103:. The team and the league disbanded at the end of the season. Many of the elite Detroit area softball players went to the Snyder's-Stroh's team the National Slo-Pitch Conference (NSPC), an amateur softball competition that was drawing significant team sponsorship and talent from the professional game. Stepien fielded the Nationwide Advertising team in the 1981 competition, keeping much of the team together from the 1980 NASL
112:
Brown put together a
Stepien funded team yet again in the Motor City, Detroit Softball City, who played in the UPSL in 1982. The team was led by Charlie Mitchell and Braxton Speller, along with former Caesars Rick Trudeau, Doug Gerdes, Chuck Drewicz, George Birch, Gary Geister and manager Gary Vitto, along with former Auto Kings Matt Partridge and Mike Turk. Detroit Softball City finished second in the division to the
120:, winning the series 3-0 (18-11, 16-15, 18-14) in the first round, and then defeating Cleveland 3–2 in the semi-finals 3-2 (14–7, 6–11, 9–7, 0–11, 17–10). Detroit would lose in the UPSL World Series to Milwaukee 5–1 (9–8, 8–3, 7–10, 13–11, 12–7, 39–6) with the Schlitz led by World Series MVP Dick Laba (.667 BA).
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The APSPL and the NASL had merged to form the United
Professional Softball League in 1981, although only Milwaukee came to the new league from the NASL. No Detroit team played in 1981 in the UPSL. In 1982, former Detroit Caesars executive, former NASL Commissioner and 1981 NSPC Commissioner Robert
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Dana Andry of
Cleveland was the UPSL MVP (.618, 65 HRs, 128 RBIs, 125 Runs, 46-17 pitching) and Charles Mitchell (59 HRs, 133 RBIs) of Detroit made the All-UPSL team. Gary Gesiter (39 HRs, 86 RBIs) and Braxton Speller (29 HRs, 74 RBIS) contributed to the cause. Detroit Softball City and the USPL
107:
team together. Detroit-based Snyder's-Stroh's featured former
Detroit Caesars Rick Trudeau, Gary Geister, Chuck Drewicz and local stand-out Braxton Speller, and finished 3rd behind Cleveland and NSPC champion Howard's Western Steer out of North Carolina in the 1981 NSPC.
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at the
Michigan State Fairgrounds. Softball City was the first privately operated softball complex in the US. Their lease on land at the fairgrounds was not renewed in 1996 when
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disbanded at the end of the season marking the end for men's professional softball in the US as players once again returned to amateur leagues.
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Magazine, Timothy Moore; Timothy Moore's articles have appeared in The
Washington Post; Sports, Inside; publications, other (July 12, 1981).
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elected to pursue a plan for a return of auto racing on the land. The fairgrounds had previously been the home for the
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vetoed legislation to provide funding to the
Michigan State Fair, bringing the 160 year history of the fair to an end.
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in the first professional league, the
American Professional Softball League (APSPL) who played at Memorial Field in
30:. Detroit Softball City played at and was named for a large recreational softball complex on the grounds of the
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489:"THE HOME RUN KING OF SOFTBALL : Crusher Is an Appropriate Nickname for One Who Hit 451 Homers Last Year"
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540:"Softball History USA – This site is dedicated to collecting the history of the great sport of softball"
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85:. That team won two World Series before disbanding at the end of the 1979 season.
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with a record of 36–20 (.661), advancing to the playoffs against the
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442:"National Slo-Pitch Conference (NSPC) – Softball History USA"
634:. September 11, 1982. p. 25 – via newspapers.com.
334:. November 22, 1996. p. 49 – via newspapers.com.
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362:. October 31, 2009. p. 12 – via newspapers.com.
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Softball City alumnus
Braxton Speller, Jr. is a member of
61:. Those plans never came to fruition. In 2009, Governor
95:. The Auto Kings, who also played at Memorial Field in
606:. July 23, 1982. p. 34 – via newspapers.com.
560:. April 7, 1982. p. 63 – via newspapers.com.
394:. June 23, 1980. p. 48 – via newspapers.com.
348:. June 17, 2001. p. 15 – via newspapers.com.
320:. June 12, 1986. p. 69 – via newspapers.com.
288:. June 12, 1986. p. 76 – via newspapers.com.
620:. May 22, 1982. p. 31 – via newspapers.com.
592:. May 24, 1982. p. 45 – via newspapers.com.
222:"Memories of slow pitch softball in Detroit uplifting"
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advanced to the NASL World Series but lost 5-2 to the
274:. June 1, 1976. p. 7 – via newspapers.com.
260:. June 1, 1976. p. 5 – via newspapers.com.
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United States
Slowpitch Softball Association (USSSA)
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Softball City opened in 1976, leasing land from the
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300:"Fairgrounds area may get mixed-use development"
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26:team that played during the 1982 season in the
524:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
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28:United Professional Softball League (UPSPL)
787:Defunct sports clubs and teams in Michigan
772:Sports clubs and teams established in 1982
701:""It's Around Here Someplace""
48:Michigan Department of Natural Resources
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737:ESPN First Broadcast - Journal Sentinel
727:Detroit Caesars on FunWhileItLasted.net
506:Newspapers, Stan Olson, Knight-Ridder.
461:"THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING OF SOFTBALL"
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705:Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com
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572:"Robert Brown – Softball History USA"
508:"SPONSOR BACKS AWAY FROM HIS MONSTER"
463:– via www.washingtonpost.com.
59:Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway
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604:"Clipped From The Courier-Journal"
69:Detroit Softball City team history
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782:Men's professional softball teams
767:Sports clubs and teams in Detroit
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632:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
618:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
590:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
558:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
392:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
360:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
346:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
332:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
318:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
286:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
272:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
258:"Clipped From Detroit Free Press"
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646:"1982 – Softball History USA"
424:"1981 – Softball History USA"
406:"NASL – Softball History USA"
204:"USPL – Softball History USA"
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135:Detroit Softball City record
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722:Detroit Caesars Online Home
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650:www.softballhistoryusa.com
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544:www.softballhistoryusa.com
446:www.softballhistoryusa.com
428:www.softballhistoryusa.com
410:www.softballhistoryusa.com
378:www.softballhistoryusa.com
208:www.softballhistoryusa.com
16:Professional softball team
304:Crain's Detroit Business
180:World Series (runner-up)
118:South Jersey Athletics
732:Softball History Data
114:Cleveland Competitors
42:Softball City history
20:Detroit Softball City
742:Softball History USA
32:Michigan State Fair
22:was a professional
512:chicagotribune.com
93:Detroit Auto Kings
664:"Detroit Caesars"
493:Los Angeles Times
244:www.bigcat844.com
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63:Jennifer Granholm
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89:Ted Stepien
77:formed the
75:Mike Ilitch
55:John Engler
756:Categories
190:References
73:In 1977,
520:cite web
469:cite web
157:Playoffs
154:Division
52:Governor
24:softball
177:Eastern
160:League
36:Detroit
151:Finish
145:Record
183:UPSL
168:39-20
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171:.661
165:1982
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174:2nd
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