Were it not for last year’s Media inductee, columnist Mike Royko, this year’s inductee Tim Weigel, may never have played 16″ softball. It was Royko, who in 1971 upon hearing that the Lake Forest native had been a starting halfback for Yale’s football team, drafted him onto the Chicago Daily News 16″ softball team. An …
For millions of Chicagoans, the last weekend of July means one thing – a trip to Chicago’s lakefront to witness the thunder and majesty of the Chicago Air and Water Show. From water-craft demonstrations to precision flying teams to the power and daring of the Blue Angels, Chicaoans owe a debt of gratitude to the …
It is a great source of pride to many older softball players that the quintessential Chicago newspaper man, Mike Royko, who grew up playing 16” on the streets and playgrounds of the city’s north side, loved 16” softball. His love of the game and it’s traditions was so deep that when he wrote of it …
Jack Ratkovic’s career as a coach and organizer began when he became a lifeguard at Armour Square Park in Bridgeport, teaching countless numbers of men, women and children the joys of swimming. He is also remembered for performing a dramatic high dive into a burning pool of water. He worked in the athletic department of …
This marks Charles Jensen’s second Hall of Fame induction. In 1977 Jensen was inducted posthumously into the ASA National Hall of Fame for his long and meritorious service to that organization. The Chicago native’s softball and baseball umpiring career spanned thirty years. He was the ASA national umpire-in-chief from 1940 to ’48, after serving as …
Tom O’Neill has distinguished himself as a softball organizer, and a major college referee. As director of the Blue Island Softball League for 22 years, O’Neill presided over many ASA major championships. In fact, from 1980 to 1989, all ASA major championships were won by Blue Island teams. In 2000, O’Neill had served as ASA …
Ron Kubicki started his career in 1972 in church leagues, followed by a stint with Touch of Class and Barrel of Fun. In 1988, Kubicki and fellow Hall of Famer Wally Filkins wrote a new page in softball history when they began to organize and coach the defending National Champion Sportstation team. From that point …
Born in Chicago in 1924 and raised in the area now known as Cabrini-Green, Ed Kelly began his Chicago Park District career as a teacher at a local park and worked his way up to General Superintendent in 1973. For over a decade Ed Kelly managed the parks and its thousands of employees with the …
A veteran newspaper reporter and editor, Don DeBat covered business and real estate at the Chicago Daily News and Chicago Sun Times for 26 years. However, DeBat says the most fun he had during his newspaper was the two seasons he spent on the Daily News sports desk as a nightshift copy editor and author …
Les Duncan began his storied softball career in 1969 as an ASA umpire. From 1972 to 1980 he was ASA Area Director and umpired four National ASA tournaments. After going independent in 1981, Duncan rose to the position of National Director for all 16-inch softball for the country, a position he held until 1994 when …
