In August of 1970, Jack Olson started the Scrappers. They played their first game in the Ed Kelly Fall Classic Tournament held at Clarendon Park. They beat three “A” teams from Clarendon’s League and then lost 9-7 to the Dwarfs of Clarendon’s “A” League. Because of their success, they were asked to play in […]
Rick Pyle first became involved in softball during 1964 by organizing and playing on an intramural team at Glenbrook High School in Northbrook and continuing that summer in the Park District Teen League. He continued playing on and managing various teams into the early 1980s, but his real love for the game was in
Jim McCabe played softball in Glenview during high school from 1973 – 1974. He was with Phoenix from 1978 – 1982 as manager. His team won the league in 1978 and 1979 against such teams as the Railbirds, the Rat – Pack, and Jack Daniels. Phoenix became the Scorpions and competed in the Classic League
Rich Wagner played 16-inch softball with Sim’s Bowl during the 1970s. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious knee injury while playing that forced him to switch to managing softball instead of playing it. He managed the Turtles from 1982 to 1990 before rejoining them for the ’92 through the ’95 seasons. During his time with the
Every softball player has a great story about being late to a game due to a traffic jam or arriving at a game and changing in the car. Well, this year’s Holan Award winner was a great player who also became one of the greatest statisticians of softball. The catch? He never drove a car
So what do you do during the summer when you’re the daughter of one of softball’s great players? Well, you go to a lot of softball games, of course. Jayne Zolna started attending her dad, Eddie’s, games when she was ten. She was the batgirl when her brother wasn’t there. When she got older, her
Bob Pagorek’s softball career began in 1953 when he was a seventh grader and lasted until 1995. During that time he played the game and managed some of the great teams of the ‘70s and ‘80s. He played in many Chicago Park District leagues, primarily on the Southeast Side, at Calumet City and Dolton and
Most of us can point to one or two people in our lives who helped shaped the direction we were taking. For many ball players on the Southside, including Hall of Fame members Bobbie Blackstone, Henry Curie and Dan Dumas, that person was Sally Gregory. Her family came to Chicago in the early 1900s. She
As a kid growing up in Mt. Prospect, Ken would ride his bike to Meadows Park and became hooked on 16″ softball when he would spend the day watching teams like the Bobcats, the Sobies, the Strikers, the Bruins, Flamingos, Lyons 45s and the Scrappers play in Winston sponsored tournaments. In 1972, at eighteen, he
He started out starring on the basketball team at Morgan Park High School and briefly enjoyed a short career with the Harlem Globetrotters, but to many Chicagoans he was known as one of the top radio personalities in the city. He was well known and loved for the great jazz music he played on his
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