Chicago 16" Softball Hall of Fame - Forest Park, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 41° 52.340 W 087° 48.893
16T E 432378 N 4635923
An outdoor exhibit (that hopefully someday will include an indoor museum) of the greats of Chicago-area 16 inch (is there any other kind?) softball, referred to as "Inductee Park".
Waymark Code: WMH77G
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 06/02/2013
Views: 3
From a 2012 article at: (
visit link)
"The 16-Inch Softball Hall of Fame, an institution designed to honor the players, teams, umpires, managers, and writers who championed Chicago’s favorite gloveless game, with almost 350 people inducted into the Hall. The first stage of the project—Inductee Park, where plaques of all the members are displayed—cost $175,000 and was completed three years ago.
Chicagoans may not like to admit it, but their hard-nosed, working-class game has aristocratic roots. On Thanksgiving Day 1887, at the tony Farragut Boat Club on the South Side, 20 alumni gathered around the club’s ticker tape machine to track the results of the annual Harvard-Yale football game, played that year at the Polo Grounds in New York City. When the news broke that the Bulldogs had beaten the Crimson 17–8, an over enthusiastic Yalie chucked an old boxing glove at one of his Harvard peers. To defend himself, the Boston Brahmin grabbed a nearby broom handle and swatted the glove away. Inspiration struck George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, who tied together the laces of the boxing glove, chalked out a baseball diamond on the club's gym floor, and split the men into two teams. Mitts were not available, and thus not used. "A big soft ball and a small bat—that was the central idea," the Chicago Tribune wrote of that first game, which ended in a 41–41 tie. A new sport was born."
They have a facebook page at (
visit link)
I just happened to find the HoF while driving back home from visiting the Ferrara Pan Candy Company waymark just to the east. I have fond memories of playing many a 16" game as a youngster. Still have a Clincher or two around somewhere!
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