I started playing softball in 7th grade during recess; then in day camp, where my skills and knowledge of the game were honed by playing with and against players 3 or more years older than me. It was during my early teens that I first saw men’s organized 16” softball being played at 71st and …
The Scooters were formed in the spring of 1980 by Roy Solofra and Mike Slenk. The team started with17 players who were neighborhood and college friends. They were an athletic group talented enough to compete at an above-average level. The last piece of the puzzle was to nd a team name and Scooters was chosen …
Ed began playing softball in 1962 and played all over the South Side of Chicago and suburbs of Hodgkins, Bedford Park, Summit, LaGrange, etc. I began playing with the Doctors team in the late 1970s. We were very successful and won several league championships at the local level and developed into a powerhouse “A” team. …
Morris has worked for the Chicago Park District and Chicago Board of Education. He is the oldest ISHA official in the state of Illinois at 67 years young…retirement is not an option…he is addicted. He has umpired significant tournaments and leagues including the Clarendon major league and Ed Kelly Tournaments and outstanding James Park event …
Growing up near Hamilton Park on the south side of Chicago, Vince loved getting together with neighborhood friends to play pickup games of softball, learning the rules and regulations of the game at a young age. 55 years later, he considers himself fortunate to remain actively engaged in the game he loves. In 1964, he …
Herb Sweetow grew up in Chicago and learned the game in Chicago Park District’s Jensen Park. He was also captain of his high school basketball team at Roosevelt High School and was awarded All-City honors. In 1942, World War II was demanding the full attention of our country. Many of the men who played 16-inch softball …
Jim grew up in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago. In grammar school, Jim, along with a number of his friends from St. Peter Canisius, began playing 16” softball at La Follette Park. During his high school years, Jim’s team finished second or third each year. The Sunday afternoons of Jim’s youth …
The Gillette sixteen-inch softball team played in the Grant Park Softball League in the 1950s through the 1960s. They became the Gillette Strokers in the early 1970s. Rumor has it that they won a few Grant Park championships in the ‘50s and ‘60s, but through the ‘70s and into the ‘90s they were a competitive …
The Sorkin family has played sixteen-inch softball for decades. Stuart Sorkin’s father, Harold, played for years on the West Side and in parks and leagues throughout Chicago. He played with many players who would become Sixteen-inch Softball Hall of Famers in the Windy City League, including Jimmy DiVito’s championship teams. Stuart’s aunt played for the original …
The Stover sixteen-inch softball team was formed in the 1990’s with the majority of the team made up of Coppola brothers and cousins. It also included cousins without the Coppola last name (Langeness and McMurray) and close friends. The Stover name came from a business owner by the name of Roger Stover. In 2001, …
