Lima Steele's
Lima Steele's were a professional softball team based in Lima, Ohio. Lima Steele's played at the baseball diamond on the campus of the Ohio State University at Lima in the United Professional Softball League (UPSL) in 1982. League history During the late 1970s and early 1980s, men's professional softball leagues were formed in the United States to build on the growth and talent in the booming men's amateur softball game during this period. The American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) was the first such league, launching in an era of experimentation in professional sports leagues. The APSPL was formed in 1977 by former World Football League front-office executive Bill Byrne, who would go on to found the Women's Professional Basketball League. Former New York Yankees star Whitey Ford was the first APSPL commissioner. In 1980, three teams, Fort Wayne, Milwaukee and Cleveland broke away to form the North American Softball League (NASL) under the leadership of Ted Stepien, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hancock. There are two rule sets for softball generally: ''slow pitch softball'' and ''fastpitch''. Slow pitch softball is commonly played recreationally, while women's fastpitch softball is a Summer Olympic sport and is played professionally. Depending on the variety being played and the age and gender of the players, the particulars of field and equipment vary. While distances between bases of 60 feet are standard across varieties, the pitcher's plate ranges from 35 to 43 feet away from home plate, and the home run fence can be 220 to 300 feet away from home plate. The ball itself is typically 11 or 12 inches (28 or 30 cm) in circumference, also depending on specifics of the competition. Softball rules vary somewhat from those of baseba ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Dayton was estimated to be at 814,049 residents. The Combined Statistical Area (CSA) was 1,086,512. This makes Dayton the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Ohio and 73rd in the United States. Dayton is within Ohio's Miami Valley region, north of the Greater Cincinnati area. Ohio's borders are within of roughly 60 percent of the country's population and manufacturing infrastructure, making the Dayton area a logistical centroid for manufacturers, suppliers, and shippers. Dayton also hosts significant research and development in fields like industrial, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering that have led to many technological innovations. Much of this innovation is due in part to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and its place in the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Softball Teams
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hancock. There are two rule sets for softball generally: ''slow pitch softball'' and ''fastpitch''. Slow pitch softball is commonly played recreationally, while women's fastpitch softball is a Summer Olympic sport and is played professionally. Depending on the variety being played and the age and gender of the players, the particulars of field and equipment vary. While distances between bases of 60 feet are standard across varieties, the pitcher's plate ranges from 35 to 43 feet away from home plate, and the home run fence can be 220 to 300 feet away from home plate. The ball itself is typically 11 or 12 inches (28 or 30 cm) in circumference, also depending on specifics of the competition. Softball rules vary somewhat from those of baseba ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ralph Garr
Ralph Allen Garr (born December 12, 1945), nicknamed "Road Runner", is an American former professional baseball player, scout, and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from through — most notably as a member of the Atlanta Braves — and eventually with the Chicago White Sox and California Angels. Garr’s career year was , when he was a National League (NL) All-Star and won the NL batting title. Garr was a free swinger who could confound defenses by hitting to all parts of the outfield. He batted .300 or better five times during his career. In 2006, Garr was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame. Face in the Crowd Garr was born in Monroe, Louisiana, and worked as a shoe shine boy at a local barber shop growing up. After graduation from Lincoln High School in Ruston, Louisiana, he attended historically black Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana. In , as a second baseman for the Grambling State Tigers baseball team, Garr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andre Thornton
André Thornton (born August 13, 1949), nicknamed "Thunder", is an American former professional baseball player and business entrepreneur. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and designated hitter from to , most prominently as a member of the Cleveland Indians where, he was a two-time All-Star player and won a Silver Slugger Award. He also played for the Chicago Cubs and the Montreal Expos. In 1979, Thornton was named the recipient of the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award for his involvement in local community affairs. After his playing career, Thornton owned a chain of restaurants as well as his own sports marketing firm. He was also the CEO and chairman of a supply chain management company. In 2001, he was voted one of the 100 greatest players in Cleveland Indians' history by a panel of veteran baseball writers, executives and historians. Thornton was inducted into the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame in 2007. Early years Thornton grew up in Phoenixville, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. The NL and AL were formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively. Beginning in 1903, the two leagues signed the National Agreement and cooperated but remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball. MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. It is also included as one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. Baseball's first all-professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was founded in 1869. Before that, some teams had secretly paid certain players. The first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one te ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cleveland Competitors
The Cleveland Jaybirds (1977–78), later named the Cleveland Stepien's Competitors (1979–80) and finally the Cleveland Competitors (1982), were a professional softball team that played in three professional softball leagues between 1978 and 1982 at two different locations in the Cleveland, Ohio area. History During the late 1970s and early 1980s, several men's professional slow-pitch softball leagues were formed in the United States to build on the growth and talent in the booming men's amateur game during this period. The American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) was the first such league, launching in an era of experimentation in professional sports leagues. The APSPL was formed in 1977 by former World Football League front-office executive Bill Byrne with former New York Yankees star Whitey Ford as commissioner. Jay Friedman, owner of Erie Sheet Metal, launched the Cleveland Jaybirds in the inaugural 1977 APSPL season. Don Rardin, Sr., owner of the Kentucky Bourbo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Detroit Softball City
Detroit Softball City was a professional softball team that played during the 1982 season in the United Professional Softball League (UPSPL). Detroit Softball City played at and was named for a large recreational softball complex on the grounds of the Michigan State Fair in Detroit. Softball City history Softball City opened in 1976, leasing land from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. Softball City was the first privately operated softball complex in the US. Their lease on land at the fairgrounds was not renewed in 1996 when Governor John Engler elected to pursue a plan for a return of auto racing on the land. The fairgrounds had previously been the home for the Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway. Those plans never came to fruition. In 2009, Governor Jennifer Granholm vetoed legislation to provide funding to the Michigan State Fair, bringing the 160 year history of the fair to an end. Detroit Softball City team history In 1977, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kentucky Bourbons
The Kentucky Bourbons were a professional softball team that played in two men's professional softball leagues between 1977 and 1982 at Bishop David Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. The Bourbons, Cincinnati Suds and Pittsburgh Hardhats were the only three teams to play all 6 seasons of professional softball. Bourbons in the APSPL The American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) was formed by former World Football League executive Bill Byrne, who would go on to form the Women's Professional Basketball League. Former New York Yankees player Whitey Ford was brought on to serve as league commissioner. The Bourbons were owned by Don Rardin, Sr., who started the team in 1977, but then sold the club the following year to Larry Gatti, who owned several McDonald's franchises in the Louisville, Kentucky area. Both men had sons who would be all-pro players for the Bourbons. In the 1977 APSPL season the Bourbons won the Central Division finishing eight games ahead of the Cleveland J ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Milwaukee Schlitz
The Milwaukee Schlitz were a professional softball team that played in three men's professional softball leagues from 1977 through 1982 at Wilson Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. History Milwaukee began play in the inaugural 1977 American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) season as the Milwaukee Copper Hearth. The Copper Hearth was initially an amateur softball club that, in 1969, had won the Amateur Softball Association national championship. Milwaukee joined the fledgling APSPL, formed by former World Football League executive Bill Byrne, who would go on to launch the Women's Professional Basketball League. Former New York Yankees player Whitey Ford was brought on to serve as league commissioner. The club took its name from its first sponsor, a blue-collar tavern in Milwaukee, the Copper Hearth, owned by John Korinek Sr. Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company took over sponsorship in 1978 and the team would play through their final professional season as the Milwaukee Schlitz ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lima, Ohio
Lima ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo, and southeast of Fort Wayne, Indiana. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,579. It is the principal city of the Lima, Ohio metropolitan statistical area, which is included in the Lima–Van Wert–Wapakoneta, OH, combined statistical area. Lima was founded in 1831. The Lima Army Tank Plant, officially called the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, built in 1941, is the sole producer of the M1 Abrams. History Lima was named after Lima, Peru's capital city. Shawnee and establishment In the years after the American Revolution, the Shawnee were the most prominent residents of west central Ohio, growing in numbers and permanency after the 1794 Treaty of Greenville. By 1817, the United ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fort Wayne Huggie Bears
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ("to make"). From very early history to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge stone blocks of its 'cyclopean' walls). A Greek '' phrourion'' was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or English fortress. These constructions mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and borders. Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |