by Mary Rupert
A lot of Kansas City T-Bones’ players live with host families. But one, pitcher Casey Barnes, lives at an assisted living center.
Barnes, who is scheduled to start today’s T-Bones’ baseball game at 11:05 a.m. at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan., said he likes living at The Piper assisted living, 2300 N. 113th Terrace.
“It’s been a blast so far this year,” Barnes said. “I love it.”
It’s Barnes’ third year of playing for the T-Bones, and at age 28 he is considered an older player. He has six years of experience playing professional baseball. When he asked the team to provide housing last year, he assumed it would be in an apartment as some of the other players last year.
Three weeks before the season started, T-Bones’ manager John Massarelli told Barnes he would get to live at an assisted living center.
“I thought, ‘What am I getting into here?’ My grandpa lives in assisted living home in Arizona,” Barnes said. “But it’s a blast. Everybody’s been awesome.”
He thinks the residents are really enjoying his stay there. He enjoys talking to the residents.
“I really treat them as I treat my grandpa,” Barnes said. “I love teasing my grandpa, he just teases me back.”
The same thing happens at The Piper, where residents enjoy a bit of verbal banter with him.
Coletta Hummel, director of community relations at The Piper, said it has been working out great.
“Casey is an amazing person, very friendly, outgoing, enjoys interacting with residents, he eats a lot of meals with residents here,” she said. “They like hearing about his life, his experiences, traveling and pitching.”
Baseball is a topic the residents all enjoy, and they are excited to hear about it, she said. On June 11, the residents plan a field trip to the T-Bones game.
Barnes has talked to the residents about his life and family, and his sister, who is a veteran, Hummel said.
“They asked about his girlfriend, with the ladies making him show pictures of her,” she added.
Barnes lives in one of the 120 apartments at The Piper, which is divided into six households, with 20 apartments each, she said. Each household has a kitchen and dining room where residents may prepare their own food.
She said the idea for a T-Bones player to live at The Piper came from Adam Ehlert, T-Bones’ owner, when The Piper was trying to connect with people in the community. In November, he suggested The Piper be a host family.
“Our CEO thought it would be a great idea, a great way for residents to connect with people in the community and have some interesting energy in the community,” Hummel said.
Barnes does not have plans for a career in working with the elderly. Currently, in the off-season he is a substitute teacher in Arizona, he said.
His bachelor’s degree from Kansas Wesleyan in Salina is in computer science.
“A couple years ago I had a job working as a software test engineer in the Arizona area,” Barnes said. “I loved it. It is really hard to find a job (in the field) right now because of what I do.”
It’s his schedule as a baseball player that makes potential employers pause, when he tells them he needs six months off during the year, he said.
So he went to work as a substitute teacher in kindergarten through fifth grade in Arizona, and he enjoys that work. “Eventually I’ll use my tech degree,” Barnes said.
Barnes, 1-2 on the year, was the T-Bones’ home opener pitcher May 19, with a 9-4 win on a cool and rainy day.
While he said he has not been pitching the way he wants, he only had one bad start last week. He had come down with a cold and that didn’t help, he added. He feels that for the first two or three games, he pitched well, keeping the team in the game.
“I’m off to an OK start; I’d like to be better,” he added.
While he still had a little cold on Tuesday, he is not feeling as bad as the last time he started, he added.
“I’m hoping to come out of it and get the T-Bones on the right track,” Barnes said.