16-inch softball Hall of Fame celebrates 30 years 

Every year, about 2,000 visitors come to see the 16-inch softball Hall of Fame museum in Forest Park.  

Many journey to the Hall of Fame at 7501 W. Harrison St. during the annual No Gloves National tournament in the summer or the Hall of Fame gala recognizing new inductees into the museum every fall. This year was no different, as hundreds of people attended the awards dinner celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Hall of Fame in October. 

The only museum in the country dedicated to 16-inch softball, as far as its co-creator Al Maag knows, the Hall of Fame in Forest Park has honored over 700 16-inch softball players and teams going back to the 1920s. 

“Our goals are simple. We want to recognize these great players on and off the field — the teams, managers, organizers,” Maag said. “We’re trying to be the center of the ecosystem with how we communicate with people. I think we’ve done that, but we want to continue to promote the game.”  

Maag helped create the annual Hall of Fame awards in 1996, though the museum wasn’t built until 2014. It all started in his 20s, when Maag moved to Chicago from California to work as art director at Windy City Softball magazine.  

After learning the history of 16-inch softball while working at the magazine, Maag helped put together a documentary with narration by Jack Brickhouse, a Chicago sportscaster who was once the broadcast announcer for the Bears, Cubs and Sox.  

Brickhouse suggested putting the movie in a Hall of Fame and, after its local release, Maag was connected with George Randazzo, who founded the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago. With help from Randazzo and Tony Reibel, a 16-inch softball player and manager, the first Hall of Fame inductees were recognized in 1996 at a gala dinner.  

“We didn’t have much money in the bank, but we raised a few bucks at these dinners,” Maag said. “There was some good stuff happening here, but nothing as far as sponsorship, but that didn’t stop us from looking for a site for the Hall of Fame.”  

Today, the Hall of Fame leases the museum building from the park district and pays for updates to the structure through money largely raised at its annual gala dinner. 

The Hall of Fame is currently taking nominations for 2027 inductees, which are due this month. In December, a Hall of Fame committee will review the nominations and make recommendations that are approved early next year. In March, a ballot to vote on the next Hall of Fame inductees will be open to the public. 

The Hall of Fame also recognizes non-major players on its Wall of Fame, plus out-of-state players and veterans, which are not voted on by the public. 

Hall of Fame museum  

Maag moved to Arizona, but during one of his regular visits to Forest Park, he reached out to Larry Piekarz, then the director of the Park District of Forest Park. Piekarz showed Maag a potential site for a Hall of Fame museum on park district land — one that used to be an old gas station at the corner of Des Plaines and Harrison.  

“We were beggars. We were looking at any place that would have us,” Maag said. And the park district board, led by Howard ‘Bud’ Boy, thought hosting the Hall of Fame museum was a good idea. “They thought it’d be great for the village and great for the park to have it there.”  

Construction on the Hall of Fame museum broke ground in 2009. Fritz Zimmerman, a former player and frequent team sponsor, helped fund the project, as well as sponsors like Waste Management Solutions and Molex. 

“If it wasn’t for Fritz Zimmerman, you and I would not be having a conversation,” Maag told the Review. But even with some finances, the project stalled after a large sponsor pulled out. The museum officially opened in 2014, though Inductee Park just outside the museum launched in 2010. 

“The moment of pride for us was that everybody who came said the same thing: They weren’t expecting it to be as beautiful or as informative,” Maag said of the museum. “For over 12 years, the museum has grown. We’ve gotten more memorabilia, more items, and we’ve worked on displays and videos. We’ve added to the room, so we’re starting to get kind of full, but it’s a lot of history since 1887.” 

Though the Hall of Fame board hasn’t discussed expansion of the museum, which is no more than 3,000 square feet, Maag is doubtful it would happen. 

“We’re landlocked. The building can only be as big as it is,” he said. Though the museum added a new display wall last year, there’s still more 16-inch softball history to record. “It’s about sharing history, and I think we’ve done that. We probably should be doing more of the current history,” Maag said. “It’d be nice, but I can’t imagine where that funding will come from.” 

The Hall of Fame is trying to get more traction for younger players and women, whom Hall of Fame President Paul Rowan said 16-inch softball is seeing less of.  

“The game that’s growing exponentially right now is co-ed,” Rowan told the Review during a tour of the Hall of Fame museum. He’s been on the board, which has 19 members, since 2010 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame as an organizer in 2005.  

To recruit more young people to the game, the Hall of Fame hosts clinics for DePaul students and aims to do the same with more college students. And Rowan individually hosts 16-inch softball tournaments outside of his work running the museum. 

“We’re all crazy. We played every day. I don’t think that’s the culture today for players or teams. I think there’s a lot of people playing the game for fun,” Maag said. He added that most of the Hall of Fame’s board members and gala attendees are over 50 or 60 years old. “The game’s being played, but is it as serious as the way we took it? No.”  

Maag said, if the Hall of Fame had more sponsorships, they could market the museum more and possibly open it more days of the week.  

“We would love more Chicago brands to be sponsors and previous inductees to stay engaged with us,” Maag said. 

Maag said his favorite part of the Hall of Fame museum is the timeline of events and artifacts when visitors first walk in, as well as “the pride in hearing people tell us it’s beautiful. That warms my heart.”  

Rowan’s favorite part is all the old photographs. 

“You see the sweat and dirt on the players. They were competitive,” Rowan said. 

And though there’s no expansion plans for the museum, it will continue standing in Forest Park to preserve the history of 16-inch softball.  

“I can rest well knowing that I think this is going to be going on for a while. How long, who knows? 100 years, 50 years? I don’t know. But 20 years, I think so,” Maag said of the museum. “If we close up tomorrow, I’d be very proud that we accomplished keeping the history, explaining the history, getting kids to see the value of the game, the beauty of the game, and becoming good friends with your teammates.”  

The 16-inch softball Hall of Fame museum is open Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. at 7501 W. Harrison St. Interviews with inductees take place every Saturday at 2 p.m. and are uploaded to YouTube.