We regret to report the passing of Earl Hicks from from Lakenheath, noted to us by his friend Annelies van der meulen of Holland. Earl was a fastballer in the UK, had a team there, and as we have seen from the many notes we have received, many friends in fastball. He will be missed by them all.
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Sultans of softball
Transcendent 1949 team to receive long overdue acclaim when it enters hall next month
By IAIN COLPITTS, SPECIAL TO SUN MEDIA
When Charlie Justice entered an Arkansas hotel in September 1949, he wasn’t welcomed with open arms. Because he was a black man, the star pitcher for the Tip Top Tailors softball team was told to leave immediately.
“They wouldn’t let Charlie in the hotel,” teammate and left fielder Ray Pulfer said. “So I said to them: ‘That’s not right.’
“Then one of the workers grabbed me by the arm and said: ‘Look here, don’t side with the blacks down here or they’ll have you looking down the barrel of a gun.’ So that really scared me, I kept my mouth shut after that.”
Justice was one of three black players on the Tip Top Tailors, the champions of the 1949 Amateur Softball Association of America. The team finally is getting its due next month when it enters Softball Canada’s Hall of Fame.
Shelley Milley (catcher) and Percy McCracken (pitcher), the other black members of the team, also were discriminated against the minute they set foot in Little Rock.
“When we arrived at the airport, there was a sign to the left that said: ‘Whites’ and a sign to the right that said: ‘Blacks.’ We walked right down the middle,” recalled third baseman and Toronto resident Bill (Babe) Gresko.
“Then, when we got to the hotel, we all walked in together and the manager said: ‘Come on you black boys, get out of here. You don’t belong in here.’ So, we all walked out as a team and they ended up staying in the black section of town. There were three or four other teams that had the same problem.”
The Toronto entry was Canada’s lone team.
The ASA championship was considered the unofficial world championship and the ’49 Tailors were the first team from Canada to win it.
“A lot of teams couldn’t afford to go, so anyone who had the money went,” said Pulfer, now 86 and living in Etobicoke. “So we played a best-of-three series against Peoples (Credit Jewellers). We beat them in the first two games, so that sent us on our way.”
Long before the Blue Jays came to Toronto, fastball was booming.
During the late 1940s, thousands of fans would stroll over to Kew Gardens to watch the best teams compete in the Beaches Fastball League. Tip Top Tailors was one of them.
Justice, Milley and McCracken died long ago, along with all but four teammates.
Pulfer, Gresko, Lenny Gaull (catcher), and Pat McCullough (centre field) are the only survivors from the championship squad.
Over the past few decades, the team has been relatively unheard of in the softball community. Thanks to research done by John Stevens, a St. Marys resident who used to work for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, their achievements will be recognized.
“The team was in danger of being forgotten,” Stevens said. “People from that era were dying and if we don’t get them in the Hall of Fame, there’s no way they’re going to be remembered.”
Stevens put together the bid for their nomination and in June they were named one of this year’s inductees.
***
Before 1949, nobody in Little Rock had ever heard of Tip Top Tailors. Certainly, they were shocked when the Torontonians were one of only two undefeated teams when they reached the semifinal against Mercedes, Tex., the other team without a loss.
“We were just as good as any other team in that tournament,” said Gresko, 86.
In the championship qualifier against Mercedes on Sept. 21, they scored four times en route to a 4-0 victory.
Justice wouldn’t let the prejudice stop him as he allowed only one hit in the win.
The stage was set for the final. It would be the Tip Top Tailors against the Clearwater (Florida) Bombers and their phenom pitcher, Herb Dudley.
“He was a hell of a pitcher,” Gresko said. “In one game, he struck out 58 men over 21 innings.”
The championship game got under way on Sept. 23 and, 18 innings later, the Tailors had defeated the Bombers 3-1.
To their credit, the Clearwater Bombers didn’t make it easy. They led 1-0 until the seventh and final inning of regulation before Justice drove in the tying run.
He pitched the extra innings for Tip Tops, after Russ Johnston worked the first seven. Justice struck out 13 batters.
Dudley went the entire 18 innings, one of three games he pitched in two days. Art Upper (right field) eventually found a hole in Dudley’s delivery and sealed the game with a two-run single in the 18th.
“We got lucky because one of their games was on a Sunday and Dudley wouldn’t pitch because he was a preacher,” Gresko said.
“They ended up losing and had to beat us twice to win the championship. If they had won that Sunday game, it would’ve just been a single knockout.”
And with that, the Tip Top Tailors were the “world champions” of softball.
***
Elite players were high in demand during this time and Justice, McCracken and Milley all brought enough talent from Michigan to secure them full-time jobs in Canada.
“Charlie and Shelley worked for Tip Tops during that time,” Gresko said. “Percy was working with Levy’s Auto Parts, but we picked him up to play for us in the tournament.”
“Down there the blacks were frowned upon, but up here they were on equal footing,” Pulfer said. “The three of them came over from Detroit. Anyone who came from Detroit lived like kings here in Canada, but back in Detroit they were nothing.”
Bill McBratney played for People’s Credit Jewellers in the Beaches league and recalled Justice’s value.
Justice worked a few days at Tip Tops and was paid quite lucratively on the diamond.
“Charlie was selling suit material for Tip Tops,” McBratney said. “Of course when I say that, I don’t know how much selling he did.”
In Canada, these players were given the chance to shine on the field and escape the prejudice they faced back home.
***
The Tip Tops players didn’t receive the reception they would’ve liked from the Little Rock crowd upon winning the championship.
“The winning team was supposed to have a banquet but we didn’t have one because of the black boys and us being Canadian,” Gresko said.
“We had our party at two o’clock in the morning because the game didn’t finish until after midnight. We went to the black section of town and that’s where we had our party.”
However, it was great returning home, and Pulfer took in every moment of the ceremony when the team arrived back in Toronto.
“They took us down to city hall and they were very nice to us.” Pulfer said. “We stood on the steps of city hall and were given many gifts. It was a lovely reception.”
Even before the team left for Arkansas, they were treated like kings. The championship meant a lot to Toronto and Tip Tops owner Joe Dunkleman, who made sure his boys went down to Little Rock in style.
“They travelled down in a Tip Top Tailors plane,” Stevens said. “It was really a first-class operation. They were all in their suits looking sharp and it was a class act. That wouldn’t happen today.”
***
The sport was at its peak in terms of popularity through the 1940s, but management changes and a lack of sponsorship led to the downfall of the league shortly after Tip Tops won the world championship.
“We used to draw well out there. Maybe a couple thousand every night,” Gresko said as he reminisced about his time spent playing at Kew Gardens. “But 1952 was the turning point when they shut down the league for the season.”
The problem started at the opening of the 1950 season, when executives decided to charge a fee at the gates, something that didn’t sit well with the fans.
Also, imports were no longer allowed into the league, meaning there would be no more Americans with the skills of Justice, McCracken or Milley playing at Kew Gardens.
Dunkleman had seen enough. The team didn’t renew with the league in 1951 and that was the end of the franchise’s legacy.
By 1952, the league didn’t have enough team sponsors to continue and ceased operations for that year.
The league returned in 1953, but it was never the same.
“After that, we started to get a lot of different teams,” McBratney said. “The calibre of those teams wasn’t as strong as they were previous (before 1952), but it was still pretty good ball.”
By the 1970s, the league had expanded outside of the Toronto core as teams such as Scarborough Cable TV, the Oshawa Tony’s and the Richmond Hill Dynes (1972 world champions) made their way over to Kew Gardens.
“Attendance wasn’t like it was back in the days of the original Beaches League,” said Stevens, who played in that league during the 1970s. “We might get 300 people, not 3,000.”
Over time, the numbers dwindled. By 1987, the league had quietly gone extinct.
***
Through his quest to document the team, Stevens uncovered an incredible story.
“After getting to know both Ray and Babe, I discovered a story that could be made into a movie,” Stevens said. “It was a completely different era in the sport, one that has never been duplicated and probably never will be.”
When the team is inducted into the Hall of Fame on Nov. 14 in Ottawa, Stevens is determined the four remaining players will be at the banquet.
“Somehow, I’m going to get the living players up there,” Stevens said. “I’m going to get them up there because they deserve it.”
For Stevens, what started out as a standard nomination procedure has turned into so much more. He has come to know two terrific men and is grateful for the experience.
“Once you get to know these people, you want them to have their last hurrah,” Stevens said. “They’re both exceptional people and they’ve given much more back to the game than they’ve taken from it.”
Editor’s Note: While it was mostly a foregone conclusion that rugby and golf would be added to the slate of Olympic sports after the IOC executive committee recommended them several weeks back, it was made official this morning with a vote in Denmark. Left on the outside is softball which will be a significant blow for national governing bodies like ASA, Softball Canada, Softball New Zealand and Softball Australia who derive the bulk of their revenues from governments who tend to fund Olympic sports associations over non-Olympic groups. For the men’s game, the trickle down effect could be disastrous as already scarce funding becomes even more so. Will the quadrennial ISFs become the only international competition for men? Will there be money for events like the Pan Am qualifier or the Pacific International qualifier in the future? Let’s hope.
By Mattias Karen, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – All those beautiful beaches and Tiger Woods, too!
After more than a century on the sidelines, golf will return to the Olympics at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. Rugby, last played in 1924, is coming back as well.
Both were reinstated for the 2016 and 2020 Games after a vote Friday by the International Olympic Committee.
Each sport received majority support in separate votes after leading athletes and officials from both camps gave presentations, including a taped video message from Woods and other top pros. Woods has indicated he would play in the Olympics if golf were accepted for 2016.
“There are millions of young golfers worldwide who would be proud to represent their country,” Woods said from the Presidents Cup in San Francisco. “It would be an honor for anyone who plays this game to become an Olympian.”
Golf was approved 63-27 with two abstentions. Rugby was voted in 81-8 with one abstention.
Golf will stage a 72-hole stroke-play tournament for men and women, with 60 players in each field. Rugby will organize a four-day seven-a-side tournament – instead of the more traditional 15-a-side game – for 12 men’s and women’s teams.
“It probably never was on my radar as a rugby athlete and now coach to ever be involved in the Olympics, so this is a special moment to be sure,” Canadian sevens coach Morgan Williams, a former 15-a-side national team captain and sevens player, said in a statement from Victoria. “I think we will see a lot of new athletes all of a sudden be aware of rugby and make themselves available because of the Olympic aspect.”
The Canadian men, however, will have to work on their ranking to crack the top 12.
Padraig Harrington and Michelle Wie addressed the IOC in person before the vote. Wie talked about starting to play golf when she was four but never being able to dream of an Olympic medal until now.
“I can dream about doing something that neither Tiger nor Ernie (Els) have ever done, and that is to make the final putt to win an Olympic gold medal,” Wie said. “If this dream comes true, somewhere in the world there will be another four-year-old who sees me on that podium and perhaps starts her own Olympic dream.”
Rugby officials touted their sport as a modern game that can attract young fans and new sponsors.
“The sevens format is made for television, made for sponsors, and most importantly loved for fans and players alike,” said bid leader Mike Miller, the secretary-general of the International Rugby Board.
Golf gave a commitment to the IOC that it would not stage any major championships on the Olympic dates. The Rugby Sevens World Cup will be cancelled if the sport is added to the Olympics.
They are the first new sports added since triathlon and taekwondo joined the program for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
The vote was a reversal of the IOC’s decision four years ago to reject golf and rugby for the 2012 Olympics, and brings the number of summer Olympic sports back to 28. There have been two openings on the program since baseball and softball were dropped in 2005 for the 2012 London Games.
Rugby and golf both made their Olympic debuts at the second modern games in Paris in 1900. Golf was played again only at the 1904 St. Louis Games, while 15-a-side rugby featured three more times, making its last appearance in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
Their status for the 2020 Olympics will be reviewed by the IOC in 2017.
Friday’s vote also was a victory for Jacques Rogge, the IOC president who was re-elected to a final four-year term hours earlier. The 67-year-old Belgian, the president since 2001, was the only candidate.
“Time will show your decision (on the new sports) was very wise,” Rogge said.
Golf and rugby were put forward by the executive board in August under Rogge’s guidance, at the expense of five other sports that were cut – baseball, softball, squash, karate and roller sports.
The selection process angered some IOC members, who wanted all seven sports put to a vote by the entire assembly. Senior Canadian member Dick Pound complained before the vote that the members were never told why the two sports were selected over the other five.
“It is not fair to the other five sports,” Pound said. “Because you decided the way you did, it is not a transparent process.”
The new selection system was put in place after the IOC failed to agree on which two sports should be added to the 2012 program, leaving the London Games with 26 sports instead of the usual 28. A similar failure this time would have been a blow to Rogge and the executive board.
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1970 Roma’s Inn softball team that won the Class B fastpitch state championship.
By Lee Thompson
There was a time when fastpitch softball ruled.
And Roma’s Inn was king.
The 1970 Roma’s Inn team brought together a bunch of ballplayers in their prime, loving life and living for the game. And they lived it to its fullest while winning the Class B men’s fastpitch state championship.
“Those were the good old days — you don’t forget those days,†said Bob Stewart, an outfielder during Roma’s title run. “The camaraderie with all the guys… you can’t beat it.â€
That unique squad gets a chance to reunite this month with its induction into the Bay County Sports Hall of Fame. The local team is part of the 19th induction class, which will be honored Oct. 25 at the DoubleTree hotel and conference center.
Roma’s Inn was built to win, and it delivered. The Bay City-based squad captured invitational titles in Lansing and Owosso in the summer of 1970 as a prelude to the Class B state tourney — and that’s exactly how manager Leo Urban planned it all along.
“When I first decided to form this team, I went over to Ray Fick’s house, knocked on the door and handed him a brand new first baseman’s glove,†Urban said. “Then I did the same thing with Bob Townsend. And they played with me ever since.â€
First baseman Fick and shortstop Townsend would form the heart of the squad, joining Stewart to give Roma’s Inn three former professional baseball players. But the entire team was loaded with longtime ballplayers, including infielders Don Goss and Don Warner, outfielders Roger Zacharko, Dick Jozwiak, Bob Hartwig and Don Kruger, catchers Jim Weller and Tom Pritchard and pitchers Urban, Dave Seidenstucker and Jim Roekle.
And the experience showed.
“We were very fundamentally sound because so many of us played baseball,†said Stewart, who went on to play for five state championship teams. “If the ball was in the air, somebody made the play. And once you got the ball, everybody knew what to do. We were very good at the fundamentals, and that’s the way you’ve got to be to win a state championship.â€
Roma’s had to earn the title. After posting a fourth-place finish in the Tri-County League – which featured high-powered teams from Flint, Saginaw, Midland and Oscoda’s Wurtsmith Air Force Base – Roma’s made its way through best-of-three series to claim district and regional crowns.
The Bay City squad downed Carling Black Label of Saginaw in the district and Ned’s Tires of Midland in the regional to qualify for the eight-team Class B state final in Scottville over Labor Day weekend. With three straight wins, Roma’s reached the title game unbeaten in the double-elimination event.
And when Townsend blasted a home run and Urban fired a one-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over Alpena’s Smith Funeral Home — the Class A runner-up from 1969 — Roma’s ruled the day.
“There were probably teams much more favored to win than us,†Stewart said. “But when you get on a roll and win some big ballgames, it’s amazing what you can do.â€
Townsend hit two home runs in the state tournament and Weller added a three-run blast in the third game. Seidenstucker, Rickle and Urban shared the pitching duties throughout the tourney as Roma’s Inn brought home a grand prize for super sponsor Sal Gulino.
The state championship trophy stood as a highlight from the heyday of fastpitch softball. The game once thrived in the area as Urban governed 70 teams as president of the Bay County Softball Organization in the ‘70s.
And it took total commitment from the players, who were off virtually every weekend to compete in tournaments in Ludington, Petoskey or Traverse City.
“If there were nine guys on the field, eight were going through a divorce,†said Urban, now 73. “Softball was blood and guts for all of us back then. It was a helluva game, and it was in my blood.â€
Four members — Townsend, Stewart, Zacharko and Urban — went on to play for the Arrow TV team that captured the Class A state title in 1978 and earned induction in the Hall of Fame in 2004. Some would leave for powerhouse teams like Midland McArdle Pontiac or the Saginaw Bolters, but all would forever share the bond that was built with Roma’s Inn.
“It’s an era I’ll never forget,†said Urban.
The following dates have been confirmed for WCFA’s tournament schedule:
March 27-28, Stockton, Louis Park
April 18-18, Tulare
May 1-2, Sonora, Standard Park
May 15-16, Fresno, Regional Park
June 5-6, Sonora, Standard Park
June 19-20, Stockton, Louis Park
July 10-11, Sonora, Standard Park
July 24-25, Reno
Entry Fee will be $450.00 per event, payable prior to each event. $25 per team will taken out and put into an award package that will be given out at one of the July events. The association is also seeking donations which will enhance the award package. We are asking your team to committ to these tournaments two (2) weeks prior to each event to secure proper number of fields and officials and to be able to get a schedule out to you as soon as possible. More details will follow after the first of the year. If you ideas or suggestions to help the association please contact me.
There will be several rule changes and I will notify you of the changes at a later date.
Please keep me informed as to who is running the team and the proper e-mail address to use to send out the schedules as this is the most cost effective way to communicate.
Bob Chapel
(click logo to enlarge)
Hosted by the Bakersfield Silverhawks
Date: May 22-23, 2010
Where: Bakersfield, CA
Patriots Park Complex
Entry Fee: $400
Format: Round Robin Single Elimination
With a 4 Game Guarantee
Prizes: $500 for Tournament Champion
For more information, please contact:
Chris McGehee: (661) 330-7114 or garageworks@bak.rr.com
Bobby McCormick: (661) 549-3987 or mccormickservices10@yahoo.com
Mike Milligan fires a pitch home for A Perfect Game, which won the Men’s Fastpitch Tournament with a 2-1 victory over All Phase Land Clearing.
The Union photo/John Hart
The two teams that led the league all season long weren’t exactly surprise qualifiers for the Western Nevada County Recreation Services Fastpitch Softball championship game.
And after splitting the two regular season meetings, it wasn’t exactly shocking for softball fans to see “A Perfect Game†and “All Phase Land Clearing†locked up in a tight contest to decide the tournament title Friday night at Memorial Park in Grass Valley.
But when a two-out single to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning settled a pitching duel for the league crown, fans left Les Eva Field knowing they’d watched a classic contest to close out the season.
A Perfect Game pushed the game-winner across the plate on a two-out flare to left field by Jeromy Hoskins for a 2-1 championship game victory.
Yuba Taylor drew a walk from All Phase pitcher Will Maddux to open the bottom half of the inning. Pinch runner Martin Savedra moved to second on a wild pitch, but stood still as Maddux forced a fly out and then struck out another batter to bring the .487-hitting Hoskins to the plate.
Mike Milligan, who led the league with a 12-1 record and a 1.49 ERA, picked up the pitching victory for A Perfect Game after allowing one earned run, three walks and seven hits with eight strikeouts over seven innings. On the season, Milligan struck out 90 batters against 19 walks.
His counterpart in the championship, All Phase’s Will Maddux, led the league with 101 strikeouts on the season and finished second to Milligan in season victories with 10. And in the title game, Maddux matched Milligan throughout, allowing one earned run on three hits and six walks, while striking out 12 in 6 2/3 innings.
All Phase was first to break into the scoring column, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Curtis Campbell drew a walk from Milligan to open the game, while Justin Deme followed with a single to put runners at first and second. Milligan then struck out the next two batters, before Ryan Carlson came up with a two-out, high-chopper over Milligan’s head for an RBI single and a 1-0 score.
Deme, who went 2-for-4 in the game, was the only player to have multiple hits on the night. The former Nevada Union High School and Sacramento State standout led the league in nearly every offensive category over the course of the five-month season. Deme finished regular-season play with a .614 batting average to go along with his league-leading 26 RBIs, 22 runs scored and six home runs.
A Perfect Game knotted things up in the bottom half of the fourth, when Justin Nicholson got things started with a leadoff walk. Larry Hensley followed with an infield single to put runners at first and second with one out. Pinch runner Daryl Allen then scored on a fielder’s choice on Mike Fouyer’s ground ball to first base for a 1-1 score.
The championship game was the third meeting between the two teams this season. A Perfect Game won the season opener over All Phase by virtue of the seven-run mercy rule. But by the end of July, when the teams met again, All Phase emerged with a 1-0 victory.
From the Union Democrat, Tuolumne County, CA
Softball Hall of Fame has returned
Written by Kevin Sauls, The Union Democrat September 30, 2009 05:31 pm
The Tuolumne County Softball Hall of Fame is back.
A hall of fame committee is seeking community input toward making the first inductions in 15 years.
“We’re looking for nominees and we do not want to forget any deserving person who meets the criteria,†said Elaine Wolfgang, a committee member and herself a notable longtime women’s slowpitch player.
The criteria for nominees are three:
1. Must have played in Tuolumne County Recreation Department or ACOR leagues for a substantial amount of time.
2. Must have contributed to the softball programs with an encouraging, positive attitude and good sportsmanship.
3. Must have made a significant contribution to softball in Tuolumne County.
“Our idea,†said committee member, veteran fastpitch player and manager, and former county softball director Jon Abernathy, “is basically to throw it open to the public and let everyone run with it.â€
Nominees can be players, umpires, managers, teams or sponsors.
Nominations can be made within the next two weeks by calling 532-2917.
The hall began in 1988 with the induction of Bud Castle, a men’s fastpitch ace in from the 1940s into the 1980s, and Barbara Persson, a longtime women’s fastpitch and slowpitch star.
Sarah Kiriluk of women’s fastpitch and slowpitch, Bummy Keefe of men’s fastpitch and Stan Cross of men’s slowpitch were added in 1990; Erline Heldstab of women’s slowpitch, Bob Buck of men’s fastpitch, umpire Slim Day and umpire and men’s slowpitch player Louis Castner were inducted in 1991; umpire and men’s slowpitch player Vic Day and men’s fastpitch hurler Bob Pedro were honored in 1993; and the last inductee was the late Wally Berry, a men’s fastpitch ace known as the “Slingin’ Sheriff,†in 1994.
A monument to Berry stands behind the first-base dugout on Field 4 at Standard Park, home of the county softball program since 1983.
“Our thought is to have two (inductees) each year for the 15 years we missed and then continue on with one or two annually,†Wolfgang said. “Our main idea, or first considerations, will be the ‘old-time players,’ those who started playing in the 1970s or before, and then move up from there.â€
Abernathy said the experiences and recollections of the committee members only go back so far.
“We have a pretty good cross-section of people who go back to the 1970s, or maybe the ’60s, but there are a lot of deserving people who came before then that we don’t know about,†Abernathy said.
New inductees will have their names inscribed on a perpetual plaque which will be on display at Standard.
Jim Schultz, who managed a number of powerful men’s slowpitch teams in bygone days and now is on the hall of fame committee, said, “We just need to put some names on the plaque so they can put it out at the ballpark.â€
Bayonne native Rich Hoppe, a member of the fast-pitch softball team the King and His Court, on the diamond at Memorial Park in Linden last week.
Patrick Villanova/The Jersey Journal
Bayonne native Rich Hoppe, a member of the fast-pitch softball team the King and His Court, on the diamond at Memorial Park in Linden last week.
He stands blindfolded, some 40 feet from home plate, gleefully hurling pitch after pitch at weary batters as fans in Linden’s Memorial Park cheer on the peculiar feat.
He is Rich Hoppe — Bayonne native and pitcher for the King and His Court, the iconic four-man barnstorming softball team.
Founded in 1946 by Hoppe’s mentor, “The King” Eddie Feigner, the King and His Court travels the country and globe playing exhibition games, with proceeds often going to charity.
The catch?
Hoppe and his crew only use a pitcher, a catcher, a first baseman and a shortstop, while the opposition uses nine players.
Score isn’t kept, and in fact, you’re likely to see Hoppe or one of his teammates run from first base across the infield to third, bypassing second base altogether, to the laughter and enjoyment of the crowd.
Basketball has the Harlem Globetrotters. Men’s fast-pitch softball has the King and His Court.
“It’s entertainment — it’s comedy,” Hoppe says.
For Hoppe, it all started in 1961 when he was a junior in high school and saw Feigner and his team play in Bayonne. Enthralled by what he saw, Hoppe hooked up with Feigner’s crew for Midwest tours the following two summers.
After making a name for himself in the 1970s as a premier men’s fast-pitch softball pitcher, Hoppe re-joined the King in the 1980s and has been in the signature red, white and blue uniform ever since. It has taken him all over the world, playing in the smallest of American towns, at USO events for American soldiers, and even in prisons against inmates.
But Hoppe’s story is about more than just trick pitches and entertaining a crowd. Hoppe has fought his own wars away from the diamond, on the battlefields of Vietnam and in the darkest trenches of his personal life.
Drafted into the Army and sent to Vietnam in 1966, on his 13th day at war the 19-year-old Hoppe witnessed three fellow soldiers get decapitated by a mine. Later that night, Hoppe saw two children blown up right in front of him during a Viet Cong raid.
“I had lost any courage to do anything. It took me years to talk about it,” Hoppe said. “No matter what they trained you in, you haven’t seen that.”
Hoppe said he relied on a mixture of Vietnamese marijuana and black tar heroin to cope with the emotional and psychological damage that the incident and the war had on him. “I went to the other side,” Hoppe said, referring to his mental state. “You don’t care. It’s beyond dangerous, it’s numb.”
Upon returning home after two years at war, Hoppe opened a bar in Bayonne and began attending night school. He quickly became a successful businessman and got back into softball, but his alcohol and drug addictions intensified.
His life would then come crashing down in 1988, when his brother Robert died of AIDS. Rich had taken care of the ailing Robert for the last nine months of his life, and he was left tormented by “intense suicidal thoughts” when he passed away.
“After my brother died and that 100 days that followed, I literally had lost everything,” Hoppe said. “I was a broken man.” In the aftermath of his brother’s death, Hoppe faced down his addictions and got his life back on track. He’s been with the King and His Court ever since.
To Hoppe, it is not merely a softball team, but a means to rediscover himself and spread a message of hope. “It became my anchor,” Hoppe said. “This is big. It’s always been my Yankee Stadium. You get to touch people and leave them with a message.”
After last Thursday’s game in Linden, Hoppe, who has been clean and sober for two decades, briefly shared his story with the crowd. He hopes to inspire all of those who have battled addiction and felt trapped within their own lives. “I know what I am, a recovering addict,” he said. “I found a way out.”
Editor’s note: Rich was a teammate of mine in 1986 with the Lakewood Chameleons, where we were honored to share a dugout with two ISC Hall of Famers, Kevin Herlighy and Greg Sepulveda.
ASA Men’s 50-Over Fast-Pitch National Championship
Airtronics of Galt, Calif., captured the title in the Men’s Senior 50-and-Over Fast-Pitch National Championship on Sunday at Ken Lindley Field.
Airtronics went 4-0 over three days, averaging more than 10 runs per game. They capped the title on Sunday afternoon with a 14-8 win over Ohio Battery of Ashland, Ohio.
The Prescott Patriots finished fourth. They played Airtronics closer than any team with a 12-9 loss on Saturday afternoon. Prescott lost 2-0 on Sunday morning to Harold’s Supermarkets (Lexington, Mo.).
Michael Rhines Drywall, also of Prescott, finished tied for ninth in the 13-team tournament.
Patriots’ players Wade Max (utility) and Ronnie Rupp (pitcher) made first-team all-American.
Sunday’s Scores
(at Ken Lindley Field)
Losers’ Bracket
Harold’s Supermarkets (Lexington, Mo.) 2, Prescott Patriots 0
Ohio Battery (Ashland, Ohio) 11, Harold’s Supermarkets 10
Winners’ Bracket
Airtronics (Galt, Calif.) 14, Ohio Battery 8 (championship game)