Man's life of softball scores an ultimate honor for him
Just last month, after the baseball Hall of Fame's newest members were announced, another group of inductees was unveiled: this year's class entering the Chicago 16-inch Softball Hall of Fame.
Among them is Arlington Heights resident Rollo Kuebler, who will represent the postwar, or 1950-1963 era, when 16-inch softball was played in nearly every neighborhood and schoolyard, without gloves.
Also being honored is the Mount Prospect Park District, in the new "Field of Dreams" category, for its commitment to the sport for nearly 30 years.
Since opening the Majewski Metro Athletic Complex in Des Plaines, the park district has hosted national, regional and state tournaments. Its classic league is one of the longest-running 16-inch leagues, and regularly advances in the national tournament.
Kuebler now is 82, but he vividly remembers his years playing softball, when he played in stadiums across Chicago, and in leagues with the best players in the city.
"I think the award recognizes the times I played in, including the teams I played with and the teams I played against," Kuebler says modestly.
His numbers tell a different story. Kuebler was a .400 hitter during his playing days, when he played mostly short center, though he also filled in at third base and in left field.
"I wasn't what you would call a power hitter, but mostly a line drive hitter with a lot of two-base hits," says Kuebler, a 50-year Arlington Heights resident. "If I got through, I was fairly quick."
Softball was his love, but Kuebler also played basketball. He was a member of the 1949 Loyola Ramblers team that made it to the championship game of the NIT in Madison Square Garden.
While raising his two sons in Arlington Heights, Kuebler transferred his love of softball into coaching baseball for the Arlington Heights Youth Athletic Association.
He continued to play softball himself until he was almost 50.
Being inducted into the Chicago 16-inch Softball Hall of Fame, he says, brings it all back.
"For an old guy, it's a big honor," Kuebler says. "I'm thrilled."