Sherman Nelson was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. He graduated from Englewood High School in 1954 and joined the United States Air Force in January of 1955. After completing a 12 week / eight hours–a- day IBM technical training course, Sherman was assigned to a machine accounting department and spent […]
Pete McGuire had a twenty-one year career playing sixteen-inch softball. Six of those years were on the major level, most notably with the Whips and the Stompers. His best memo- ries though, were the years with his cousins Mike and Tom McGuire on The Groundsmen teams from the South Side and South suburbs. But
Renee Strasser started playing baseball at age nine in a boys Little League team in Alsip, Illinois. She was one of three girls allowed to play in the league. When Little League officials wouldn’t let them advance to the next level of competition, they joined Alsip Park District’s sixteen-inch softball for girls. At age eleven
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Growing up in Calumet Park made it very easy to be sports orientated. The town and schools were ahead of their time by offering several sports opportunities for girls. Attending Seven Holy Founders Grade School, Colleen competed in both softball and volleyball leagues. She graduated from Dwight D. Eisenhower High School in Blue Island
Israel Sanchez was born in Falcon Lasvias, Cuba in 1962. He came to the United States when he was six and attended Von Steuben High School. He played sixteen-inch softball for the Thrashers, Red Dog, the 45s, Windy City, and Sage at parks throughout the Chicago area. He was selected MVP at Forest Park
In his twenty-five years playing sixteen-inch softball, Dave Ruehl played with some of the top teams of his time, including the Meister Brau Taggers, Whips, Lettuce, Red Dog, and Licorice. As a shortstop, Dave was selected as an All-Time Team shortstop in the Mt. Prospect League. He was the 1990 Forest Park No Glove
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Dan Jalowiec started playing softball in 1985 at Clyde Park in Cicero with some friends from Morton East High School when he was seventeen. After playing in the 18-and-under League at Clyde Park, he joined his father Jim, a member of the legendary Sobies in the early ‘70s, his brother Jeff, and several cousins
John Stock played softball for twenty- five years with some of the top teams of his time. He started playing neighborhood softball when he was fifteen in the schoolyard at Chopin Grammar School. He later played in the league at Smith Park. As his skills grew, better teams noticed him and he soon found
Drake Jones started playing serious softball with the Mau Maus when he was eighteen years old and met Stanley Brown while working at the Post Office. They played in the Post Office League, at Washington Park, and in tournaments throughout the city. During one of those tournaments, they played against the legendary Flamingos. Drake
Raymond Johnson began his softball career with the Flamingoes in 1961 when he was fifteen. He played third base with them in the Daddy- O-Daylie League at Meyerling Park, under the tutelage of John Wolf-Wilson. Besides finding great success in this league, the Flamingoes also finished in the top three in the Sixteen-inch World
