Chicago 16" Hall of Fame

Class of 2009

Clarendon Park - Field of Dreams Award

When it was completed in 1916, many considered Clarendon Park to be the largest and most practical bathing beaches in the country. It lost this status in the 1930s when the Chicago Park District expanded Lincoln Park north to Foster Avenue, eliminating Clarendon's lake frontage. The park district then turned Clarendon into a community center by adding gymnasiums, clubrooms, a playground, and an athletic field. While it was a great swimming beach and community center, 16-inch softball players remember Clarendon as the Mecca of softball during the 1950s and '60s. If you were a player or a fan, you had to be at Clarendon.

It all started in 1946 when George Morse returned to Chicago after serving in the Army during World War II and became supervisor at Clarendon. He quickly launched a plan to make it the top park in the city. He added lights, bleachers, four diamonds, and a public address system. To add a note of professionalism, players (and the batboys) wore full uniforms with their names on their jersey. Only players were allowed to enter the meticulously groomed diamonds for night games.

Once he established it as the top softball park in Chicago, Morse added a few firsts. Clarendon was the first park to move the bases to fifty feet; it was the first park to "juice the ball" with water. Morse did this to keep the ball from flying over Clarendon's fences. Later, Kells Field injected the balls with molasses. In 1957 Morse added the third strike rule. Legend has it that this rule was added because Tony Reibel would hit foul balls as he waited for late players to arrive. Morse started and ran the 16-inch softball world series during the 1964, '65, '66, and '68 seasons. Besides the world series, Clarendon also held the Andy Frain and the Ed Kelly Tournaments during the '60s and '70s, two tournaments that players considered the best of their time. Fan reaction to Morse's efforts was tremendous. Many times more people watched softball at Clarendon than saw baseball at Wrigley or Comiskey.

Eight team jackpot games were held on Sundays and many friendly wagers were bet on these and other games. In fact, fans in the stands would often ask players how they felt before they placed their bets. Clarendon also featured excellent "A" leagues and very good "B" leagues. In the late '70s, they banned the use of open bats because they could carry even a "juiced" ball over the fence. Although Clarendon no longer sponsors its own leagues (people do rent it out for their leagues), players and fans will always remember it as softball's greatest park during what many consider to be softball's greatest years.

Jimmy Rey accepted the award for Clarendon Park saying, "We are proud on the impact that Clarendon park had on sixteen inch softball from its early day of hosting Andy Frain and the Ed Kelly Tournaments , to is wonderful A & B leagues, it was an epic center of softball on the Northside. He closed by saying, "As you all know a field is just a field until it is touch by all the people who love the game, players, umpire fans, league organizers, together everyone made Clarendon Park a special place. A field of Dreams."

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