Category: 1976

ASA All-Star Series, Called the ASA Softball World Series: (1970-1977)

(New Format) – Defending ASA Open division champions played defending ASA Industrial division champions

1970 at Milwaukee, WI

Copper Hearth, Milwaukee, WI (1969 ASA Open Champ) – Lycoming. Stratford, CT (1969 ASA Industrial Champ)

Copper Hearth won the series (2-1): MVP – Officially Not named – (Doc Neubauer, Copper Hearth, mentioned by newspaper accounts)
In the first All-Star Series under the new format, it was a shame that a tragic event ended the series early. Copper Hearth was up 2 games to 1 in the series and leading the fourth game 3-0 when Lycoming outfielder Jim Dobbs was almost electrocuted when he ran into the outfield fence which had exposed electrical wires leading to the scoreboard. He was revived by local police and taken to the hospital. The Lycoming team walked off the field refusing to play. The ASA officials cancelled the rest of the series. This could have been much worse, but the player that was hurt, Jim Dobbs, recovered and continued his career.

Scores: (and some game notes)

Copper Hearth 20 Lycoming 5; – Carl “Doc” Neubauer (4-4), Tony Galecke (4-5), Duke Maas (2 2B’s, 2 RBIs), Tom Sorcic (2 RBIs), Mark Neubauer (3-run HR) all led the 24 hit attack.
Copper Hearth 8 Lycoming 6; – Doc Neubauer hit a clutch Sac Fly to drive  in the eventual winning run in top of 7th as Copper Hearth scored 5 runs to take the lead.
Lycoming 15 Copper Hearth 4; – Frank Deluca’s pitching held the powerful Copper Hearth team to only 6 runs, Ed Finnegan and his Avco-Lycoming teammates collected 23 hits in the game.
Copper Hearth leading Lycoming 3-0 in 4th inning was game was called due to the injury to Dobbs.

1971 at Southgate, MI

Little Caesars, Southgate, MI (1970 ASA Open Champ) – Pharr Yarn, McAdenville, NC (1970 ASA Industrial Champ)

Little Caesars won the series (4-0): MVP – Officially Not named – (Tex Collins, Little Caesars, mentioned by newspaper accounts)
Little Caesars showed how powerful they really are. This is the first team in ASA history to have 4 former ASA National MVPs on the same team playing together. Joe Gauci (1958), Bill Cole (1962), Mike Axelson (1966) and Mike Gouin (1970).  Plus a couple of the best power hitters in the country in Tex Collins and Jim Pucket. Pharr Yarn led the first game 11-3 before Little Caesars came storming back to win 18-11. The Yarnmen weren’t the same after that. The four game sweep upped Little Caesars record to 69-5 for the season. Gary LaDue finished up 12-14 (.857) with 2 HRs. Mike Gouin was 10-15 (.667) with 4 HRs. Tex Collins was 8-16 (.500) with 5 HRs and 13 RBIs in the 4 games. He finished up 6-8 with 3 HRs and 9 RBIs in the last 2 games. Bob Auten hit 2 HRs and was 4-0 pitching and Jim Puckett chipped in with 2 HRs and was 6-11 in the games he played (.545). Ken Mitchem led Pharr Yarn with 3 HRs. Mike Hover was 7-13 (.538) for Pharr Yarn. Pharr Yarn was outscored 51-28.

Scores: (and some game notes)

Little Caesars 18 – Pharr Yarn 11; – Caesars, trailing 11-3, struck for 15 runs in the top of the 6th inning to come back and win. Pharr Yarn jumped out to its big lead behind Bob McMahon’s 4-4 performance and HRs by Joe Brown and Ken Mitchem. Gary Ladue was 4-4 with a HR. Tex Collins hit 2 HRs and Jim Puckett also hit a bomb.
Little Caesars 11 – Pharr Yarn 1; – Pitcher Bob Auten shut down the Pharr Yarn bats as Gary LaDue had another 4-4 night.
Little Caesars 10 – Pharr Yarn 5; – Tex Collins (3-4) slammed three home runs and drove in 7 runs to lead the Little Caesars attack
Little Caesars 12 – Pharr Yarn 11; – Bob Auten hit two homers and Tex Collins finished up his night with another 3-4 game with 2 RBIs. JD McDonald was 4-4 for Pharr Yarn.

1972 at McAdenville, NC

Indian Lakes Piledrivers, Virginia Beach, VA (1971 ASA Open Champ) – Pharr Yarn, McAdenville, NC (1971 ASA Industrial Champ)

Pile Drivers won the series (3-1): MVP – Officially Not named – (Bert Smith and HT Waller, Piledrivers,  mentioned by newspaper accounts)
Pharr Yarn won the first game behind the powerful bat of Ken Mitchem, who had 2 HRs in the.  After that, the Pile Drivers started to wake up.  Games 2 and 3 went down to the wire. Bert Smith’s HR in the 8th inning was the difference in the 15-13 victory for the Virginia Beach squad. In the next game, the Pile Drivers scored 3 in 7th inning courtesy of an HT Waller Home Run to win 11-8. The final games was just a HR derby for the Pile Drivers. They hit 10 total in the game, with Waller getting 4 and Smith 3.  These two guys combined for 13 HRs in the 4 games. Smith had 7 and Waller 6. Johnny Dollar chipped in with 3 more Leading the way for Pharr Yarn were Ken Mitchem and Smiley Tribble with 3 apiece. The run margin was 64-47 in favor of the Open Champs.

Scores: (and some game notes)

Pharr Yarn 20 – Pile Drivers 15; – Ken Mitchem was 3-4 with 2 HRs to lead Pharr Yarn. Nick Sessoms and Johnny Dollar hit HRs for the Piledrvers
Pile Drivers 15 – Pharr Yarn 13; – Bert Smith was 5-5 with 4 HRs, the last in the 8th inning win te game. JD McDonald was 4-4 for Pharr Yarn.
Pile Drivers 11 – Pharr Yarn 8; – HT Waller hit 2 HRs to spark the Pile Drivers to the victory in the third game. Smiley Tribble hit 2 for Pharr Yarn
Pile Drivers 23 – Pharr Yarn 6; – The Pile Drivers exploded for 10 HRs in the game to clinch the series. Bert Smith had 3 and HT Waller had 4.

1973 at Louisville, KY

Jiffy Club, Louisville, KY (1972 ASA Open Champ) – Pharr Yarn, McAdenville, NC (1972 ASA Industrial Champ)

Jiffy Club won the series (3-0, 4th game was rained out): –  MVP – Officially Not named – (Bill Gatti and Phil Schroer, Jiffy Club, mentioned by newspaper accounts
If anyone had any doubt who the best team in the country is, Jiffy Club removed any doubt. They came into this Softball World series ranked number three in the country behind Howard’s Furniture of North Carolina and Empire County Sports from Long Island. Pharr Yarn is the three time defending ASA National Industrial Champion. After Gatti’s heroics to win the first game, it was basically clear sailing for the Louisville squad, especially in front of the hometown crowd. Jiffy outscored the Industrial Champs 65-26 in the three games. The scheduled 4th game was rained out.  Bill Gatti led Jiffy in batting (8-10, .800, 5 HRs, 9 RBIs), followed by Phil Schroer (10-13, .769, 4 HRs, 13 RBIs, plus pitched all three games), Jack Brown (10-13, .769, .2 HRs, 6 RBIs), Ron Potter (8-12, .750, 3 HRs, 8 RBIs). Cobbie Harrison (7-14, .500, 5 RBIs). Jiffy Club had 75 hits in the 3 games and 14 HRs. Pharr Yarn had 36 hits. Buck Buchanon, Pharr Yarn (6-7, .857, 7 RBIs) led Pharr Yarn. He was helped by Gene West (6-9, .667, 3 RBIs) , Smiley Tribble (5-9, .556, 2 RBIs) and JD McDonald (5-9, .556).

Scores: (and some game notes)

Jiffy Club 18 – Pharr Yarn 17; – Bill Gatti hit a 2-run walk off homer to win the game in the bottom of the 7th inning.
Jiffy Club 30 – Pharr Yarn 4; – Jiffy exploded for 30 runs behind Phil Schorer and Ron Cutter, who combined for 5 HRs.
Jiffy Club 17 – Pharr Yarn 5; – Bill Gatti once again paced the attack as he hit 3 HRs to lead Jiffy Club to the win.

Fourth Game was rained out.

1974 at Springfield, OH

Howard’s Furniture, Denver, NC (1973 ASA Open Champ)        ——-    Pabst International Harvester, Springfield, OH (1973 ASA Industrial Champ)

Howard’s won the series (4-1): –  MVP – HT Waller, Howard’s Furniure (15-24, .625, 6 HRs) – by ASA Balls and Strikes
Howards came into this year’s World Series with an 89-7 record. They have entered 10 tournaments and won them all. They have 767 HRs on the year so far. They have 5 player with over 100 HRs. Pabst comes in with a 24-15 record and their leading HR hitter has 15.  The Run margin was 70-39 in favor of Howard’s. HT Waller was named the Series MVP.  Waller was big on all five games. He had a supporting cast of superstars as well: Don Arndt (11-21, .523, 5 HRs), Stan Harvey (14-22, .636, 3 HRs), Gene Fisher (4 HRs). Roger Brown (2 HRs) and Denny Hogan (1 HR). Dave Carroll did all of the pitching for Howards and also hit a HR. Howards had 100 hits in the 5 total games. 22 of the hits went for homers. For Pabst, Larry Garrard (11-19, .578, 2 HRs) was the top man along with Ron Boling (10-18, .556) and Dave Evilsizer (3 HRs).

Scores: (and some game notes)

Howard’s 15 – Pabst 4; – Howards scored 6 runs in both the 2nd and 6th inning. HT Waller, Don Arndt and Butch Adams each hit 2 HRs
Pabst 16 – Howard’s 7; – Pabst took advantage of 7 errors by Howard’s Outfielders. Dave Evilsizor hto 3 HRs for Pabst.
Howard’s 11 – Pabst 8; – Pabts threw three balls away and all three runners scored for the 11-8 win. Denny Hogan hit a HR for Howards.
Howard’s 16 – Pabst 9; – HT Waller led the Howard’s offense in a game that was closer then the score|Howard’s 21 – Pabst 2; – Waller again was the Offensive star as Howard’s hit 22 total HRs in the 5 games.

1975 at Charlotte, NC (first 2 games) and then Denver, NC (final 3 games)

Howard’s Furniture, Denver, NC (1974 ASA Open Champ) – Aetna Life & Casualty Insurance, Charlotte, NC (1974 ASA Industrial Champ)

Howard’s won the series (4-1): –  MVP – Bert Smith, Howard’s Furniture (13-15, .867, 9 HRs … stats for final 3 games only) – by ASA Balls and Strikes
(Don Arndt, Howard’s, mentioned by newspaper accounts) This year’s World Series is an all North Carolina affair. There was no information available on individual game results, just a recap.  The scores of the first 2 games played in Charlotte are unavaialbe. The two teams split a double header there. Then then they got to Howard’s home field in Denver, NC, it was a three game Howard’s sweep.   Howard’s outscored Aetna in the three games 104-40. The following stats are just for the 3 games in Denver, NC.  Howard’s split a double header the first night, then won three straight the second night outscoring Aetna 104-40. They hit 46 HRs in the 3 games, including 22 in a crazy 51-12 win. Bert Smith was selected as the series MVP.

Scores: (and some game notes)

Howard’s defeated Aetna – no information available on individual games
Aetna defeated Howard’s L; – no information available on individual games
Howard’s 23 Aetna 6 no information available on individual games
Howard’s 51 Aetna 12 no information available on individual games
Howard’s 30 Aetna 22 no information available on individual games

1976 at Cleveland, OH

Pyramid Cafe, Lakewood, OH (1975 ASA Open Champ) – Nassau County Police, Mineola, NY (1975 ASA Industrial Champ)

Pyramid won the series (5-0): – MVP – Officially Not named – (Jim Seibert and Steve Loya, Pyramid Cafe, mentioned by newspaper accounts)
This was a lop-sided affair as the series was played on a big 300 foot fence field. But that didn’t stop the Pyramid bats as they peppered last years Industrial MVP pitcher Harry Gross for 84 Hits, 68 runs and 9 HRs. Pyramid’s Jim Siebert led the batting parade with a 10-14 performance (.714). Steve Loya led the power charge as he belted 3 HRs out of the big field. Bobby Reid hit 2 HRs. Frank Krawczyk, Jim Szoke, Dave Jakubs and Denny Thomas also hit HRs for Pyramid. Pyramid outscored the Policemen 68-23 in the five games.

Scores: (and some game notes)

Pyramid Cafe 12 – Nassau County Police 4; – no information available on individual games
Pyramid Cafe 14 – Nassau County Police 5; – no information available on individual games
Pyramid Cafe 19 – Nassau County Police 7; – no information available on individual games
Pyramid Cafe 9 – Nassau County Police 2; – no information available on individual games
Pyramid Cafe 14 – Nassau County Police 3; – no information available on individual games

1977 at Jacksonville, FL

Warren Motors, Jacksonville, FL (1976 ASA Open Champ)        ——-    Armco Triangles, Middletown, OH (1976 ASA Industrial Champ)

Warren Motors won the series (5-0): –  MVP – Mickey McCarty, Warren Motors (24-28, .857, 17 HRs, 30 RBIs) – by ASA Balls and Strikes
This was the series that ended this ASA World series. The Open teams were getting to strong getting players from all over to play, while the Industrial teams were being restricted more. Warren Motors, who in 1976, went 94-2 and won the National Open Championship. The actually lost three of their best players from a year ago as Bruce Meade went to Oklahoma City to play for Nelson’s Painting, while the tandem of Ron Ford and Mike Nye joined the Pro League to play for the Detroit Caesars. Don’t tell that to Armco Triangles as this year’s Warren Motors looks every bit as powerful. The margin of victory for Warren’s in this series was the highest ever in the history of the ASA World Series. Warren’s also set the record for most runs scored in the series. The tally was 175-71. Once again, there is limited information on the individual games in favor of just a recap of the series. Mickey McCarty was a run away choice for MVP as he had a series for the ages. There were other players that also had some great stats, including: From Warren’s; Ray Fleetwood  (19-24, .792, 11 HRs); Bob Disney, Warren’s 14-17, (.824, 9 HRs). Lonnie Turner, Warren (5-0 pitching, 11-14,  .786 batting), Micky Morrison (9 HRs), Phil King, Reggie Soehlig, Ed Roth, Mike Jacobs, Richard Mummaw and Darrel Leake accounted for the the other 32 HRs that Warren Motors hit. They had 173 hits and 77 were Home runs. Joe Wills of Armco was the top hitter for them (12-19, .632, 6 HRs) along with James Gomia (10-17, .588, 3 HRs)

Scores: (and some game notes)
Pyramid Cafe 12 Nassau County Police 4; – no information available on individual games
Pyramid Cafe 14 Nassau County Police 5; – no information available on individual games
Pyramid Cafe 19 Nassau County Police 7; – no information available on individual games
Pyramid Cafe 9 Nassau County Police 2; – no information available on individual games
Pyramid Cafe 14 Nassau County Police 3; – no information available on individual games

1978 – ASA disbanded the ASA World Series. The Open Teams won all 8 Series and of the 30 total games played, the Open squads won 25 of them.