The Baltimore Monuments 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 American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) during the 1977 season. They played their home games at Rips Memorial Stadium in

Bowie, Maryland Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous ...

APSPL history

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, several men's professional slow-pitch

leagues were formed in the United States to build on the growth and talent in the booming men's amateur game during this period. The American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) was the first such league, launching in an era of experimentation in professional sports leagues. The APSPL was formed in 1977 by former World Football League executive Bill Byrne who would go on to form the

Women's Professional Basketball League The Women's Professional Basketball League (abbreviated WBL) was a professional women's basketball league in the United States. The league played three seasons from the fall of 1978 to the spring of 1981. The league was the first professional w ...

. Former New York Yankees star

Whitey Ford Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (October 21, 1928 – October 8, 2020), nicknamed "the Chairman of the Board", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played his entire 16-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...

was the first league commissioner.

Monuments team history

The Monuments finished the 1977 season in first place of the Eastern Division with a record of 33-20 (.623). They defeated the

New York Clippers The New York Clippers were a professional softball team based in Mount Vernon, New York who played in the American Professional Slo-Pitch League (APSPL) in 1977. The Clippers played for only one year and disbanded after the 1977 season. League h ...

in the first round of the playoffs 2-0 (15-14, 10-9), advancing to the next round where they defeated the

Kentucky Bourbons The Kentucky Bourbons were a professional softball team that played in two men's professional softball leagues between 1977 and 1982 at Bishop David Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. The Bourbons, Cincinnati Suds and Pittsburgh Hardhats were th ...

2-1 (6-17, 10-4, 15-10). The Monuments then lost 4-0 (18-16, 13-8, 25-16, 28-11) in the first APSPL World Series to the

Detroit Caesars The Detroit Caesars were a professional softball team played in the American Professional Slo-Pitch Softball League (APSPL) from 1977 to 1979. History Prior to formalized professional play, Detroit was a hotbed for softball, with some of the top ...

with Mike Nye of Detroit winning the series MVP award. Benny Holt (.690, 89 HRs, 187 RBIs) of the Chicago Storm won the triple crown and was named league MVP. Baltimore players John Copenhaver (.599, 36 HRs, 95 RBIs), John Dollar (.522, 62 runs scored), Jay Smith (.562, 81 runs scored) and Lawrence "Boom Boom" Hutcherson (.596, 45 HRs, 129 RBIs) made the 1977 APSPL All-Pro team. Nick Sessoms went 18-9 pitching for Baltimore. Sessoms - Baltimore

Goals to return for 1978 hit a stumbling block when team owner Jim Ports fired Monuments manager Ray Duncan just as the 1978 season was set to begin when Duncan refused to turn over new player contracts to ownership until players were paid. When Ports was then unable to secure Rips Field as a playing site for 1978, the APSPL moved on with their season without the Monuments on the schedule and the team disbanded. Dollar and Hutcherson would go on to play with the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakl ...

of the APSPL for 1978.

Baltimore Monuments record

References

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External links

Baltimore Monuments on Fun While It Lasted Softball History USA Detroit Caesars Online Home National Softball Hall of Fame
Softball teams Sports teams in Baltimore men's professional softball teams