Jeff Berger’s sixteen-inch softball career began in 1986 with the Otters. The next year he moved to the Rizza Rockers. Teammates and competitors soon noticed his incredible softball skills, but more importantly, he started showing his leadership skills on and off the field.
After years of honing his skills with the Peppers, Irvings, Bud Runners, and Rabbits
(all very good teams), Jeff joined Hollywood Casino. In 1994, he helped them win the ASA Major National Championship, the first of the ten ASA Major National Championships he would win in his career. He won ASA National titles with Splinters, Puglise, Windy City, OBI and six with the Miller 45s. He won one SSA National title with Tito’s 45s for a grand total of eleven national titles. He won nine Forest Park No-Glove National titles and one USSSA Grant Park Championship.
In 1994, Jeff was named a 1st Team All-American of the ASA Major Nationals. He would go on to be named to twelve more 1st Team All-American Teams. Jeff was also named MVP of the 2004 ASA Nationals and the 2007 Forest Park No-Glove Nationals.
Throughout Jeff’s career, he has been a leader in the game. And as one of the game’s great ambassadors, he is admired and respected throughout the softball community. He is one of the faces that makes sixteen-inch softball one of the world’s great games. As Ron Kubicki, president of the Sixteen-inch Softball Hall of Fame said, “If I wanted to start a sixteen-inch softball team today, Jeff Berger would be at the top of my list because no one will ever give you more skill and heart than Jeff Berger. He is one of the best of all time.”
Jeff continues to show his leadership skills and passion for the game by serving on the board of directors of the Sixteen-inch Softball Hall of Fame and by coaching the Naperville Diamonds, his daughter Nicole’s twelve-inch softball team.