By George Honold Originally published in the Journal Gazette on March 13, 1980 Chicago has the Bears, and in a manner of speaking, so does Fort Wayne. The new Fort Wayne softball team in the new men’s North American Softball League was officially christened the Huggie Bears by general manager Don Vickers during a media press conference held Wednesday at the Harley Hotel. If you’re laughing, so did everyone else at first. The Huggie Bear is a candy sucker which is made and man

In the 1940s, long before national TV deals and modern professional leagues dominated the sports landscape, one of the most powerful teams in America wasn’t a baseball club or a basketball franchise. It was a fastpitch softball team in Fort Wayne. They were the Zollner Pistons—and for a remarkable stretch of time, they stood at the very top of the sport. Built by Fred Zollner The story begins with Fred Zollner, a Fort Wayne industrialist whose company, Zollner Corporation, ma

By Chad Gramling - Originally published in the NEIBA Line Drives June 2008 Newsletter During the recent Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball...

Ford Frick Sign in Wawaka, Indiana By Chad Gramling - Originally published in the NEIBA Line Drives September 2011 Newsletter I recently...

By Don Graham - Originally published in the NEIBA Line Drives December 2006 Newsletter Of all the famous baseball players who managed teams in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, not one can equal oor surpass in stature Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx who managed the Fort Wayne Daisies in 1952. Such famous major league players as Bill Wambsganss, Dave Bancroft, John Rawlings, Max Carey, Marty McManus and others have served as managers in the twelve year history of

This article has been written exactly as it appeared in "The Griswold-Phelps Handbook and Guide to Fort Wayne, Indiana (1913-1914). -...