16-Inch Softball Hall Of Fame Resurrects Royko Tournament

The 16-inch Chicago Softball Hall of Fame (HOF) is resurrecting the once-popular Mike Royko Memorial Softball Classic Tournament after a hiatus of more than a decade.

After learning the NASCAR Road Race’s planning and construction will greatly diminish softball-league play in Grant Park between June 22nd and through July 5th, HOF president Paul Rowan stepped up to offer Recreational and Co-ed teams an opportunity to play a two-day tournament on June 24th and June 25th at Centennial Park in south suburban Oak Lawn.

MIKE ROYKO 16-INCH SOFTBALL CLASSIC TOURNAMENT

WHEN: Saturday, June 24th and Sunday, June 25th from 9 a.m. to dusk.

WHERE: Centennial Park at 93rd Street and Oak Park Avenue in south suburban Oak Lawn. The park’s four manicured softball diamonds are designed in classic pinwheel style with nearby concession stands. No alcoholic beverages may be consumed on, or near, the softball fields. There will be a concession stand that will serve these products.

PARKING: Ample off-street parking is situated near the softball fields.

TEAMS: Both Co-ed and Recreational teams from Grant Park are invited to play in separate brackets. Every team will be guaranteed two games in this single-elimination/consolation bracket tournament.

RULES: Each Co-ed team must have four women players on the field during the game. Women may wear a fielder’s glove. Men in both brackets will play barehanded, 16-inch Chicago-style softball. Bats must be certified as a regulation softball bat up to 34-inches long with 10 inches of tape on the handle. No baseball bats are allowed. Pitching is slow-pitch, with a maximum arc of 6 to 12 feet high.

UMPIRES: The HOF will provide an official umpire for every game. Umpires will be paid out of tournament fees.

FEES: Entry fee is $275 per team. Each team also is required to bring one new Clincher 16-inch softball for use in the tournament.

PAYMENT: Pre-pay tournament fees via credit card, check or Venmo, to Paul Rowan, president of the HOF. Registration and payment deadline is June 16th. The draw for pairings and game times will be on Tuesday June 20th at a location to be determined. Pairings and game times will be announced by June 21st, and posted on the HOF Website: www.16inchsoftballhof.com

QUESTIONS: Email: pauljrowan2012@gmail.com, or text or call: 708-574-6191.

CHAMPIONSHIP RECOGNITION: Championship team in each bracket will receive a trophy and recognition in the HOF newsletter.

POST-GAME SOCIAL HOUR: Uncle Buds Bar & Grill, 9700 S. Cicero Avenue, Oak Lawn, IL.

“I think what makes it more disappointing is they’re pushing softball aside for the NASCAR event, which is not part of Chicago, where this game is known as Chicago’s Game,” said Rowan.

Billed as the “Mike Royko Memorial Classic,” the event would effectively resurrect the top-flight tournament played between 2000 and 2010 at Grant Park in honor of the revered, Pulitzer-prize winning columnist and HOF inductee.

Royko, who passed away in 1998, was a legendary 16-inch softball advocate, promoter, pitcher and manager for the historic Chicago Daily News and Chicago Sun-Times.

In 1975, Royko was instrumental in the planning and launch of the Chicago 16-Inch World Series of Softball Tournament played at Soldier Field and televised on WTTW. Royko, and the late TV Sports anchor Tim Weigel (and HOF player), announced the historic games along with broadcaster Marty Robinson from Channel 11.

The 16-inch tournament attracted more than 25,000 fans to a championship diamond built at the north end of Soldier Field. Tens of thousands more watched the games on TV.

In the mid-1970s, Royko also defended the historic game of barehanded softball when he filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Park District to prevent the blasphemy of allowing the use of fielder’s gloves in 16-inch games at Grant Park.

Crafty Royko won the lawsuit with the help of testimony from Bernie Neistein, an old West Side ward boss and former 16-inch player, who told the judge: “Gloves? The only time anybody on our team ever wore any kind of gloves was when they didn’t want to leave fingerprints.”

Royko was inducted into the HOF in 2000, and his historic teams—along with more than 120 players—followed in 2008.

All the recent positive chirping from Chicago TV newscasters about NASCAR, the red-neck sport that likely will change the future history of the Windy City forever, ignores one fact: Grant Park, the circuit-maximus for the 220-mile race, may never again be the same.

NASCAR enthusiasts from across the nation will pay a minimum of $266 per admission ticket to witness this crazy, dangerous race, which likely will lead to crashes, and maybe even death on the tight corners of Chicago streets.

However, after the exhaust fumes float away, the crowds leave, and the garbage and bleachers are removed, what will Chicago taxpayers have to cheer about?

Grant Park, Chicago’s great, green “front yard,” was sold for cash by fast-money politicians and corporations to promote the city’s so-called “world-class” status.

Meanwhile, 16-inch softball, the historic blue-collar game that was born in the “City of Big Shoulders” in 1887, is being squeezed, and essentially pushed out of Grant Park.

With a repeat of NASCAR in 2024, and booking of endless music and food festivals—from Chicago Fest to Lollapalooza, Suenos, and the Taste of Chicago—there is a chance the softball leagues will never return.

Thankfully, a savior has emerged from the chaos. The HOF has come to the rescue of dozens of Grant Park teams who were shafted out of a full season of play because of NASCAR and other social and music events.

The revival of the Mike Royko Memorial Classic Tournament is a historic, grass-roots symbol targeted to preserving the essence of softball in Chicago.

At least will give Recreational and Co-ed softball teams a chance to play “Chicago’s Game” in separate brackets over one beautiful summer weekend at classy Centennial Park at 93rd Street and Oak Park Avenue in Oak Lawn.

The following Grant Park softball leagues have been invited to play in the Mike Royko Tournament:

• The 13-team Chicago Advertising Co-ed Softball League.

• The six-team Grant Park Co-Ed League.

• The four-team Grant Park Men’s League.

• The four-tram Men’s Accountants League. The four-team Men’s Architects and Engineers League.

“While Grant Park teams are at the top of the tournament’s priority list, other teams that are currently playing 16-inch softball in Chicago parks also are invited to sign up,” Rowan said. The HOF expects the tournament to attract at least 16 teams in the two brackets.

The Centennial Park’s four manicured softball diamonds are designed in classic pinwheel style with nearby concession stands. Each Co-ed team must have four women players on the field during the game. Women may wear a fielder’s glove. Men in both brackets will play barehanded, 16-inch Chicago-style softball.

Pitching is classic slow-pitch, with an arc limit of six to 12 feet high. Championship team in each bracket will receive a trophy and recognition in the HOF newsletter.

Batter up!

The non-profit 16-inch Chicago Softball Hall of Fame accepts donations. Visit: 16inchsoftballhof.com/donate/ and sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact: Paul Rowan: pauljrowan2021@gmail.com.

For more housing and softball news, visit www.dondebat.biz. Don DeBat is co-author of “Escaping Condo Jail,” the ultimate survival guide for condominium living. Visit www.escapingcondojail.com. DeBat also is writing “Chicago’s Game,” a book on 16-inch softball.