In a word, “amazing.”

One White Sox player whose name you should remember.

Editor’s note/update: Looks like MLB invoked copyright and took down the YouTube video. You can see the play in the “Top 5 Opening Day plays ” at the MLB website. It’s #1, so you can skip to the 1:20 mark if you like.

Sunday, April 4, 2010: Baseball’s Opening Day. On Easter Sunday no less. Springtime. When a young man’s thoughts turn to …playing ball.

Former baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti captured the feeling that the game brings to so many of us in “The Green Fields of the Mind “, reminding us of the common thread that the game weaves through our lives. The optimism of spring, when things begin anew, the summer days and evenings filled with games, and finally, the chill that comes at the end of the season:

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.

In a sense, men’s fastball already had its opening day back on the afternoon of January 21, 2010, when the first set of games of the 2010 AAU International Tournament were played. But with most players putting the gloves away for the rest of winter when they returned from Orlando, I suspect most fastballers consider the spring to be the “start” of the 2010 season.

For some of us in the warmer regions like California, the season kicked off a couple weeks ago when the SCIFL opened their season at Santa Fe Springs. But no matter. Today is the opening day for Major League Baseball, and reason in and of itself to celebrate its return, and get us all thinking about the fastball season ahead. The team rosters will start rolling in, with all of us perusing them to see which players are back with their old teams, which ones are being being fitted for new uniforms, and what new players arrive onto the radar. The first set of ISC team rankings can’t be far behind.

And so it is. Springtime. Opening Day. When everything else begins again….

Cap tip to my good friend, Steve Miner, who is an assistant coach at San Diego State. Steve is a former Long Beach Nitehawk, Vista Bomber (player and manager) and player/manager of my 50+ team, LB Deadwood, nabbing a 3rd place finish in 2007 and 2nd place finish in 2008. He’s also won the very competitive OMBAC World Championship Over-the-Line tournament in San Diego. Winning seems to follow him…..

March 31, 2010:

FULLERTON, Calif. – Junior Jen Wisneski (Riverside, Calif.) homered and the San Diego State softball team overcame a season-high five errors in a 2-1 victory over Cal State Fullerton Wednesday afternoon in Fullerton, Calif. The Aztecs, who are receiving votes in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball national polls, improved to 21-9 and have won 13 of their last 14 games. Full story here.

March 30, 2010:

The San Diego State softball team scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back en route to an 8-0, six-inning victory over Long Beach State Tuesday in Long Beach, Calif. The Aztecs (20-9), who are receiving votes once again in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball national polls, have now won 12 of their last 13 games. Full story here.

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Another from fastpitch’s most prolific writer, Bob Otto. I remember this one well, with the ISC World Tournament coming to my hometown of Long Beach, California, in 1976. I was a young man of 21, rooting for the Long Beach Nitehawks….

Written by Bob Otto on March 25th, 2010

St. Paul All American Bar entered the 1976 ISC World Tournament in Long Beach, Calif. for the very first time, and won the only World Tournament in Minnesota men’s fastpitch history with a double-knockout of the Lakewood, Calif. Jets. But if not for manager, Jim Rubbelke, it never would have happened. Rubbelke pictured third from right, second row in St. Paul team photo.

“We came ready to play for Jim. We were dedicated to him, reluctant to let him down…” – Jerry O’Conner, 1976 ISC World Tournament Most Valuable Player

ST. PAUL, MN – For Jim Rubbelke the memory remains crystal clear. Shiny new Buicks lined up with ball players behind the wheel ready to begin another long distance softball road trip.

From St. Paul the motorcade wound its way to the softball diamonds of the Clearwater, Florida Bombers, Aurora, Illinois Sealmasters, and ASA National Tournaments.

Those memorable road trips ended 40-some years a go. But August of 2003, Rubbelke made one final road trip – right into the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame in Kimberly, Wisconsin, where he took his place among the greatest in men’s fastpitch softball history.

The 71-year-old Rubbelke along with Johnny Appell, Bill Boyer, and Mark Smith, comprised the 2003 class of ISC Hall of Famers. Rubbelke was inducted in the Managers category. In the 63-year history of the ISC, only 12 managers have been so honored.

TWO-CAREER MAN
Rubbelke really has two chapters in his 32-year fastpitch career. In chapter one (1957-1970), he played the hardnosed third baseman and lead off batter. His St. Paul clubs included the Clover Softball Club, 7-Up Softball Club, and Whitaker Buick.

In 1964 he was lured away by the Raybestos Cardinals of Stratford, Conn. where he spent the next four years earning ASA All American honors in 1963.

“He could run like a deer, good bunter, good defense,” said Mike Payton who played with and for Rubbelke from 1961 to 1975. “He had amazing power for a little guy. He would bunt and run during the season, but somehow he hit the long ball in the (ASA Regional Playoffs). There was seldom a regional where he didn’t hit a home run.”

In chapter two (1971-1990), Rubbelke shed his uniform for the manager’s cap. And that’s when his career reached new heights. His teams soon joined the elite class of ball clubs in North America. Under the banners of Whitaker Buick, Arctic Cat, All American Bar, and Stroh’s Gatsby, St. Paul fastpitch rose to new heights.

“Jim was the backbone of fastpitch softball in the St. Paul area for more than 30 years, ” said Tom Rubbelke who pitched for his brother from the late 1970s through the final 1990 season. “It never would have happened without him.”

TIRELESS WORKER
Rubbelke worked hard for his teams – scheduling, organizing, making hotel accommodations – even the family barbeques, fell on his willing shoulders. On top of that, he raised over $60,000 yearly to keep the team a float. His teams played the best. He scheduled games with clubs from Florida to California, and brought top-flight teams to St. Paul.

“We had home and aways with Aurora and Decatur,” said Jim Rubbelke. “We got involved with (Ty) Stofflet and Reading, Pennsylvania. He was getting the ink around the country then. As soon as we brought him in here we had big crowds of 3,000.”
“Rube arranged the home and aways,” said Payton. “All of a sudden that put us on a different level, way up there.”

After taking the reins of Whitaker in 1971, Rubbelke never let go. But arguably, his St. Paul All American club stood above the rest. Only because it claimed Minnesota’s one and only ISC World Tournament title in 1976 (along with several top-ten finishes) in its first-ever appearance at the World Tournament in Long Beach, California.

ST. PAUL CLAIMS ISC TITLE
In the 30-team double elimination format, St. Paul won its first three games before being knocked off by Prescott, AZ, 3-0. But All American marched through the losers bracket, knocking off Nevada, 9-1, and Oshkosh, WI, 6-3.

And then St. Paul avenged its loss to Prescott with a 4-0 victory on Al DeWall’s two-hit shutout. That set up a showdown with the undefeated Lakewood, Calif. Jets. The All American squad would need to knock off the Jets twice to claim the title.

In the first game, Darwin Tolzin, a Jet the prior season, relieved DeWall and threw six scoreless innings to win the opener, 5-2. But Tolzin wasn’t finished. He came right back, scattering nine hits as All American pulled off a 6-0 victory – claiming the only ISC World Tournament championship to date in Minnesota fastpitch history.

But if not for an ASA residency dispute involving Tolzin, the ISC championship may never have come about.

FROM ASA TO ISC
Tolzin worked for the National Weather Service and was transferred to Minnesota in 1975 from Southern California where he had played for the Jets. His Minnesota residency came under scrutiny of the ASA and it ruled him ineligible for post-season play.

After the ASA ruling, Rubbelke turned to his team. Should we fold up the season or search for alternatives?

“We had a team meeting,” said Jim Rubbelke. “We said, ‘we’re all going together, or we’re not going at all.’ Is there another option?’”
Rubbelke made some calls and reached an agreement with the ISC to play in the World Tournament. And St. Paul pulled off the shocker – at least in the eyes of established ISC teams.

The reaction among many Minnesota fastpitch folks: “What is the ISC?”

ISC TAKES ROOT IN MINNESOTA

“There was no ISC around here,” said Jim Rubbelke. “No one had ever heard of the ISC. We got a one-year bye into that tournament with the idea of starting an ISC league the following year. That winter we got six teams and Dutch (Elbers) became our commissioner.”
Soon other teams followed Rubbelke’s lead. The ISC spread like a wildfire throughout the state. Open-level teams from St. Paul and Minneapolis, Duluth, Winona, and Mankato wanted in.

Marley Lloyd managed Mankato from 1976 to 1990. Without Rubbelke’s foray into this foreign tournament, the ISC might never have spawned in Minnesota, he said.

NO ISC WITHOUT RUBBELKE
“No question, there never would have been an ISC in Minnesota at that time,” he said. “Jim’s the reason the ISC started here and in Wisconsin, Iowa, Sioux Falls and Fargo. We didn’t think it (ISC) amounted to much until we went, but found out it was harder (than ASA) because it had the foreign pitchers.”

Mankato clubs, such as Happy Chef, made 14 consecutive World Tournament appearances. And Lloyd credits Rubbelke for raising the bar, dangling the carrot a little higher for his Mankato clubs.

“He made us play up to his level,” said Lloyd. “That took us from the minor leagues to the major leagues of softball.”
Rising up to meet the St. Paul juggernaut created intense and sometimes bitter battles between the two clubs. And Rubbelke was the one to zero in on, said Lloyd.

“You had to know what you were doing or he would tear you up,” said Lloyd. “He was a fierce competitor always looking for the edge.”

And often unconventional.

“When you thought he would bunt, he hit away. When you thought he would hit away, he would bunt,” said Lloyd. “You had to be at the top of your game when you played him.”

TITANIC BATTLES
That St. Paul – Mankato rivalry produced epic battles that Lloyd remembers fondly today. Lloyd recalls the time and place where Mankato finally toppled Rubbelke. And reached the “major leagues.”

“It was in the (ASA) regionals in 1974 in Grand Forks and they beat us (Mankato Circle Inn) 2-1 in the first game,” said Lloyd. “ We came back and beat them 1-0 and 4-3. It was the first time they didn’t go to the (ASA) nationals. That pushed us up to their level. I’m not sure they liked that, ” said Lloyd with a chuckle.

Even with stiff threats from in-state rivals, Rubbelke-led teams remained top dog. And during those great years, DeWall anchored the pitching staff.

“Scandia, Mankato, Austin were good competition,” said DeWall. “They were good teams, but we always won. We had a little more pride in keeping our tradition going. We had a bunch of good players that just liked to play.”
Amongst a slew of players from the 1950s to the final 1990 season, a few stood above the rest.

For Rubbelke, pitchers DeWall and Dutch Elbers were tough to beat. “Al had the good drop, pretty good raise,” said Rubbelke. “Dutch had that good change up, great control. When we had the two of them going, we could compete nationally from 1962 and on.”

In the Whitaker Buick years (1962-1973) John Sheehan caught. “John was a teacher. He took pride in calling a game,” said DeWall. “He was one of the top three or four catchers in the country.”

MANY OUTSTANDING PLAYERS
Other greats included Jack Chlebeck, Bob Whaley, Mike Payton, Eddie Mathias, Doc O’Connor, Gerry Duffey, Don Terwedo, Dan and Jerry O’Connor, Herb Brooks, Jerry Schaber and Terry Muck.

Joining DeWall and Elbers, were pitchers Bob Trapp Jr. and Randy Walker, said Tom Rubbelke.

“Dan O’Connor, no doubt he was the best. He was great,” said DeWall. “He wanted to win.”
After Arctic Cat sponsored the team 1974 -1975, All American Bar and Earl Montpetit took over in 1976. That spurred an incredible 10-year run that also produced great names in the annals of Minnesota fastpitch.

“Around the field we had a bunch of great athletes,” said Tom Rubbelke. “Tim Egan at first; Jim McDonald at second; Danny O’Connor at third and Jerry O’Connor at shortstop. In the outfield we had Dennis Denning in center, Greg Alford in left, and Randy Henry in right.

“We used Gerry Duffey as DH and Steve Schmid caught with Jerry Sobaski backing (him) up.”

That line up claimed the 1976 ISC World Tournament title, with DeWall and Jerry O’Connor selected as the Most Valuable Pitcher and Most Valuable Player. DeWall finished with a 5-1 record, while O’Connor clipped the world’s best pitching for a .444 batting average and seven RBI.

But the ISC championship, the individual awards, the accolades wouldn’t have been possible without Rubbelke’s leadership.

“We came ready to play for Jim,” said Jerry O’Connor. “We were dedicated to him, reluctant to let him down. He put Minnesota on the softball map.”

From Stanford.com

STANFORD, Calif. – Freshman Teagan Gerhart threw back-to-back no-hitters Saturday, and the 10th-ranked Stanford softball team defeated Princeton, 7-0, and Saint Mary’s, 8-0, in five innings on the second day of the Louisville Slugger Classic at Smith Family Stadium. The Cardinal is now 18-3 on the season and is currently on a four-game winning streak.

Gerhart, who registered her first career perfect game Friday night versus Santa Clara, continued to dominate in the circle for the Cardinal. The Norco, Calif., native pitched 12 scoreless innings, striking out 14 batters while allowing just one walk on Saturday.

The rookie also provided offense for the Cardinal, recording her first hit of the season, a double, versus Princeton. She also sparked a three-run inning versus Saint Mary’s with her first collegiate home run. On the day, Gerhart was 3-5 with three RBI and two extra-base hits.

The two wins were a total team effort by the Cardinal on Saturday as eight of the nine starters recorded at least one hit. Against the Tigers, senior catcher Rosey Neill was 2-4 with two RBI, and the Cardinal tallied five stolen bases. Versus Saint Mary’s, freshman Jenna Rich and senior Shannon Koplitz blasted back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to cause two pitching changes by the Gaels. Stanford has outscored its opponents this weekend 23-0.

In game one on Saturday, Stanford put four runs on the board in the opening inning. Senior Alissa Haber singled up the middle to lead off for the Cardinal. Hansen reached on a fielding error by Princeton short stop Megan Weidrick. Koplitz then singled to left field to start the Stanford rally. Sophomore Maya Burns reached on another fielding error by Weidrick to load the bases. That brought up Neill, who singled through the left side to score both Hansen and Koplitz. Gerhart then recorded her first hit of the season, an RBI double, to give the Cardinal a 4-0 lead.

Stanford added another run in the bottom of the fourth inning, to increase its lead to 5-0. Center fielder Sarah Hassman was hit by a pitch to start the inning. She then stole second base and was moved to third as Haber grounded out to the second baseman. Rich hit an RBI single to center field to score Hassman.

The Cardinal capped the scoring in the fifth inning, putting up two more runs for the 7-0 win. Neill led off singling to left center field. Freshman Caitlin Breen entered the game to pinch run for Neill. Sophomore first baseman Jenna Becerra singled to left field to put two runners on base for Stanford. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch by the Tigers. Hassman hit an infield RBI single to score Breen, and then Haber hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Becerra.

Freshman Kelsey Gerhart made her first appearance of the season, entering the game at catcher in the seventh inning. Stanford held on to defeat Princeton 7-0.

Against Saint Mary’s, neither team was able to produce any offense until Gerhart led off the bottom of the third inning with her first career home run. Stanford added two more run in the bottom half of the inning for a 3-0 lead.

The Cardinal added another run in the fourth as Haber drew a walk with the bases loaded. Stanford then ended the game, scoring four runs in the bottom of the fifth, to force the run-rule victory. After Rich and Koplitz recorded the consecutive home runs, Burns was walked and then Neill hit a single to place two runners on the bags for Stanford. Junior Autumn Albers entered the game as a pinch runner for Neill. Burns and Albers moved to third and second, respectively, on an illegal pitch by Saint Mary’s. Gerhart then brought burns home with an RBI single through the left side. Hassman ended the game with a single up the middle to score Albers.

The Cardinal will continue play in the Stanford Louisville Slugger Classic on Sunday with a double-header. Stanford will face Cal Poly at 1:30 p.m. before taking on Saint Mary’s again at 3:45 p.m.