Whenever there’s a major 16-inch softball tournament taking place in the Chicago area, chances are that Joe Pulido will be there watching the action. It speaks to the passion, love, and dedication he has had for the game since he started playing in his younger days.
“I grew up in the Pilsen neighborhood and at the age of 17 I played at Harrison Park,” Pulido told Forest Park Review in an interview. “On weekends, there were a bunch of guys who would get together for some games. I never got on a team, I just played with them.
“As I got older, I was working for a company called A.G. Becker, a financial institution. They had a company team that played at Grant Park every Monday. My manager was Dick Cooper, and I played with Ken Flaws, both of those guys eventually made the (Chicago 16-Inch Softball) Hall of Fame.”
Many of the guys Pulido played with got transferred to Des Moines, Iowa, and formed a team. They invited him to come out to watch, and he accepted. But as soon as he arrived, he saw something drastically different from what he had been accustomed to.
“A friend and I drove out there and noticed they were playing with gloves. We were fascinated by that, and we asked what they were doing with gloves,” Pulido said. “Also, a pitcher had a mask on and we wondered why. It was kind of funny.”
Pulido’s Iowa fascination became a dedication as he started going there for tournaments each year, something he still does to this day.
“Once or twice a year, I go to tournaments out there,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of people there and in talking with them, they started coming to Chicago to play our game.”
As a player, Pulido never played in a major tournament. But that was where his passion grew.
“I just love the game of softball,” he said. “I wasn’t very good and played with just neighborhood and company teams. But I started meeting a lot of people at softball games and it grew.”
Among those Pulido met is Pat Caputo, a Hall of Famer who is widely regarded as one of the best all-time Chicagoland players.
“We’ve become friends and to this day I still see him,” Pulido said.
After he retired as a player, Pulido continued to go to games. He said his wife Patricia kept count on how many games he attended in his first year of retirement, and she told him it was 127.
“I don’t know a lot of ballplayers personally,” Pulido said, “but I know who’s on which team. It’s almost like being a scout.”
For his unwavering loyalty and commitment to softball, Pulido was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2024. He received the Richard J. Daley Friend of Softball Award that year. Named after the late Chicago mayor who was a passionate advocate for softball, the award recognizes those who, according to the Hall of Fame website, “have demonstrated over the years his or her passion and love for the game not as a player but as a sponsor, business owner, politician, or one of the leaders in their community. Through their passion, they have helped advance the game of 16-inch softball.”
To say Pulido was surprised by his induction is an understatement.
“One day, I was coming home from Harrison Park and my phone rang,” Pulido said. “I wasn’t going to pick up since I was on the expressway. So I got home and called, and it was the president of the Hall of Fame (Paul Rowan). That’s when he gave me all the information about my induction.
“I almost fainted and I was shocked. I told him wasn’t a great ballplayer. He said my name was brought up as a supporter of the game, and we decided to put you in.”
While Pulido was gracious about his induction, there was also a tinge of sadness as Patricia had passed away in 2018.
“She was the first person I thought about,” he said. “I was like, “God, I wish she was still here.” She would’ve been so proud of me.”
Pulido, who turns 80 this month, has no plans of slowing down. He attends 100 to 120 games each year, and he again plans on being at this year’s No Gloves, which he first attended in the mid-70s.
“That’s the granddaddy of softball,” Pulido said. “Guys don’t care about trophies or money. They care about winning the No Gloves championship. You never know, some teams might come out of nowhere and get upsets going. It’s possible, anything can happen in softball.”