After a sixteen-inch softball career that spanned four decades, Jesse “Mesack” Mack retired from softball in 2001. He was one of the most respected and one of the most feared leadoff hitters and outfielders in the game. With the game on the line, he was unshakable. It would be hard to find a better player at the plate for a clutch hit or in the field when the team needed a spectacular catch. Jesse began playing organized softball in 1963 with the Budlanders in the Tuley Park League. They won every championship in that league through 1968. In 1969 his excellent play was recognized when he was recruited to play right field for the Flamingoes in the national tournament in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He stayed with the Flamingoes in the 1970 season and then rejoined them in 1974 for the nationals in Dalton, Georgia. The Flamingoes took third place and Jesse earned All-American honors. In 1971 Jesse joined the Kemp brothers to form the Senators, one of the most powerful black softball teams of the era. During his 15 years with the Senators, he competed against the toughest teams at Washington, Hamilton, Rosenbloom, and Kelly Park leagues and in the Windy City League at Bridgeview. While with the Senators, he played in national tournaments at Waukegan (1971), at Racine, Wisconsin (1972), and at Marshalltown, Iowa (1975) and (1985). Because of his talent and high energy, he also played with the Flashes, Bandits, the Demons, the Dating Game, and the Windy City Bombers in various leagues and tournaments. His favorite league was the Sunday Southside Cocktail League where his teams won numerous championships and he won MVP honors. From 1979 to 1989 he was employed at Rush- Presbyterian St-Luke Medical Center and was a member of the hospital’s activity committee. He led and promoted softball, basketball, and bowling activities and was a player-manager on one of the softball teams that won the championship nearly every year in the hospital’s intramural league. After his retirement from softball, Jesse demonstrated his love of the game once again when he coached the Lady Sluggers in the Southside Post Office Ladies Softball League from 2004 to 2007. He led them to second place finishes in 2005 and 2006 and to the championship in 2004. He retired from the Miller Beer Chicago Brewing Company in 2007. He has five children (Angela, Ronald, Donald, Lynn, and Ricardo) and fifteen grandchildren.
