The CTA Softball league was established in 1969, providing entertainment and fellowship for CTA employees, friends and family for generations, and 3rd Rail is an extension of that family.
After winning the CTA championship in 2002 with the West Side ‘L’, Drake Jones and Tony Ward decided to form their own softball team, naming it 3rd Rail. Recruiting some of the best players in the league, they formed a nucleus that catapulted the team to the 2004 championship game. While they came up short that year, the following season they beefed up recruiting and picked up Moses Chambers and Maurice Martin. With those additions, they went undefeated in the regular season, only to lose in the playoffs, but had found their niche and played in the championship games the following nine seasons.
2008 was a banner year with the team undefeated until the last weekend. Remaining strong through the playoffs, they won their first championship, with outstanding play from Drake Jones, Tony Ward, Vincent Griffin and Moses Chambers. Success felt good and they followed it up in 2009, winning back to back championships.
Although they lost the championship game to the Raiders in 2010, 3rd Rail took the title back again in both 2011 and 2012. After picking up impact players Rod Parker, David Medina, Ivan Justiniano, Thomas Perez, Titus Mastrangelo, and Antoine Perkins, they were able to win a third set of back to back championships in 2014 and 2015.
During the championship years, several MVP standouts deserve recognition, including Johnny Collier (2014-15), Dave Bradford (2012), Moses Chambers (2008), Vincent Griffin (2009), as well as notable playoff pitching performances by James Jackson (2004), Joe Bustos (2011) and Greg McGinnis (2011 & 2014).
