In 1961, Jim Donato started playing 16” softball with the Emil Colts in Melrose Park for 2 years before being called to serve his country. After returning from 2 years in the Army and Vietnam, he played Outfield and Pitcher with The Relatives, Merchants, Sportmens Lounge, Nocturms, Originals, Bruins and Olympians for 10 years in […]
At the age of 10, a broken arm prevented Chicago born Ed Durica from playing baseball, setting in motion a new passion. He began to hang around nearby Harrison and Dvorak Parks watching softball, eventually taken in by the Gaffers men’s team, given a jersey and becoming their Batboy for two years. By the age
Wally Dziewinski grew up in Brighton Park where he played 16” soft-ball with the Southwest Stags Social Athletic Club and Southwest Side out of Chicago. After an injury, he became manager of Jackson Mov-ers, later known as Bat N’ Brew. Bat N’ Brew won 11 championships in the BMSA and La Grange Park Leagues, before
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What became a lifetime passion, began as a fun pastime playing with family and friends. After wrapping up successful Varsity Baseball and Football careers at Leyden Township High School, Joe developed a serious interest in 16” Softball in the mid-1980s. To this day, he treas- ures his early Schiller Park “Shot” and Brooks Park “Shooters”
Tom Duff started playing 16-inch softball in 1975 in the Oak Park leagues with Clockwork, a team he formed. Duff also coached and/or organized most of the teams he played on, including his Leo Burnett and Optimus teams that won many Ad League Championships at Grant Park. These teams included longtime Clockwork teammate and HOF
Larry Downes’s softball journey began at Grant Park about 1968 where his Dad’s Continental Bank team played hundreds of games during his childhood. His Mom would take him downtown on the CTA bus to watch. He would watch them play in the ‘Pit’ at Grant Park. While the games were going on, he would pitch
Larry Danley was known as one of the best defensive shortstops of his era (1970 to the early-1990s). He played in twelve national tournaments with the Senators, the Flashes, the Flamingoes, the Bandits, the Wild Bunch, and the Demons. Larry played with three of the greatest teams ever – the Senators, Flashes, and the Flamingoes.
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Mayfair Park in Westchester has been the host site for sixteen-inch softball leagues and tournaments for over fifty years. The early days of the league primarily catered to local and surrounding area teams. Back in those days, all games were played starting at 6:30 pm on three fields. In the early 70s, Westchester lit its
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Dukes Softball started in 1957 in the Father Jerry League in Chicago. Like most new teams, the Dukes struggled their first year, winning four games and losing eight. They might not have won a lot of games but they did have the best uniforms – black and white with satin warm-up jackets donated by Carmie
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Tom grew up a gym rat. Here is where his love of sports began. Tom attended De La Salle High School where he played baseball, basketball, and football. He earned a college scholarship to St Xavier University to play baseball. Tom started playing for the Crush in 1978 when he and a few friends
