Pittsburgh Hardhats (softball)
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Pittsburgh Hardhats (softball)
The Pittsburgh Hardhats were a professional softball team that played in two men's professional softball leagues from 1977 through 1982. The Hardhats, Cincinnati Suds and the Kentucky Bourbons were the only franchises to play all 6 seasons of professional softball. League history Pittsburgh began playing in the inaugural 1977 American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) season. The 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 team changed venues twice during its existence, playing the 1977 season and part of the 1978 season at Munhall Municipal Stadium in Munhall, Pennsylvania; finishing the 1978 season at Morrell Field in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, where the team remained throughout the 1981 season; and ending its playing life at LaRussa Field, Sokol Club, Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania in ...
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Men's Professional Softball Leagues
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 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, the Milwaukee Schlitz, the Fort Wayne Huggie Bears and Cleveland Stepien's Competitors, broke away to form the North American Softball League (NASL), under the leadership of Cleveland owner Ted Stepien, who owned 6 of the 8 teams in the league (only Fort Wayne and Milwaukee had non-Stepien ownership in the new league), while the APSPL continued with just 6 teams. Former M ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Defunct Sports Clubs And Teams In Pittsburgh
Defunct (no longer in use or active) may refer to: * ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014 * Zombie process or defunct process, in Unix-like operating systems See also * * :Former entities * End-of-life product * Obsolescence Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer maintained or required even though it may still be in good working order. It usually happens when something that is more efficient or less risky r ...
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Detroit Auto Kings
The Detroit Auto Kings were a professional softball team that played in the North American Softball League (NASL) in the 1980 season at Memorial Field in East Detroit, Michigan. League history Detroit was represented by the Detroit Caesars, who played in the first professional league, the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL), beginning with the founding of that league in 1977. The Caesars disbanded after the 1978 season and the APSPL continued, but 1980 was a year of division in professional softball as the Cleveland Stepien's Competitors, the Fort Wayne Huggie Bears and the Milwaukee Schlitz broke away from the APSPL to form a new league, the North American Softball League, under the leadership of Cleveland Stepien's Competitors owner Ted Stepien. The Cincinnati Suds continued in the reduced numbers of the APSPL. Stepien placed NASL teams in several APSPL markets, including Lexington, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. Stepien owned 6 of the 8 teams in the NASL, wit ...
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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 Bour ...
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Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steelers are the seventh-oldest franchise in the NFL, and the oldest franchise in the AFC. In contrast with their status as perennial also-rans in the pre- merger NFL, where they were the oldest team never to have won a league championship, the Steelers of the post- merger (modern) era are among the most successful NFL franchises, especially during their dynasty in the 1970s. The team is tied with the New England Patriots for the most Super Bowl titles at six, and they have both played in (sixteen times) and hosted (eleven times) more conference championship games than any other team in the NFL. The Steelers have also won eight AFC championships, tied with the Denver Broncos, but behind the Patriots' record eleven AFC championships. The team i ...
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Allegheny College
he, תגל ערבה ותפרח כחבצלת , mottoeng = "Add to your faith, virtue and to your faith, knowledge" (2 Peter 1:5)"The desert shall rejoice and the blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1) , faculty = 193 (2018) , campus = Small town, total , endowment = $289 million (2021) , sports_nickname = Gators , athletics_affiliations = NCAA Division III – PAC , colors = Blue & gold , academic_affiliations = GLCAAnnapolis Group , accreditation = MSCHE , website = , logo = Alleghenycollegelogo.png , embedded = Allegheny College is a private liberal arts college in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1815, Allegheny is the oldest college in continuous existence under the same name west of the Allegheny Mountains. It is a member of the Great Lakes Colleges Association and the Presidents' Athletic Conference, and is ...
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Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania behind Philadelphia, and the List of United States cities by population, 68th-largest city in the U.S. with a population of 302,971 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city anchors the Pittsburgh metropolitan area of Western Pennsylvania; its population of 2.37 million is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the Pennsylvania metropolitan areas, second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the List of metropolitan statistical areas, 27th-largest in the U.S. It is the principal city of the greater Pittsburgh–New Castle–Weirton combined statistical area that extends into Ohio and West Virginia. Pitts ...
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Pittsburgh Champions
The Pittsburgh Champions were a professional softball team based in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania that played in the North American Softball League (NASL) in 1980. Team history Pittsburgh was represented by the Pittsburgh Hardhats in the first professional league, the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL), beginning with the founding of that league in 1977. After three seasons, Ted Stepien, owner of the Cleveland Stepien's Competitors, left to form a new league, the NASL, with the Fort Wayne Huggie Bears and the Milwaukee Schlitz, APSPL champions from 1979. The Hardhats continued in the APSPL in 1980, and NASL teams were formed in Cincinnati and Lexington, Kentucky as well to compete with existing APSPL franchises there. Stepien owned many of the NASL teams, including the Champions. The Champions played at LaRussa Field, Sokol Club in Lower Burrell, just outside of Pittsburgh. The Hardhats owner Jim DiIorio brought a challenge in federal court in an attempt to prevent s ...
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Ted Stepien
Theodore J. Stepien (June 9, 1925 – September 10, 2007) was an American businessman who owned the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1980 to 1983. Born in Pittsburgh in 1925, he became wealthy as the founder of Nationwide Advertising Service and purchased an interest in the Cavaliers on April 12, 1980. His tenure as owner of the Cavs was highly controversial, resulting in multiple coaching changes and poor performances by the team, and his management decisions ultimately led the NBA to create what is known as the "Ted Stepien rule" to restrict how teams can trade draft picks. A December 6, 1982 article in ''The New York Times'' described the Cavaliers during Stepien's ownership as "the worst club and most poorly run franchise in professional basketball." After selling his interest in the Cavaliers in 1983, he continued to be involved in professional basketball, owning teams in the Continental Basketball Association and the Global Basketball ...
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