The Chelsea Softball League held its Opening Day ceremonies Sunday morning at the Chelsea High School softball field.
The 12-team league, which plays its games on Sundays, is under the capable direction of Minerva Cruz, who Chelsea sports fans will remember well as the outstanding athlete and volleyball player (Minerva still plays in an Everett league) who graduated from Chelsea High in 1990, a classmate of heavyweight champion John Ruiz.
Minerva deserves a lot of credit for not only keeping this great tradition of men’s softball alive in the city but for organizing a women’s league as well that plays its games on Saturdays at the field.
Chelsea sports fans will remember the glory days of the Chelsea Municipal Fast Pitch League when crowds would pack the old Carter Park and the former Chelsea Modified Fast Pitch Softball League that played its games at Highland Park and later at Carter Park.
Such softball legends as Bobby Halas, Bill Palladino, Eddie McCarthy, Homer Norton, Thomas Fay II, Bucky Cole, Kenny Lava, the late Arnold Goodman, who served so admirably as president, the late Tommy Phillips, and the late Ricky Gallant, who was a home run hitting force.
Those were the days when Chelsea softball was king and we’re so happy to see Minerva Cruz leading the league and creating enjoyment for the players, their fans, and their families for softball, a wonderful recreational activity that like baseball, is a national – and Chelsea – pastime.
Thank you, Minerva Cruz, for all you doing for the city of Chelsea and its softball players.