basketball had been his passions at Alter High School, but that was 30 years and eight spine surgeries ago.

So when Oakwood resident Tim Sullivan decided to test himself physically again, the Miami Valley Adult Baseball League — which he once dominated — became his chosen outlet.

So far, so good. He’s the designated hitter for the defending champion Dayton Rangers, and doubtless the only player in league history to sport a spinal cord stem implant.

Sullivan, 47, suffers from bilateral stenosis, a condition that compresses nerves, weakens discs, compromises ligaments and causes debilitating pain. He’s also been hospitalized with heart problems, but now his health issues seem to have plateaued (his word) to the point where he thinks he can perform baseball tasks.

“One thing I can still do is swing,” he said. “Other stuff is very questionable.”

Semi-retired after a career in marketing, Sullivan has only been walking on his own again for about six months, but in a scrimmage, facing live pitching for the first time since giving up baseball in 2002, he drove in a run with a double and later scored with a head-first slide.

“He didn’t tell me his situation until after the scrimmage,” said Jonmarc Lippincott, who manages the Rangers and works in the Dayton Daily News sports department. “He just wanted to prove it to himself. He got up and things were OK.”

Sullivan credits the support of his children — Kenny, 29, Robby, 25, Suzy, 21 and Alissa, 8 — for inspiring his recovery.

In his words

“It’s kind of a knock-on-wood type of thing, but I’m getting better. I firmly believe that pushing myself is what’s helping me. I’ve developed my own weight-training program, and I think it’s helped. The nerve damage in my left leg and arm is doing better.

“It’s been rough the last eight years, that’s for sure. It’s been a long road. I’ve gone through paralysis, lost bodily functions. I still have struggles daily, but it’s just gotten to the point where the nerves have regenerated enough to enable me to start walking again.

“The wires (from the stem implant) run up my spine. I control it with a keyboard. It almost looks like a beeper. If anyone sees it in my bag in the dugout, that’s what they’d think. There’s an antenna you put up against your side. It sends electrical shocks to the spine, which relieves pain.

“During a game, it’s always on. It’s just a matter to what degree. At night, I can turn it up high enough that I can’t feel anything from my breastbone down.

“I think the other guys think I’m just an old guy who doesn’t run very well. I haven’t said anything to anybody.

“It’s hard to describe the impact this has had on my life, but I’m getting to the point where I’m feeling somewhat like myself again.”

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