Darren Fidge ran around Adelaide's Norwood Oval 23 years ago, collecting balls at baseball games and dreaming of one day wearing an Adelaide shirt and pitching in the Australian Baseball League (ABL).

The then 17-year-old did not have to wait long. He was only a ball boy for a few weeks before his work in the local competition earned him a spot on the Giants roster.

"There was no question he always had the ability, he was a strong, strapping young fella and it just progressed really quickly," recalled former teammate Nathan Davison.

That was the summer of 1991-92.

A lot has changed in 23 years. The original ABL fell apart in 1999 and so did the Giants.

Davison has long retired but now holds the position of general manager of the new Adelaide franchise, the Bite.

And Fidge, at the age of 40, is still pitching for Adelaide.

"I love it," Fidge explained when asked about his longevity.

"It's a team game but it's very individual in each little contest.

"And the motivation is still there. I'm 40, I have to play against 20-year-olds so I'm going to try to be stronger, faster, better than them. Whether or not I am is how it plays out."

Fidge said he had played through plenty of disappointment in his time in the game.

As a teenager, he was signed by the Minnesota Twins but a bad shoulder injury ruined his chance of playing in the Major Leagues.

"I played in the minors and became one of the casualties," he said.

"I blew out my shoulder in 1996 and I just never really recovered from it. I was throwing 93-94 miles an hour and then after my shoulder surgery it just never came back.

"I guess I've always had the dream that next season I would click and the velocity would come back but it never happened."

Instead Fidge said he adapted.

"Back then I was very raw and I threw hard, had a good fast ball and a slider," Finch said.

"Now I throw from the side and it's all about throwing it slower than the bat - hopefully."

Adelaide Bite at its best in more than two decades: Fidge

His role with the Adelaide Bite is as a middle reliever. He has pitched in 10 games this season and across 18 innings with an ERA of 5.0.

"It's just a testament to how much of a competitor he is," said Davison.

"He always wanted to better himself all the time and he just seemed to lift at every level he played at."

"There's a reason not many people play to his age because it takes a really super-human sort of athlete, not only physically but mentally, to want to do it."

For Fidge, the end of his great journey is close, with the chance of a fairytale finish.

The Bite has earned the hosting rights for the ABL Championship series. The best-of-three match-up with Perth starts at Norwood Oval on Friday night.

Fidge said he was wary of the fickle nature of finals.

"I hate them because you could've beaten the team all season, you could've been the best as we have been the best all year, but it's a two-horse race and Perth has been on a roll the last month," Fidge said.

At the same time he was confident the current Adelaide team was the best he had seen across more than two decades.

"There's been some players along the way that have been great but nothing compared to this team," he said.

And nothing in his 23-year career, he said, would compare to winning a championship.