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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Deathwish was founded and managed in 1979 by Carey B. Goins with his Phi Beta Sigma fraternity brothers, friends and family. They played their first year in Avalon Park on Chicago’s South Side. With Ted Gothard added as coach, the team began playing in the Washington Park Sunday League in 1980 and the Budweiser …
Joey Lucido John Leuth Jack Nakanishi Barry Seto Jerry Seto Joe Romano Rick Wike Pat O’Shea Tony DeLuca Jerry Aldape Rich Yokota Billy Vines Zaty Ortega Sam Partipillo Dave Love Ron Yoshida Jim Hurt Lenny Romano Dave Luna John Caplis Dennis Burns Jim Martin Chuck Samson Dan Abbamonte Howard Flowers Sam Losurdo Joe Strzelczyk Art …
Little did Rick Burda and Paul Volk, two friends who met playing in a church league in LaGrange, know that the team they formed in 1973 would still be playing today. In 1973 they started playing in a league in Brookfield and over the next few years added leagues in Summit and Bedford Park. Made …
Starting in 1957 at Audubon Playground, near Addison and Damen, the Dwarfs began a softball legacy that would span four generations, and rank them as one of 16″ softballs most successful and historic teams. Few teams can boast their 1,322 wins against 333 losses for a .799 winning percentage. During their six decades the Dwarfs …
