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Written by Bob on March 3rd, 2010

“Fastpitch is still the greatest game in the world.” – Herb Wisdom

TUMACACORI, ARIZ – Herb Wisdom had a choice, straddle the saddle or don the catcher’s gear.

He chose the later and has no regrets. But back in 1957, the 18-year-old Arizona cowboy was on his way to following in his dad’s footsteps as a rodeo cowboy.

Fastpitch softball? Not on Wisdom’s radar. That is until he enlisted in the Navy. And from 1958 to 1962, during his stint, he played with and against some of the greatest pitchers and players the Armed Forces had to offer.

“There were some great, great pitchers,” said the 69-year-old Wisdom. “I remember Buck Brown and Jim Hines as two of the great ones. The competition was tough.”

While stationed in Long Beach, Wisdom happened across Red Meairs, who managed the famed Long Beach Nitehawks, winners of 10 International Softball Congress (ISC) World Tournament championships.

He started playing with the Nitehawks in 1965, embarking on a Nitehawks career that lasted until 1976. During that time he watched, listened, and learned from Meairs, who was inducted into the ISC Hall of Fame in 1988. And he got valuable schooling from Stan White, the team’s catcher.

“Red was a great, great manager,” Wisdom said. “He told me something I never forgot. He said, ‘stay in shape, come ready to play, and be on time. See that guy up in the stands? He wants to be a Nitehawk, so you’d better hustle.’”

Wisdom followed Meairs direction. And as for White, he watched how the ISC Hall of Fame catcher, who was selected as an ISC All-World player 11 times (1951-1963), went about his business.

“I learned a lot from him,” Wisdom said.

After his Navy tour, Wisdom joined the Long Beach Police Department. But after a 20-year career, he retired and moved back home to Tumacacori.

But his fastpitch career was far from over. He started and managed the Si Senior team that for years played in the ISC World Tournament. And the team is still together today.

For his long devotion to the game as a player, sponsor, and manager, the ISC inducted Wisdom into the Hall of Fame in 2000 in the Manager’s Category.

With six decades of fastpitch under his belt, Wisdom has a treasure chest full of memories that he’s willing to share.

How long have you managed and sponsored Si Senor? “Since 1982. And for about 24 years I’ve helped place players on ISC teams. I don’t have the money to send a team to the World Tournament any more, but I try and get some of my players on teams that are going.”

What do your players tell you after they’ve played in a World Tournament? “Once they see those pitchers and players at the World Tournament, they’re talking about wanting to do that again and again.”

Tell us about those great Nitehawks’ players. “There were guys like Nick Hopkins (shortstop) and White, and all those great pitchers. Another great catcher for the Nitehawks was Jim Herrick. Jim will probably not make the Hall of Fame, but other than Tim Wahl (2007 Hall of Fame), I know of no one better.”

You also caught a couple of world-class pitchers in Jimmy Moore and Ty Stofflet. Tell us about them: “I caught Jimmy Moore in the Pan Am tryouts and Stofflet in a couple of tournaments. Moore had pinpoint control. He’s not the hardest thrower, but he put the ball where he wanted at any time and wasn’t afraid to go 0-3 in the count. He never gave into a hitter.

“Stofflet had the velocity to blow the ball right by you. He had a great change up. He could make it rise – it was a tremendous pitch. He mixed his pitches up and had unbelievable competitiveness. He wouldn’t back down from any hitter. No one intimidated him.”
(Stofflet was inducted into the ISC Hall of Fame in 1984, and Moore in 1996.)

Who are some of the sport’s greatest hitters that top your list? “Nick Hopkins, Bill Boyer, Bobby Guy, Tim Wahl, and you have to add Mark Sorenson and Ryan Wolfe.”

What concerns you about the game? “There is NO pitching rule. Today’s pitchers are so strong and talented they don’t need to jump out of the circle. Can we change it? No way. It won’t happen.”

What don’t people know about you? “I’ve caught Eddie Feigner (King and His Court) and Rosie Black (Queen and Her Maids), where I even wore a wig.”

You had a great fastpitch career, but it seems someone followed in your footsteps. Tell us about your son, Cliff. “Cliff’s 40 (age) now and still plays second base for Si Senor. He played in the Pan Am’s and was (ISC) All World (1997, second team,.533 batting average). He and David Frank set the example on our team. The younger players see their work ethic and they know they can move up if they work hard.”

What’s the make up of your team for 2010? “We’ve got a good mix. We’ve got some young guys like Buddy Armijo. He plays every position including pitching. Each year he gets better and better. Chris Monico is 21 and hits for power and Mark Tadeo has great speed. Both play the outfield. I’m going to try and make Mark a slapper with his speed.”

What about your pitching? “We’ve got Daniel Camacho and Peter Zazueta. They’re both (age) 24. They’ve played in the city league as position players, but they’ve been learning to pitch. You’re going to be hearing about these two kids.”

What kind of schedule will you play? “We’re going to play in Las Vegas (April 9-11, NAFA sanctioned tournament run by NAFA Commissioner, Robert Hernandez) and we will be in Poway in June (California Classic, June 19-20). We will play in the NAFA Open / AAA (Middleton, Wisc.) July 23-25. And maybe the ASA Major in August.”

The ISC World Tournament? “For us, the ISC World Tournament (Aug. 13-21 in Midland, Mich.) is too long and expensive. My kids can’t take that long a time off from work. If it could be cut down to five days, I and others would go.”

What else is keeping you fastpitch busy? “I’ll be running a six-team Tucson city league that starts April 8th.”

Herb, you’ve played, managed, and sponsored for so many years. What keeps you going? “I’ve seen young kids start playing and old guys who still don’t want to give it up. I’ve formed lifelong friendships. Fastpitch is still the greatest game in the world.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 6:43 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.