During the late ‘60s and ‘70s, the Shooters were considered to be one of the five best teams in Chicago. The North Side had the Shooters, the Dwarfs, and the 45s and the South Side had the Bobcats, the Rogues, and the Sobies. The team members came from Senn, Sullivan, Mather, Roosevelt, Von Steuben, and …
Roger Babilla has been involved in sixteen-inch softball for thirty-six years as a player, coach, and sponsor. He grew up in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago. Like many Chicagoans before him, he played softball first in the street and then moved to a more organized level at many parks, including Lincoln, Hamlin, Horner, River, …
Co-Founder: Jim Dorgan Co-Founder: Emil Smicklas Managers Jim Dorgan (1968-1989) Emil Smicklas (1968- 1986) Paul Rowan (1982-1993) Tim Daniher (1989-1993) In the summer of 1968, after playing mostly pick-up games on the Southwest Side of Chicago at a local park, Graver Park, Jim Dorgan and Emil Smicklas decided to form a team and …
Ray Warren played for the Safari Tigers from 1974 to 1993. In 1984 and 1985, they finished second in the ASA Major Tournament. In 1993, they won the Illinois title in Blue Island. He coached the B Athletes when they won the ASA title for Illinois. They placed fifth in the ASA Major Nationals in …
Paul Wukach has been involved in sixteen-inch softball for forty-five years as a player (having pitched four official and documented no-hitters) and as a manager, and organizer. He started playing softball because of the influence of his uncle Wally “Stormy” Dazur. “Unc” organized “pickup” games at Palmer Square in the Logan Square neighborhood. The kids …
John Krehbiel Sr., the founder of Molex in Lisle, IL, always had a passion for employee morale because he believed that employee engagement was vital to Molex’s success. So he started company picnics, social activities, and he created a profit sharing plan, long before other companies even considered it in the 1950s. Mr. Krehbiel believed …
Mike Marchinski was born and raised on the North Side of Chicago. As a child of the 50’s and 60’s, two things were inevitable: Mike was a long – suffering Cub fan, and he spent every leisure moment playing 16-inch softball. Mike’s first venture into organized ball came as an eighth grader playing for Our …
Matt Gillen graduated from Oaklawn Community High School in 1971. He then attended St. Francis University where he played baseball and basketball. After leaving St. Francis, he had tryouts with the Baltimore Orioles, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Kansas City Royals. He started playing sixteen-inch softball after college when he played in a game with …
In the summer of 1969, three friends – Hilde Diaz, John “Sweet Daddy” Wojtasik, and Ron “Orca” Michalowicz – recruited their neighborhood friends from Summit to form a sixteen-inch softball team called the Argo Sinners. That year they began playing in the Bedford Park and Summit Park leagues. Like most new teams in their first …
Lisa Pugh grew up at Cabrini Green, an inner city housing project on Chicago’s North Side. She was the seventh child of nine (one brother and eight sisters). When she was ten, she began playing baseball with the neighborhood boys. They called her a tomboy but they changed their tune when she struck out some …
