First Pitch - October, 2006

By Irv Porter

The calendar says it is October now so that means that the 2006 summer and fall softball season is winding down fast and the start to the 2006 /2007 'Hall of Fame' season will be on tap next. The Illinois USSSA Hall of Fame induction banquet is first up on October 28th at the Cliffbreakers Restaurant & Suites in Rockford. Six individuals and one team (1981 Divisional Champions Town Hall) will be honored plus several 2006 teams that won USSSA National titles over this past Labor Day Weekend. For more information or tickets to this event contact Mr. Bob Papich (815) 229-7231 or e-mail him Rpapich@insightbb.com. Two other annual softball Hall of Fame's will be held this winter / spring with the Chicago Sixteen Inch Hall of Fame will being held in January at the Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero and the State of Illinois ASA Hall of Fame being held at the Dragon's Dome in Pekin in April. Try to attend one or more of these events if you can. They are fun evenings with the focus on softball. I promise you one and all an enjoyable time with good food while they honor special people and teams that played a big part in making softball the game that it is today that we all enjoy plus a great way to renew some old softball acquaintance or two from your past that you had enjoyed during your earlier softball playing days. Make that effort to attend and honor some of the names that help make the game of softball into the great sport that we enjoy playing today, it will be worth your time and the money that you spend!
Now that only the fall league season and a few scattered tournaments remain on the radar scope for softball in 2006 as most Illinois teams will start to actively massaging their team's rosters for next season or in some case tear it down completely and start over from scratch. The rumors that are heard all off season long are always interesting as you have to try and decide if they have any validly to them or not.
Whatever your team is planning on doing during this off season I truly hope that it works out for each of you as a team and as individuals. I know this will not always be the case but I am hoping that it is in your case. Good luck to everyone and I hope that all the moves you make are the best one for you as teams get set to play the 2007 softball season.
Illinois Softball Report will start collecting 2007 tournament dates immediately. So as soon as you can send them on in to Illinois Softball Report we will start posting them for everyone to see. In today's world with the speed of the internet everything is right now not later so Illinois Softball Report will shift into that gear as soon as the 2007 dates start to arrive on my computer
September was another record month for hits by you to this web site with more than 29,700 hits. That now makes twenty-six consecutive months that a new record for hits to this web site has been set during that particular month. In fact the third quarter of this year Illinois Softball Report's web site had more than 109,200 hits making this the first quarter ever to exceed 100,000 hits to this web site. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really appreciate your loyal support to this work in progress. And, I promise to work to continue to improve this web site for the softball player in Illinois.
I hope that whatever you are planning on doing this off season to improve your self as a softball player works out great for you and look for the next 'First Pitch' to be viewable around the 10th of November.
Have a great October and GO BEARS!

Your friend in softball,

Irv