In nominating Roy Kindt to the Hall of Fame, fellow Hall of Famer, Bob LaMont, describes Roy as someone who was never in the limelight but was someone who had a profound effect on the popularity of 16-inch softball. As one of softball’s great managers, he played with some of Chicago’s great athletes during the pre-World War II days, earned three battle stars fighting in the Pacific during World War II, and then managed a Hall of Fame team during the 1970s Roy Kindt grew up in the Belmont and Central area of Chicago’s West side and attended Steinmetz High School. He played hardball with the Chicago Romans and the Bel Central Cobras. As a center fielder hitting in the number three slot, at seventeen he was the youngest (and possibly the best) player on the team. The Cobras were managed by Johnny Niggling, whose brother Johnny Niggling was known as the New York Yankee killer, and competed against some of the top hardball teams in Chicago: Winkler Motors, Benda Coals, Cole Boosters, the River Grove Nationals, Graylins, and the Giants, a team from Washington Park that featured players from the old Negro League. These players competed for the Kansas City Monarchs, the Birmingham Black Barons, the Memphis Red Sox, and Chicago’s own American Giants, who played in the old Chicago White Sox Park. Even though they were beyond their peak playing years, they were still great players. In 1942 Roy left for military service in World War II. He started his twenty-year career in organizing and managing softball teams in the early 60s when he managed the St. Pascal CYO team. He took them to three championships at Clarendon Park and at Grant Park. During the last ten years of his career, he managed the Lyon’s 45s, a Northwest side powerhouse and a Hall of Fame team that won numerous league and tournament titles. Because of his managerial skills, they competed against some of the notable South side teams of that era. Roy is retired from softball. He is also a retired accountant for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. He and his wife, Anne, have a son, Tom, a daughter-in-law, Jacque and two grandchildren, Heather and Troy. They now split their time between Chicago�s Northwest side and Arizona.
