Chicago Nationwide Advertising were a professional

softball 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 Hanc ...

team that played in the North American Softball League (NASL) during the 1980 season. They played their home games at The team played at Lou Boudreau Field in

Harvey, Illinois Harvey is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 20,324 at the 2020 census. Harvey is bordered by the villages of Dixmoor and Riverdale to the north; Dolton, Phoenix, and South Holland to the east; East Hazel C ...

League history

Chicago was represented by the Chicago Storm, who played in the first professional league, the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL), beginning with the founding of that league in 1977. The Storm 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 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 198 ...

, the Fort Wayne Huggie Bears and the

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 Profess ...

broke away from the APSPL to form a new league, the North American Softball League, under the leadership of

owner

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 founde ...

. The Cincinnati Suds continued in the reduced numbers of the APSPL. Stepien placed NASL teams in several APSPL markets, including

Lexington Lexington may refer to: Places England * Laxton, Nottinghamshire, formerly Lexington Canada * Lexington, a district in Waterloo, Ontario United States * Lexington, Kentucky, the largest city with this name * Lexington, Massachusetts, the oldes ...

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 Wester ...

, and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

with the Rivermen. Stepien owned 6 of the 8 teams in the NASL, with only Milwaukee and Fort Wayne having local ownership. The owner of the Pittsburgh Hardhats of the APSPL brought an unsuccessful challenge in federal court in an attempt to prevent splitting the young professional sport. Krolicki, Storm, 1977

Stepien went into the APSPL markets trying to lure talent away as well. He hired Donnie Rardin, former Kentucky Bourbons player, to play and serve as General Manager for the

Lexington Stallions The Lexington Stallions were a professional softball team who played at Southland Park in Lexington, Kentucky in the North American Softball League (NASL) during the 1980 season. Team history Kentucky was represented by the Kentucky Bourbons, w ...

, did the same in Pittsburgh with Roger Snatchko, former Pittsburgh Hardhat, who would lead the new Pittsburgh Champions and much the same in Cincinnati with former Cincinnati Sud Mike LaFever as player and General Manager. Detroit was much less contentious as the Detroit Caesars had folded after the 1979 season, allowing the NASL

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, w ...

to take over as the professional softball team. Chicago did not have a pro softball team for the 1979 APSPL season, as many players simply returned to the competitive 16-inch softball tournaments in the Chicago area, although Mike Krolicki played for the Fort Wayne Scouts in 1979. Stepien formed and owned the Chicago NASL team, naming it after his advertising firm.

Chicago Nationwide Advertising

Stepien made a splash in the Chicago sports market when he brought on former Chicago Cub

Joe Pepitone Joseph Anthony Pepitone (born October 9, 1940) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder who played the bulk of his career for the New York Yankees. He also played several seasons with the Chicago Cubs and had short stints wi ...

to serve as team President and play first-base. Pepitone has played previously for the Trenton Statesmen in the APSPL. Pepitone would get a suspension during the year for "conduct detrimental to professional softball" when NASL Commissioner Robert Brown suspended him for 6 games and then was lost to the season in August with a thigh injury. The team was managed by local 16-inch softball legend Eddie Zolna. It was an excellent regular season for CNA as Chicago finished 43-19 (.694), 2nd in the Western Division, 5 games behind the

. CNA advanced to the playoffs to face Milwaukee, whom Chicago had beaten 5 times in 16 regular season match-ups. A late-season game between the team has gotten physical as CNA player Greg Linhart and Schlitz pitcher Tom Gorski tussled after Linhart felt he was being held down during a wild throw, leading CNA Manager Eddie Zolna to state "the only thing he did wrong was he didn't hit him. Those dirty play shennanigans are part of Milwaukee's game. They need them jammed back down their throats." It was a tight series, with Chicago outhitting Milwaukee 141-127 (.455 to .425 BA), but CNA stranded runners and the Schlitz would defeat Chicago in the playoffs 4-2 (9-13, 10-7, 17-12, 16-12, 10-17, 22-17). Milwaukee would go on to win the NASL World Series in 1980 over the

5-2 behind the hitting of Ken Parker (.586, 16 RBIs) in the series. Ron Olesiak (.555, 34 HRs, 124 RBIs) of Chicago won the league MVP trophy, and Chicago added all-pro seasons from Mike Krolicki (27-6 pitching record), Buddy Haines (.518, 27 HRS, 115 RBIs), Tommy Spahn (.527, 15 HRs, 97 RBIs), Curt Dusek (.413 BA), Willie Simpson (.506, 23 doubles, 13 triples) and Jake Jakobi (.520 BA). Olesiak, Dusek, Simpson, Spahn represented Chicago at the mid-season All-Star game and Zolna managed the West team. The NASL lasted one season before combining with the APSPL to form a new league, the United Professional Softball League (UPSL). That league disbanded in 1982, bringing an end to the professional era of men's softball in the US as players once again returned to the amateur leagues. Chicago Nationwide Advertising team featured two members of the

American Softball Association USA Softball (formerly the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and ASA/USA Softball) is the governing body for the United States national softball team. It is a member of the sport's international governing body, the World Baseball Softball Confe ...

Hall of Fame - manager Eddie Zolna and catcher Willie Simpson. Ron Olesiak would become a basketball referee, making it to the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

, and Mike Krolicki is a member of the Chicago 16-inch Softball Hall of Fame (as is Olesiak, Zolna and Buddy Haines) and a retired Chicago firefighter.

Chicago Nationwide Advertising record

References

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External links

APSPL on Fun While It Lasted Softball History USA Detroit Caesars Online Home National Softball Hall of Fame
Softball teams Sports clubs established in 1980 Sports teams in Illinois 1980 establishments in Illinois 1980 disestablishments in Illinois Sports clubs disestablished in 1980 Men's professional softball teams Sports in Chicago