Ken Sanders, a highly successful automobile dealer, began sponsoring and managing a top national team in the mid-1970’s featuring such stars as Craig Elliott, Charles Wright, Roger Mayo, David Beaird, Paul Wright, James Abercrombie, Sidney Cooper and Greg Smith, among others. In 1977, the team lost a heart-breaking ASA Championship Game Finals when they left the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th inning in a one-run game. Ken continued to field one of the top teams in the country in the NSPC and ASA.  Ken continued to add great players including Curtis Williams, Ronnie Ford and Mike Nye when Detroit Caesars folded and in 1981, merged with York Barbells where he acquired Bill Pollock.

In 1982, Ken won the NSPC Championship which gave him his first national title. He retired from softball after that season and turned his attention to boxing where he was the first manager of one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all-time, Evander Holyfield. Ken’s legacy in softball is won of being committed to the sport for many years, fielding great teams, being a fiery competitor and along with Jim Snyder, Bob Nelson and Dave Neale, one of the few people who was successfully able to manage and sponsor a top team.

R.T. Nelson built a highly successful company, Nelson’s Painting Services, in Oklahoma City, where the company fulfilled government painting contracts. His son, Mike, encouraged him to get involved in men’s slow pitch softball and in 1974, he sponsored a successful team that won over 80 games. The next year, he began recruiting players from around the country who often worked for his company, including Mike Nye from Northern Florida. Nelson’s had another successful season at 98-13, this time expanding their schedule to various national tournaments but they failed to make it to the ASA Nationals.

Mr. Nelson resumed his quest for a championship in 1977 when he brought Bruce Meade, Herman Rathman, Al White, Joe Young, Henry Koper and Bill Howes to join his son, Terry Perryman, Dean Brunken, Homer Salazar and other Oklahoma based stars. Mike Nye was also a member of that team early on but he left in the middle of May to join Detroit Caesars of the Pro League who he eventually helped lead to 2 championships.

The 1977 team finished at 111-18 and won the ASA Championship, coming out of the losers’ bracket to defeat Ken Sanders twice in 2 one-run games that came down to the final at-bat. Meade, Rathman, White and Koper made the All-World Team with Meade named as co-MVP with Craig Elliott. Young also played a huge role in that title.

The 1978 team, still featuring Meade, Rathman and Perryman, got to the ASA Nationals where they lost to Howard’s. In 1979, Nelson’s once again conducted a national recruiting effort, landing Richard Willborn, Bill Ferguson, Buddy Slater and Mickey McCarty from CC Brick in San Antonio to go along with Myles Schexnadre, Danny Basso, Chic Downing and the return of Joe Young. This nucleus enabled Nelson’s to capture the NSPC and USSSA Championships. Because of ASA residency rules, many of the Nelson’s players were unable to play in the ASA Nationals . However, Nelson’s fielded a team, Nelco, led by Meade, Young, Perryman, Earl Chambers, Dean Brunken and Ed Berg went undefeated, beating favorite Campbell’s Carpets in the championship game.

Nelson’s became the first of three consecutive Triple Crown winners. Unfortunately, after accomplishing this great achievement, Bob Nelson disbanded his team and retired from softball.

Jerry Pendergast, whose Miami-based catering company serviced airlines and other top clients, began sponsoring a men’s slo-pitch team in the mid-1970’s. Ernie Yaroshuk was the player-manager and the team was made up primarily of Florida-based players although Al White was recruited from Tennessee. In 1974, Yaroshuk, White and Jerry’s lifer James Washington led the team to a 2nd place finish in the ASA Championship in York, Pa., falling to Howard’s in the Finals.

From then on, with the exception of 1978 when Jerry’s did not field a team, they were a perennial power, finishing near the top of every major regular season and championship tournament. In 1980, Jerry’s was featured in Sports Illustrated and was favored to win it all but came up short in the national championship tournaments. The following year, Greg Fuhrman, who had played with Jerry’s in 1976 and 1977, returned to the team but again, they came up short. In 1982, Yaroshuk returned as manager, the team added Bruce Meade, Mike Parrott and Denny Jones and Jerry’s won their first national titles, the ASA Super and the USSSA Major. They repeated as USSSA Champions in 1983 and played one more season in 1984 before disbanding. Among the many stars who played for Jerry’s in addition to Meade, Parrott, Jones and Washington were Joe Young, Craig Elliott, James Boyett, Curtis Williams, Mike Nye, and Bert Smith.

Jerry was instrumental in the restoration of the Men’s Basketball Program at his alma mater, University of Miami, in the mid-1980’s and he is still honored by the school each year for his commitment.

Steeles Automotive of Lima, Ohio began sponsoring a team in 1971. Gary Coates was the sponsor and Dennis Helmig was one of the first players, all of whom were based in Northern and Central Ohio. John Geckle, Larry Garrard and John Brenner were among the early stars of the team that was very competitive in regular season and national tournaments. Steele’s joined the National Slo-Pitch Conference in 1979 and made a name for themselves by finishing in top tier of many tournaments. Around the same time, the Company got into the softball equipment business with bats, balls and gloves and marketed these items as the team traveled around the country.

Dave Neale’s teams in Cleveland began using the bats and he became an investor in the softball company, promoting their equipment with his Nationwide Advertising Team. Meanwhile, Steele’s team added Jerry King, Herman Rathman, Chic Downing, Denny Jones and other top players in 1981 and finished 2nd to Howard’s in the ASA Super Championship that year.

The next year, Steele’s added Joe Young and joined Dave’s Cleveland Competitors team in the Professional Softball League. When the League folded at the end of the 1982 season, Dave took over ownership of the company and sponsorship of the team. The first year, 1983, he combined his pro team stars Mike Macenko, Steve Blanchette, Dana Andry, Doc Booker and Jim Bizzell, with Dennis Graser, Phil Higgins, Rick Trudeau, Cliff Carpenter and others to form a top team, finishing 2nd to Jerry’s in the USSSA Major World Series.

As the years went on, many championships were won and Steele’s became the best-known team in softball both on the field and in the balls and bats it sold. For the players, the softball season went from February to November with tournaments and exhibitions in cities and towns throughout the United States, ranging from recreation fields to big-league ballparks where Mike Macenko, Bruce Meade, Charles Wright, Craig Elliott, Greg Furhman and others wowed crowds of thousands with prodigious home runs which sold countless bats and balls. From 1984-1991, Steele’s was featured in Sports Illustrated, Sporting News, ESPN, countless local television sports shows and other publications. They were truly a business school model for how to sell a product through marketing a top team with relentless exposure.

Dave Carroll began his softball career in Chattanooga, Tennessee and soon developed into one of the top pitchers in the game. He was recruited to play for Howard’s Furniture in 1973 and was a major part of Howard’s first two national championships in 1973 and 1974, the latter of which he was First Team All-World. David was also a top salesman and had a flair for marketing and he and Richard Howard soon developed a company that distributed softball bats, balls and gloves throughout the country under the name Howard and Carroll Sports.

David played for Howard’s until 1977 when he formed his own team under that company name. He had a great eye for developing young talent and he built his team with players such as Denny Jones, Joey Raby, Tom Beall, Mickey Morrison, Gene Jones and Ron Woody. The team had early success in multiple national tournaments and in 1978, under the name Dave Carroll Sports, finished 2nd to Howard’s in the USSSA World Series. They repeated that finish in 1980 to Campbell’s, after picking up Bruce Meade, Mike Parrott and several players from Poindexter Lumber. A charter member of the National Slo-Pitch Conference, Dave founded his own conference in 1981.

Along with having a top national team, Dave was adept at promoting his softball equipment throughout the country by utilizing his team and players to build his brand. He sold equipment at tournaments, put on exhibitions in many local areas and relied heavily on very effective print advertising. In many ways, Dave Carroll was the forerunner of the success that Steele’s enjoyed for many years, combining a top national softball team with marketing products.

Dave also worked with singer Michael Bolton who was a softball fanatic and toured with a team around the country. Dave helped him acquire players such as Mike Bolen and Phil Higgins who played with Bolton for several summers

Men’s softball really began to become popular in the 1950’s as an alternative to fast pitch which had turned into a game where a great pitcher dominated and the other players were not active participants. Initially, the best men’s teams were from the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky area which dominated the first 10 years of the ASA Championship with multiple teams, Pittsburgh and Detroit. Milwaukee, Long Island and Cleveland also had top teams in the first two decades.

One of the best was East Side Sports out of Detroit which eventually became Michael’s Lounge and then Little Caesars.

East Side won the ASA Championship in 1958. Several of the players on that team had won fast pitch titles as well, including Roy Lombardo, who went on to manage the 1966 and 1970 ASA Men’s slo-pitch champions. East Side went on to finish 2nd in 1962, 3rd in 1963 and 4th in 1964, continually adding Hall of Fame and All-World  players such as Mike Gouin, Bill Cole, Tex Collins, Mike Axelson, Jim Puckett, Bob Malicki, Bob Auten, Tony Mazza and Gary Ladue. During those years, East Side was battling for titles with teams like Skip Hogan from Pittsburgh, Hamilton Tailoring, Yorkshire Restaurant and others.

In 1966, the team was sponsored by Michael’s Lounge and won the ASA Championship, defeating County Sports. Mike Axelson was MVP. Michael’s was runner-up in 1967 to Jim’s Sports Shop which had taken over sponsorship of the Pittsburgh team from Skip Hogan.

Little Caesars took over sponsorship of the team in 1969 when they finished 3rd and in 1970, they won the ASA Championship again, giving Mike Ilitch his first title. Mike Gouin was MVP. The next year, the team finished 2nd to Piledrivers then finished third to Howard’s and Country Sports in 1973. From 1967 to 1973, the team won the Stroh’s Invitational in Springfield, Ohio without a loss.

In 1976, Little Caesars joined the USSSA, won the Eastern Regional in Smithtown, New York and finished 4th in the USSSA World Series. The following, Ilitch joined the American Professional Slo-Pitch League.

Mike Ilitch decided to purchase a franchise in the newly formed American Professional Slo-Pitch League. When he did so, he immediately signed two of the top amateur players in Detroit, Doug Gerdes from Snyders and Al Gibson from Bert’s. He also signed Gary Vitto, who had managed Dino’s to the 1974 USSSA World Series Championship, as manager of the team. In order to gain media attention, he also signed two members of the 1968 World Champion Detroit Tigers, Norm Cash and Jim Northrup. Of course, Little Caesars All-World stars Mike Gouin, Tex Collins and Tony Mazza joined the team but many of the other members of that nucleus had been saddled with age and injuries.

The franchise then added Bert Smith, Ronnie Ford and Mike Nye. This combination of players and management allowed the Caesars to jump out to a fast start and draw crowds of 5000 fans each doubleheader night at East Detroit Memorial Field. While Benny Holt won the Triple Crown that year for Chicago, Nye and Ford were among the most exciting players in the League which included Bill Gatti, Phil Higgins, Steve Loya, Jim Galloway and other all-time great players. Detroit had a struggle with the Cleveland team in the playoffs but eventually won 2 of the 3 games and defeated Baltimore 4-0 to win the World Series.

In 1978, Caesars added Rick Trudeau and Chuck Drewicz from Snyders and repeated as champions, defeating Minnesota 4-0 in the World Series while continuing to draw large crowds both at home and on the road.

In 1979, several key players, including Ford, Nye and Smith, sustained injuries that kept them out of the line-up for extended time during the season. They never fully gained momentum and after beating Cincinnati in 5 games in the first round of the playoffs, lost to eventual champion Milwaukee who defeated them in the regular season.

Despite a national contract with ESPN, there was a split in the League and after much deliberation, Mike Ilitch decided to disband the team. Three years later, he bought the Detroit Red Wings and eventually won 4 Stanley Cups. He bought the Tigers in 1992 and they went to 2 World Series during his ownership.

Like Milwaukee, Louisville had a strong softball tradition. Jiffy Club, led by Bill Gatti and Cobbie Harrison, won the ASA Championship in Jacksonville in 1972 and there were several other strong teams in that area. Louisville, owned by ASA Hall of Famer Don Rardin, Sr., joined the American Professional Slo-Pitch League in 1977. Led again by Gatti and Harrison as well as Phil Schroer, Scott Mauger, Terry Davis, Chuck Winders, Don Rardin, Jr. and mid-year acquisition Fred Miller, the Bourbons were one of the top teams in the League on the field and in attendance at their home field, Bishop David. They were regularly featured on the front page of the Louisville Courier Journal and on the local television stations.

They narrowly lost out to Detroit Caesars for the best regular season record but were upset in the playoffs by Baltimore. In 1978, Larry Gatti of McDonald’s of Louisville purchased the team. Although they failed to make the playoffs that year, they made it to the World Series in 1979 where they lost to Milwaukee.  In 1981, they captured the Pro Championship, defeating New England. Bill Gatti led the way as he did each year. In 1982, Pro Softball’s last season, the Bourbons lost a heartbreaking one run game in the last inning to eventual champion Milwaukee.

Bill Gatti continued his Hall of Fame career with Elite and Smythe Sox and Don Rardin, Jr. continued his great play with Southside Automotive and Bell Construction.

Milwaukee was a hotbed of men’s softball for many years. Copper Hearth won the ASA National Championship in 1969 and Accurate Welding won the USSSA in 1971. In addition to those teams, there were others that were very competitive in the Big Eight League that contained the best teams in the area. Each of those teams was made up exclusively of players from the Milwaukee area. Copper Hearth finished 2nd in the 1970 ASA Championship and a few years later, added Rick Sherr, Phil Higgins and Chuck Drewicz to a packed line-up. Sherr eventually moved to Taylor Brothers in Corpus Christi, Texas and then Howard’s and Drewicz joined Snyder’s in 1976 but Higgins was a mainstay for Copper Hearth and the Milwaukee Schlitz for many years to come although he made all-USSSA in 1976 when as a pick-up, he helped Snyder’s to win the USSSA World Series.

In 1977, Bill Byrne, who had worked in the World Football League, started the American Professional Slo-Pitch League. John Korinek, sponsor and manager of Copper Hearth, was one of the first franchisees and put together a strong team made up primarily of players from his Copper Hearth team and rival Transport Oil that had finished third in the 1976 USSSA World Series. Another addition that year was a young first baseman, Dennis Graser. Although it took time for the team to gel, they eventually became one of the favorites to win the title. However, they lost to Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs. The team received tremendous television and newspaper coverage and drew over 3000 fans per night.

In 1978, playing in the League’s strongest division, Schlitz failed to make the playoffs despite having the League’s 4th best record. In 1979, pitcher Rick Weiterman and manager Mike Basile were added and the Schlitz won their first Pro League Championship, defeating Cleveland, Detroit and Kentucky. Weiterman, who was regular season MVP, was also World Series MVP and along with Higgins, Graser and Jim Dillard, led the team to victory. The World Series was televised by ESPN, the first game being the initial live event televised by ESPN on their first night, September 7, 1979.

In 1980, Milwaukee moved to the North American Professional Softball League where they won their second championship, defeating a very good Chicago team and Detroit for the title. Kenny Parker was World Series MVP. In the final year of Pro Softball, Schlitz won their third title in 4 years, defeating Cincinnati, Kentucky and Detroit. Dick Laba was MVP and Graser had a tremendous World Series. The team disbanded after the League was discontinued.

Jim Snyder began sponsoring his team in 1956 and beginning in the mid-1960’s, Snyder’s Masonry went from a local team based in Redford to having a roster of players from the greater Detroit Metropolitan area traveling to more national tournaments. In 1967, the team finished tied for 7th in the ASA Championship, boasting one of the best infields in the country with Cal Carmen, Tony Mazza, Milo Karhu and Bob Green. Most of the roster was comprised of players who were long-time veterans of the team.

Although Snyder’s was a very competitive team, they, along with other top Detroit teams such as Daly’s, Dino’s and others were playing for 2nd place to Michael’s/Little Caesars who was perennially one of the best in the country. Snyder’s only made the ASA Tournament in 1967 because Michael’s was the defending champion and drew an automatic berth.

As a result, Snyder’s became one of the first top teams to join the USSSA along with Dino’s and those teams went to the 1972 Eastern World Tournament in Petersburg,Va. Dino’s finished first with Cal Carmen as MVP and Snyder’s finished 3rd. That same year, Jim Snyder founded the Detroit Major Metro League patterned on the Big Eight League in Milwaukee, that included Little Caesars, Dino’s, Daly’s, Snyder’s and Academy Realty. That League produced the USSSA Men’s World Series Champions, Dino’s in 1974 and Snyder’s in 1975 and 1976. In addition, Dino’s was runner-up in 1973 and Snyder’s was runner-up in 1977.

In 1975, Snyder’s lost in the first round of the Metro League playoffs but bounced back to beat Sol Mintz and Copper Hearth, teams that they had lost to in the regular season, to capture the Championship in Rochester. In 1976, Snyder’s defeated Little Caesar’s who had picked up Stan Harvey, Bert Smith and Denny Hogan and Joe’s Army Navy to win their second straight title in Wyandotte, Michigan. Doug Gerdes was MVP in 1975 and Rick Pinto was MVP in 1976. The team went undefeated in both tournaments.

Jim Snyder along with Dave Neale was one of the best at recognizing and developing young talent. In the early 1970’s, he brought Doug Gerdes, Rick Trudeau, Rick Pinto, Dave Rhodes and Larry Elkins to his team where they became instrumental in the championships that Snyder’s won. He also brought in Chuck Drewicz from Milwaukee and Braxton Speller from North Carolina who went to work in the automotive industry. Drewicz, Speller and Pinto are all in the USSSA Hall of Fame and Gerdes and Trudeau are most deserving of that honor as well.

In 1978, Jim Snyder was one of the founders of the National Slo-Pitch Conference and served as the first president. Snyder’s played in every major tournament throughout the country and put on a hitting exhibition at Dodger Stadium prior to a Reds-Dodgers game in 1977.

Snyder’s last year was 1983 and left a great legacy for national softball.