During Lou Lusignan’s thirty year softball career, he played on teams that amassed twenty plus league championships, six metro titles, three state titles, and a national championship with Dr. Carlucci’s Bobcats in 1969. He began his playing days in 1957 with Ryan’s Jungle, playing at Clarendon and Wells Parks. From 1959 to his retirement in …
Matt Dosen began what would become a 34 year softball career in 1964 when he was 22 years old playing with a neighborhood team at Russell Square and Cal Parks. It might have been a neighborhood team, but it had a legendary sponsor – Alderman Ed Vrdolyak. 1967 brought a change to Dosen’s career when …
Fred Wolf began his softball career with the Sabers and Crusaders, before moving to Turner’s Tap. Wolf helped Turner’s win the Illinois State Championship with a victory over the Bobcats in the 1960’s in DesPlaines. He then moved to the Loafers ( later Moore Business Forms ) where he helped win three Clarendon Park Championships …
Who would have believed that a high school kid who once beat legendary professional bowler Carmen Salvino, would someday become one of the top 16″ softball players of his time? The stage was set for this to happen when “Willy” Schmitz began his softball career with the Earle School Midgets at ten years of age. …
At 118 pounds, John O’Connor was never known as a power hitter, but his defensive skills spoke volumes during the 50’s and 60’s. He played football and basketball at St. Phillips’s High School, quitting football after scoring a touchdown because the coach didn’t play him enough. But football’s loss was softball’s gain when O’Connor was …
A veteran of the softball wars in parks on the North and Northwest sides, Mike Moreno began his 16″ softball career as many great players before him did – on the school grounds of Chicago. He played with the legendary running back Jim Grabowski as a member of the Rascals at Rosedale Park and with …
The year that “Sweet Billy” Holford began his 16″ career in 1972 with the Strikers and the Kelleher brothers at Foster Park, they entered the Kelly Park league, where they were routinely beaten by most of the teams. With determination and pride however, they returned in 1973 and won a few more games. 1974 proved …
Zeke Crement played his first game as a seventeen year old at Clarendon Park. His first at bat was a home run, a shot that began a 29 year softball career with some of softball’s great teams, and started Zeke’s reputation as one of the longest ball hitters of his era. Zeke played with Active …
Hank Zitnik began his 30 year 16” softball career in 1950 with Alpines in Harrison Park, helping them win that league five times. In 1957 he joined Kool Vent Awnings, one of the legendary teams of that or any other era. In 1959, he switched to Sports Bench, playing with them and other teams from1959 …
Leonard West was an integral part of five championship teams as a pitcher, a third baseman or a first baseman. He helped win league titles at Kelly, Clarendon and James Park with the Strikers, and two championships at Kelly and Clarendon Parks with the Bobcats. He played with the Spartans at Bidwell Stadium and also …
