Carey Goins was born on the South Side of Chicago. Like so many young people before him, he started playing 16-inch softball in the vacant lots, alleys, and schoolyards of his neighborhood. He graduated from Calumet High School in 1971 (where he was a drummer in the band and played football) and then attended Eastern
John Westermayer was raised in Des Plaines next to Tomahawk Park, a park that influenced his desire to play softball and baseball because he would listen to the sounds of baseball being played during the summer months. Additionally, the local 16-inch softball “Metros” were played over countless summers in his youth at Tomahawk. There was
Bobby Russ Jr. started his sixteen-inch softball career in the late 1980s with two Northwest Side neighborhood teams – the Levee and the Jackmen. Both teams had a number of HOF players on their roster. He played baseball and basketball at Weber High School from 1981 to 1985. He received a scholarship to play baseball
Larry Downes’s softball journey began at Grant Park about 1968 where his Dad’s Continental Bank team played hundreds of games during his childhood. His Mom would take him downtown on the CTA bus to watch. He would watch them play in the ‘Pit’ at Grant Park. While the games were going on, he would pitch
As a first baseman for Sulky Inn, Beth performed flawlessly for many years and was named by the Sun-Standard Newspaper as one of the best “first-sackers” in the league who is “wiry and can dig’em out of the dirt with the best of them. As a batter, she was known for her timely hitting and
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Calvin Jackson’s 16-inch softball career started at the age of twelve (1961). He was under the tutelage of Mr. Walton in the Madden Park-Darryl Home Park District softball league, located at 3813 South Rhodes. This league had two divisions: the Intermediate (12 to 15 years) and the Senior League (15 to 17 years). Calvin first
Don (Donny) Bianchi threw his first 16-inch softball at Portage Park in the early 1960s. He used to watch his father played there, so he grabbed a yellow Clincher and brought it to the sandlot field in Niles. Donny and his buddies played 16-inch there because not everyone had a mitt, and the windows were
Gildo “Gil” Coldebella started playing softball at Riis Park when he was a teenager. He played third base for the Lobos when they won the state title in 1955. He played with the Rogues at Clarendon and Kelly Parks and with the Big Banjo Bruins and the Lobos at Kosciusko Park. He primarily played third base
Raised on the south side of Chicago, Howard Blakey’s softball career started as a member of the Masterpiece softball team in the late’70’s. During the 80’s and 90’s he played with the Flamingos, B Athletes and Bandits. Considered a top infielder in the league, Howard was known for his strong and accurate arm that could
Todd Mirrabelli loves softball the way it was meant to be played – Chicago-style with no gloves in park leagues and tournaments throughout Chicago. That’s where he loved to play and where he managed his teams. In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Todd’s big brother John used to take him and his brother Garth
