Bob Peterson grew up in Calumet Park and attended Eisenhower High School where he played baseball, and football. He also played football at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He played softball for the Hot Dogs at parks on Chicago’s Southwest side and in Oak Park. He began his umpiring career in 1983 when he attended …
Baseball, not softball, was Wally Pecs’ game after graduating from Roosevelt High School. But that changed after several unsuccessful major league try-outs led Wally to look to softball as an alternative outlet for his talents,so at age nineteen he started the Tappers. Two years later he left Tappers to join the Road Runners, a top …
Born in July of 1925, Dominick Paparatto attended Morse Grammar School and Crane Tech High School where he excelled in baseball and track. From 1943 to 1945 Dominick served his country during World War II as an aerial gunner in the 15th Air Force stationed in Italy. He began his softball career in 1943 with …
Larry Piekarz has worked in the parks and recreation field since 1979. He has worked for the Park District of Forest Park since 1989. He started as Superintendent of Recreation and was named Director of Parks and Recreation in 2007 when Dave Novak retired. He has also served as Commissioner for the Streamwood Park …
Before becoming an umpire and a softball writer, Irv Porter was a softball player for eighteen years, starting his playing days in the 1960s. Indeed, Porter has played in nine World Tournaments. He recently completed his nineteenth year as an umpire, calling games at seven World Tournaments. Irv Porter’s softball writing career began when W.J. …
Pat Pasko grew up in the Bucktown neighborhood on Chicago’s Northwest side. Her athletic talents were apparent from an early age. She attended St. Hedwig Elementary School and Resurrection High School where she played basketball, softball, and bowled. She received M.V.P. honors in all three sports before going on to DePaul University to earn her …
Sink the paddleboat. Rosie dances moves. Just tape it up; it will be fine. These and other sayings are some of the memories that Kim Panozzo retains from her years of playing in the top echelons of women’s softball. After moving from Roseland to the Beverly area of Chicago, Kim Panozzo begged her father to …
“I love the game, and I’ll keep on playing until I can’t keep up with the younger players anymore.” Kim Summers began her softball career playing 14” ball in Markham at the ripe old age of twelve. She continued playing 14” ball until she went away to college at seventeen. Upon her return, she switched …
In the letter nominating Gail Pistello for membership in the Hall of Fame, she is described as a pitcher with a signature knuckle ball that baffled hitters with its ‘dead action’ and could paint the strike zone with pinpoint accuracy. A glance at Pistello’s statistics shows that this claim is not filled with hyperbole. With …
Tony Portincaso started playing softball in 1981 with the Masters, a team from the Northwest-side of Chicago. They played in Norridge and Niles and at Hiawatha and Oriole Parks. He got a taste for competitive softball while playing in a couple of games at Clarendon Park. In 1984 he joined Pegasus, a team comprised of …
