Thursday, July 25, 2002
Metro softball reminisces on 50th birthday
Event yields great games, some tall tales
By Dustin Dow ddow@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A lot can happen in 49 years, especially in the Cincinnati Metro Softball Tournament that turns 50 today with first-round games throughout the city.
From the world championship Gatliff Auto Sales teams in the early years to a massive brawl in 1973 and the “Game of the Century” in 1991, the Metro Tournament has seen its share of great players, championship teams and exciting moments.
Greg Back Transportation/Kipling and Jay's met in the winner's bracket finals in 1991 at Rumpke Park. Jay's came into the game as the No.1-ranked team in the city despite having never won a Metro Tournament in 30 years. GBT/Kipling was the four-time defending Metro champion, although the name had changed from VIP Limousine/Express Transport.
“It was just a huge rivalry between VIP and Jay's,” said Mark Linnemann, publisher of Cincinnati Softball News. “The crowd was overflowing for that game.”
Five thousand people showed up to watch Jay's take an 8-6 lead into the top of the seventh, when GBT's Mike Sullivan came up with one on and two outs.
“It was gone,” Linnemann said. “The biggest home run in Metro history.”
GBT scored five more runs in the inning and won 13-9 and then defeated Jay's again in a double-elimination final.
Nationally, the most successful team to come through the Metro is Gatliff Auto Sales, which was based out of Newport from the early 1950s to late '60s.
Linnemann said it's unknown who won the first Metro title in 1953, but Gatliff won it in 1955, '56 and '65 along with winning World Amateur Softball Association titles in 1956, '57 and '63.
“Our teams weren't like the home run-hitting teams today,” said Myron Reinhardt, who was named the Player of the Century by the Hudepohl Softball Hall of Fame in Cincinnati. “We were based on defense and speed.”
Tempers heated up in 1973 when a brawl broke out among four teams at Schmidt Field on Eastern Avenue. Lee Sludge, a third baseman for Century, slid into Queen City Pattern third baseman Jim Kuhn. The two began to scuffle, causing both benches and two teams waiting for the next game to join in resulting in a brawl.
“They both came up shoving, and before you knew it, all hell broke loose,” said Willie DeLuca, manager of Sorrento's Pizza, one of the teams involved. “It looked like somebody dropped a bomb out there it kicked up so much dust.”
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Metro softball reminisces on 50th birthday
