In 1974 a team known as the South Side Devils began playing sixteen-inch softball. In January of 1980 they officially changed their name to the Hot City Rollers/ Travelling All-Stars (founding members Melvin Robinson, Michael Lamar Jordan, Robert Common, and Curtis Granderson) after meeting with Henry Hoskins, owner of the Hot City Lounge on Chicago’s South side. They played year round and won championships in basketball, softball, and bowling. For over thirty-five years, the All-Stars played in parks all over Chicago and Illinois. They have called Washington Park their home since 1980. They started playing when the Washington Park League was pretty small. Now it is one of the largest sixteen-inch slow pitch leagues in the Midwest. Besides playing softball, the All-Stars also help out their community by taking part in Thanksgiving Day food drives and other events for charity and by working with Life Choices We Make (www.lifechoiceswemake.org), a youth foundation In 2012, twenty-plus players and six coaches competed in national qualifiers and in several leagues. Since its inception, more than one hundred players have worn the Hot City uniform. In 2010 they celebrated thirtyyears together and retired uniform number 00 in honor of Michael Lamar Jordan, a founding member who passed away. They also honor other deceased members, Melvin Robinson, Tony Shaw, Greg William, Roscoe Jack Davis, and Mike Gardner.
