Ageless pitchers. Team builders. Hall of Famers.

More than a hour of two-lane highway and almost a full generation separate Mark Palmer and Bob Baumer. But the common denominator that binds them is stronger than two last names you might be able to rhyme in a limerick.

The two men’s lifelong passion for a pastime will be honored this summer when they are inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.

“I was kind of shocked,” Palmer said. “I didn’t know if it was a prank call.”

“I said they must be scraping the bottom of the barrel,” Baumer quipped.

No mistake, no joke and no charity,

Local halls of fame reward longevity and dedication as much as pure statistics. Not many past, present or future candidates for enshrinement can match Palmer, 58, or Baumer, 74, in those categories.

In the spirit of Satchel Paige, Phil Niekro and Jamie Moyer, the persistent Palmer is still wheeling and dealing. He spins the ball past frustrated hitters half his age every summer for the Rumford Cardinals of the Pine Tree League.

“It’s one of those things where it’s slow, slower and slowest. I try to keep them off balance,” Palmer said. “People always say they can’t tell if we’re winning or losing when they see me out there. I tell them I’m just glad to still be playing.”

With few exceptions, the Mexico native has played the game every year since he was 7.

Palmer wouldn’t be able to list all his team associations on a one-page resume. He has prospered as a player and a coach from almost every level from farm league to semipro.

“Summer is always busy,” Palmer said.

After graduating from Mexico High School, Palmer played one year at Unity College before the school disbanded its baseball program.

He continued to stoke the competitive fires with PTL teams in Rumford and Mexico.

Already active as a coach, Palmer’s involvement deepened when his sons, Ryan and Marcus, began playing the game.

“I enjoy taking one or two kids aside and just practicing with them, helping them out,” Palmer said. “Little League is my favorite level. They’re just starting out and you’re really teaching the game.”

All those years of getting the uniform dirty were impossible for Palmer to get out of his system, however.

While watching an American Legion game in South Paris, Palmer struck up a conversation with umpire Denis Mancine. He learned about a new over-30, wooden-bat men’s league being formed as a successor to the defunct PTL.

Palmer and longtime Mountain Valley High School coach Steve LaPointe formed a team. Almost a decade later, the reborn Rumford Cardinals remain in business.

The league is once again known as the PTL and has opened up to a limited number of players in the 18-to-29 demographic. And throwbacks LaPointe (Hall of Fame Class of 2009) and Palmer are No. 1 and No. 2 on the staff.

“It feels good to compete with the younger guys. I get by. The ones coming right of college, they’re looking fastball,” Palmer said. “The old PTL was the same way. The only thing that’s scary is getting out of the way. I got hit twice last year by line drives. The reflexes aren’t what they used to be.”

Baumer’s career was no flash in the pan, either.

The Lisbon Falls man played for 28 years — all but two as a pitcher — before a successful seven-year stint managing the Roberts 88’ers.

“I played against both generations, fathers and sons,” Baumer said. “I played with (fellow hall of famers) Stan Doughty and Marty Roop, and at the end I was playing with and managing their boys.”

Baumer began his semipro career between his freshman and sophomore years at Lisbon High School, playing center field.

He played college baseball and football at Army. His diamond days continued with one year in the Cape Cod League and another summer with the Auburn Asas before a long run with Lisbon’s town team circuit.

“It was real town teams back then. The Auburn Asas, the Turner Townies, the Norway/Paris Twins,” Baumer said. “I never thought of anything like this when I started. I just did it for fun.”

In his final two seasons as a player, the 88’ers advanced to the New England tournament in Waterbury, Conn., in 1964 and ’65.

Baumer had no trouble transitioning into the challenge of filling out a lineup card and calling the shots. Under his direction, the 88’ers won the league tournament at Pettengill Park and advanced to the state tournament seven times.

“I could talk for hours,” Baumer said of those star-studded teams. “I was manager, trainer, field maintenance. In nine years with the 88ers we played 305 games, and I was there for every one of them.”

Baseball bound what already was a tight-knit community.

Baumer, who still lives in the same home on Pleasant St., said that seven of his players lived within a quarter-mile.

“When he had a rainout or had to move a game, it was pretty easy,” he recalled. “It was a matter of knocking on doors.”

Or making a few quick phone calls … none of which were as exciting as the one Palmer and Baumer received a few weeks ago.

Well, exciting and stressful.

“Then I got to thinking,” Palmer said. “I’m not much for giving speeches.”

The ceremony is slated for Sunday, July 31 at Holiday Inn By the Bay in Portland.

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Class of 2011

Bob Baumer

x-Bobby Doyle

x-Jim Dyer

Dennis Gratto

x-Kenneth Libby

Mark Palmer

Bob Prince

Greg Reed

Dick Scott

Chad White

Bill Wing

x=posthumous induction