Joey Lucido John Leuth Jack Nakanishi Barry Seto Jerry Seto Joe Romano Rick Wike Pat O’Shea Tony DeLuca Jerry Aldape Rich Yokota Billy Vines Zaty Ortega Sam Partipillo Dave Love Ron Yoshida Jim Hurt Lenny Romano Dave Luna John Caplis Dennis Burns Jim Martin Chuck Samson Dan Abbamonte Howard Flowers Sam Losurdo Joe Strzelczyk Art […]
Little did Rick Burda and Paul Volk, two friends who met playing in a church league in LaGrange, know that the team they formed in 1973 would still be playing today. In 1973 they started playing in a league in Brookfield and over the next few years added leagues in Summit and Bedford Park. Made
What started out as fun nights with softball friends and die-hard veteran players, all came together to form the Smooth Over softball team. They immediately established themselves as a team to be reckoned with. In the early-’90s, they emerged as one of the most competitive teams on the South side. They started out playing in
Crush started out in 1978 when a bunch of high-school friends put together a team and started competing at McGuane Park. In 1979 and ’80 they won the 18 and under title at McGuane. The next year they played in the Donovan Park Open League, made the playoffs, and then took second to the Stickmen
In the 1950s, Continental Bank played in the Banker’s league, competing against top banks around the Chicago-area. The league ended play in1959. That year First Chicago defeated Continental in the championship game to earn their first spot in the Grant Park Tournament of Champions. That year they took third place out of thirty-two teams. In
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The Flames are a North side team formed in 1974 out of Fireside Bowl by Tom Nagy. Thirty-six years later they are still together and still winning. They are a Chicago Park District team that played only at Chicago’s neighborhood parks. On weekends, they entered various tournaments, mainly to win the prize money. Over their
We showed up; we played hard. We won our fair share; we had a good time.These words by Hall of Fame manager Rich Melman summarize Lettuce softball during the 1990s. Melman and Joel Zimberoff managed Lettuce to one USSSA title in 1994, three ASA runners-up finishes (‘91,’97,’99), and four ASA National titles (‘92,’93.’96,’98). They also
When the history of industrial teams is written, Chicago and North Western Railroad will certainly rank as one of the greatest teams because of its record and its longevity. Started in the 1920s, a 1925 photo of the team shows a twenty-three year old Abe Saperstein as the team’s shortstop and manager, the year before
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Chicago’s game characteristically mirrors the city that created it – it’s brash, bold, loyal, and smart. It possesses a never say die attitude. From 1981 to 1996, no team better exemplified these traits than the Stooges, the team that in 1993 the Sun Times called “The neighborhood team that plays big-time ball.” The Stooges were
The Safari Tigers 16-inch softball team was formed in April 1969 by Hall of Fame coach Claude Rhodes. The team was formed to counter the negative influences that prevailed in the Washington Park and Grand Crossing neighborhoods of Chicago. Today, this influence is even more necessary and meaningful. In the early 1970s, the Tigers played
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