Softball
January 5, 2003
I want to write about softball people because I believe it is an understated game. Men and women of any station in life can play the game; however my oldest son, Jay, calls it a blue-collar sport. It certainly isn’t in the elite category of golf or tennis, although I have known some truly fine individuals to play softball.
I’ve made my pre-list of several people that I want to interview and I hope to get in touch with at least 30 of them, which seems now to be enough length for my books.
At age 70, I’ve nearly waited too long for some I consider to be truly great in my softball experiences. An early softball hero to me in Portsmouth, Ohio was Bill Berry. In getting in touch again after 35 years away from town, I find that the 82 year-old Bill has Alzheimer’s, but I did get an abbreviated interview with the help of his son, Jeff. Fortunately long time memory is maintained better in cases of dimentia and Bill could remember some names and teams from his experience.
Portsmouth had many fine athletes and Harry Weinbrecht was a good one who spent most of his coaching and teaching career there after growing up in Chillicothe, Ohio, halfway between Portsmouth and Columbus. When I contacted Harry, he said he would be happy to help, but he recommended that I get with Harry Swope, who started the baseball/softball Tri-State Hall of Fame, with Gary Nyland. I did and Harry has already been a tremendous help to me.
I’ve been fortunate to play with some fine people in Portsmouth, Westerville and Columbus, Ohio and watch my sons, Jay and Jeff, play in many games as well.
Years ago, I had read Lowell Thomas, the great adventurer-writer’s, 1940 book on softball. Each spring I’ve thought of these words in the book:
“…Groups of large, small, paunchy, bald-headed, misshapen gents with rare roast beef complexions and in the prime of life began collecting on the meadows of the world to make huge fools of themselves, but to have a whale of a good time.” Yes, I am bald-headed and paunchy and I’ve made a fool of myself more than once, but I have had a whale of a good time. This book is so much less about me than the softball characters I have met or been told of over the 60 years I have watched and 54 years I have played the game.
Columbus has had some of the finest Open, B and C teams in the nation over the eighties and nineties. I contacted Orfeo Angelo who gave the names of some great contributors to the game here. The Lou Berliner diamonds have 30 fields and many have been upgraded in recent years, to make it the largest and one of the finest softball complexes in the world. Orfeo claims that Lou was a 5’7” Jewish fellow who covered amateur athletics in Columbus for one of the three local newspapers in the 50’s and 60’s. Orfeo says that he will help, but he also recommends Jim Wharton, John Fleeman, the black gentleman named Gene (with the unlit stogie always in his mouth), and Shorty Lewis as well as many others.
There was a Bates Chemical “C” team in Westerville, whom my son, Jay, played for, which was managed by Michael Wasylik, the best slow-pitch pitcher I’ve ever seen. That is, admittedly, a subjective call. I want to interview “Was”. He fielded the position extremely well and always made smart and quick managerial decisions.
I brought the King and his Court up on Google. Jim Henry, Joplin Globe Assistant Sports Editor, reported in July of 2002 that Eddie Feigner, the King, was 77 years old and had barnstormed across the country for 57 years out of Richland, Washington. Feigner quit keeping track of his records three years earlier, but it is mind boggling:
· Won 8,270 games of more than 10,000 games he pitched against all comers.
· 930 no hitters
· 238 perfect games
· 1,916 shutouts
· 132,070 strikeouts, including 14,400 blindfolded
In an exhibition game in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium, Feigner struck out, in order, major leaguers Willy Mays, Willy McGovney, Brooks Robinson, Maury Wills, Harmon Killebrew and Roberto Clemente. In the Houston Astrodome, Feigner fanned Hank Aaron, Mays, Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams.
At 77, Feigner’s fast ball had slowed to 84 mph from 114 mph in his prime. “I still throw as hard as I ever did,” Feigner says. “It just doesn’t get there as fast.”
“How much do you think Joe DiMaggio made during his best year? Or Ted Williams?” Feigner asked Doug Clark of the Spokesman-Review in 1999. “I’ll tell you. They made $125,000 a year. Well, I used to make that every month.”
It is also my intent to interview key sponsors of some of the finest teams in Columbus. I’d also like to talk with people in the various halls of fame throughout the state. We’ll see how it goes. The stories will have occasional comments by me, but will mostly be the stories of the people whom I interview.
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