From the Quad City Times:
(click link for original news story at Quad City Times)
By Doug Green
Quad-Cities pitcher Al Rebling delivers a pitch (Maddy Flanagan/ Contributed photo)
When the International Softball Congress World Fastball tournament returns to the Quad-Cities this week, it brings a rich history and tradition.
The Quad-Cities hosted the tournament from 1961 to 1969 and also in 1973. During those summers Rock Island’s Douglas Park was the center of the softball world.
Legendary Quad-City Times sports editor John O’Donnell wrote: “From Pennsylvania to California they came to visit this community and to compete for the top prize in the softball world.”
While what they are competing for is still the same, where they come from clearly is not. When the 24 teams head to Moline’s Greenvalley Complex on Friday, they will come not only from all over the country but all over the world. This year’s tournament will feature teams from the Dominican Republic and Canada and players from Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.
Then and now
In 1963, fans could listen to Ed Zack’s play-by-play of the semifinals and finals on WOC radio. For the last three years, the ISC has been streaming the tournament live online, with a team of a dozen play-by-play announcers and color analysts to describe the action. This year there will be a video stream of 15-20 games of the world tournament and an audio stream of 20-25 games for the ISC II tournament.
But at its core, it is the same game O’Donnell wrote about more than 40 years ago.
The game still centers around pitching and the ability to hit a sphere traveling 80 to 90 mph from only 40 feet away.
During the ’60s, the pitchers had the advantage. That gap has narrowed today.
The hitters have caught up to the pitchers because they see so many quality teams, thanks to round-robin play every weekend, Pat Sullivan said.
Sullivan has spent the past 45 years as part of the ISC. He was named an All-American catcher in 1969 and currently is the regional commissioner out of Dubuque.
Expectations
The players from yesteryear wonder how the tournament will be received now.
“You need local participation,” said Gary Dobereiner, who played for the locally-based Harrelson Motors team that won the world title in 1967. “Actually, softball in this area has gone down from the ’60s. Back in the ’60s we had six to eight teams in a metro league that were competitive.”
Games during that period consistently drew 3,000-4,000 people. A 10-day tournament easily eclipsed 30,000. The record for single day attendance at the world tournament in the Quad-Cities was 6,020, set in 1963.
But that was then and this is now. No one can predict what kind of reception the ISC will receive. That unknown is the main reason the Quad-Cities turned down its option to host the tournament again in 2011.
“For them to pick it up, they would had to make a decision before they knew how well 2009 was going to go,” ISC executive director Ken Hackmeister said.
Whether the Quad-Cities would choose to bid on a future tournament depends on how 2009 fares, Hackmeister said.
This year
When the world tournament kicks off on Friday, only two local team will be in the bracket – the Davenport-based Quad-City Sox and the Thomson (Ill.) Merchants.
The ISC II tournament will begin a week from Tuesday at Rock Island’s Campbell Complex. ISC II softball can be described as the triple-A to the world tournament’s major leagues. Three local teams – Walcott’s Lampliter Inn, Davenport’s Pizza Shack and Bettendorf’s Q-C Titans – will be among the 40 teams competing.
Way back when Champions of the ISC World tournament when it is was held at Rock Island’s Douglas Park:
1961 – Dautrich Realty, El Paso, Texas
1962 – Dautrich Realty, El Paso, Texas
1963 – Gardena Merchants, Gardena, Calif.
1964 – Paramount Chevrolet Impalas, Downey, Calif.
1965 – Ponoma Bombers, Ponoma, Calif.
1966 – Gardena Merchants, Gardena, Calif.
1967 – Harrelson Motors, Moline, Ill.
1968 – Long Beach Nitehawks, Long Beach, Calif.
1969 – Sal’s Lunch, Philadelphia, Pa.
1973 – Lakewood Jets, Lakewood, Calif.
TICKETS
Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for anyone 60 and over. Anyone under 16 is free.
A nine-day tournament pass is available for $35, $25 for 60-plus.
Those who played in the tournament during its last time in the Quad-Cities can get a 9-day pass for $19.60