Fifty years ago, Tony Ward and some of his football teammates at Wendell Phillips High School in Chicago decided to participate in a youth softball tournament at the conclusion of the season. That was when he first fell in love with the sport.
“We were 16 years old and started a team called the Kings,” Ward told Forest Park Review in a phone interview. “We played up until we were 19 years old. We went our separate ways, but I stuck with softball. My passion for the game goes far and wide.”
Ward, who was an accomplished player in several leagues, maintains his connection to softball today as the manager of BTA (Best Talent Assembled), which will participate in the 57th annual No Gloves Nationals Tournament. He says softball has been really good to him over the years.
“It’s been great,” said Ward. “I’ve met people of all kinds. You’d be surprised at the conversations you get out of guys you meet through softball.”
Gloveless softball was originated in Chicago many years ago, and that’s something Ward – whose brothers and cousins have also played the sport — especially takes pride in.
“It’s our game,” he said. “We’re trying to show other parts of the country our game. My passion has always been playing without gloves. I hated it when leagues brought in gloves in the 1970s. It was very disappointing, and I wasn’t by myself in expressing that. Gloves don’t belong in the game.
“My brother and I played together for years in the (Chicago Transit Authority) league,” he added. “It brings on a good family atmosphere. The CTA league is the longest standing in Chicago softball history. It started in 1969.”
Ward is looking forward to seeing BTA play at Forest Park. He has guided several teams to the No Gloves, a tournament he describes as special.
“It’s the ultimate experience for a softball player at this stage,” he said. “It’s one of the most profound tournaments of all-time. Guys get more jacked up for this tournament than any other. Everyone is wearing their best apparel with their uniform. New gloves, new shoes, they come out at No Gloves time. It’s dress to impress, and above all else, play your (butt) off.”
BTA sought out the best talent in the Black community, and Ward likes the increased participation of Black teams in the No Gloves.
“I’m very encouraged by that,” he said. “I feel like it’s good for the game. I think Black softball needs to expand more with the No Gloves. I think Black softball was brainwashed into putting on the gloves and steered in the wrong direction for so many decades. That’s what put us behind the eight-ball in this tournament.”
Ward is confident in BTA’s chances at the No Gloves. But he’s also somewhat concerned about injuries to a couple of his top players that will prevent them from competing.
“One of the best leftfielders in all of softball and one of the fastest guys in the game, he was in a car accident,” said Ward. “He won’t be able to play for us. He was MVP of the tournament four years ago. My second baseman has a rotator cuff injury and won’t play again this season. I’m limping into the tournament, but I have confidence we’ll play well. I’m optimistic.”
In its’ heyday, virtually every park in the area had a league that played every night. With that no longer being the case, there has been a fierce debate about how softball is going. There are those who say it’s dying, while others say it’s got the potential to thrive again.
Count Ward among the latter group. He believes as long as elementary and public schools in the city sponsor softball, that will ensure the sport’s future.
“I think it’s thriving because of the public schools having leagues. That’s going to help,” Ward said. “I umpire in (Chicago Public Schools) and see the youth trying to be more involved with the game. The more we expand the game, it’s got a good chance of expanding to suburban leagues. All it takes are a bat and a ball.”