Goofy's still serves up softball memories

For some 20 years between about 1970 and 1990, a tradition built both fond memories and relationships that last to this day.

It centered around a tavern, but really had little to do with quaffing the suds they served up from behind the bar.

Goofy's Tavern in Cheney joined many other establishments in the area by sponsoring a softball team that played modified fast pitch.

Even though their once dark and long hair has faded into grey, and their shaggy facial hair gone - or at least a more respectable length and look - the players recently got together to remember the past with a reunion.

Eight players from that era showed up - Barry Kato, Mondo Garza, John Hanke, John Olp, Jim Perez, Tom Whitfield, John Gamon and Greg Dempsey - to turn back the clock.

Perez and Hanke then sat down to take some of the stories a little further and tell why this was not just a bunch of guys going out to have fun.

"In the early '70s you could go down to Salnave Park any night of the week and there would be an enormous crowd," Hanke said. "It was a social happening. I would take the kids down there whether we had a game or not."

It was inexpensive entertainment for young families and the park was as busy as a beehive.

The team, and their next door neighbor bar, Bill's Tavern, were quite the rivals in those days and engaged in for-fun softball games that are largely forgotten in the minds of many, except those who played.

One year Bill's went to nationals and placed fifth. The irony is Goofy's beat them three times that year.

"That was our bragging rights, " Perez said. "Yeah, you can go to nationals but you can't beat us."

Nor was Bill's able to find a way in another game, where the exact year may be a matter of conjecture, but how it all played out certainly was not.

"We still talk about those games," Perez said. "And sooner or later one game comes up."

The two played in a game that went into extra innings with Goofy's winning 1-0.

With the game scoreless and at both its innings and time limit, the umpire was ready to call it a game. But both teams waiting to play the next game said "no."

"The play of the game was (made by) our left fielder, Greg Dempsey," Hanke said.

A ball hit by Bill's Jim Sooy was sailing towards home run territory.

"He literally reached over the fence (and stole a home run) - I have no idea how he got back there fast enough - that would have been the winning run," Hanke said. Dempsey took out a portion of the fence, too.

Goofy's winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning was much less dramatic, coming from a generally routine infield hit that allowed Larry Brown to score from second base.

The team rarely traveled outside the immediate Spokane/West Plains area, but there was always some team that wanted to see if they could beat this bunch of self-described rag-tags who were lucky to have matching team shirts, let alone the matching pants and jackets some of their opponents had.

"You talk about a grubby bunch of guys," Hanke said.

But wives and children aside, they had their special group of fans.

"There were three elderly gentlemen who came to watch us play," Perez said. Likely in their late 70s, "they thoroughly loved to watch us play."

Modified fast pitch was the next best thing to baseball, Perez and Hanke said. The game featured the hitting found in slow pitch, the pitching in fast pitch and the strategy of baseball.

"It was much better than fast pitch, or slow pitch," Hanke said.

The guy's softball team morphed into a co-ed volleyball team that was pretty darn competitive, too.

"And there was a women's softball team that was spawned partly from the guys playing together," Perez said.

"A lot of times we would reverse the tables and instead of them watching us we'd go watch them play and watch the kids," Perez said.

Breaking down the gender barriers was one thing the Goofy's team did, but they were also very culturally diverse, too - Hispanic, Asian, American Indian and African-American, the Goofy's team had it all.

"We had less Caucasians, we were the minority," Hanke said with a chuckle.

The Goofy's bunch had a lot of fun Perez said.

"But we didn't always follow the rules," he added. "We didn't break too many but we bent them a bit," he said referring to alcohol use at games.

During the game, whenever they were not on the field, players would huddle around one of the vehicles that had the beer coolers.

"The Cheney Parks and Rec (Department) tried to impose 'the Goofy's rule,'" Perez said. "That said, when you were not at bat as a team, or not on the field, the team had to be on the bench."

"When they did that there were a lot of Coke cans on the bench," Hanke said.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].