Elgin's 1982 champs were the true defintion of team
Over the last 10-15 years, club sports have changed dramatically. No one would argue that.
In 1982, summer baseball wasn't even called a "club" sport. And the term "traveling team" had yet to really be used. No, in 1982 summer baseball, at least for 13 to 15 year olds in Elgin, was called the Teener League. Eight teams played a schedule of about 20 games at Trout Park on the city's northeast side and then an all-star team was chosen to represent the league and the city in the Babe Ruth postseason -- Babe Ruth being to 13-15 year olds what Little League was to those 12 and younger.
There were few to no players in the Elgin Teener League who lived outside of Elgin. Of course, in 1982, Elgin pretty much stopped at Randall Road to the west and Illinois 59 to the east and each town outside of Elgin had its own league and all-star team.
That's why what the Elgin Teener all-stars did in 1982 was so special. That group of 15 young men captured the hearts of Elgin and the Fox Valley area by marching to the championship of the 31st Annual Babe Ruth World Series, held in Manchester, N.H. And trust me, it wasn't a "national" as we now know it in summer baseball and softball, where you can go just to go. The 1982 Elgin Teeners had to win at the district, sectional and state levels as well as the Ohio Valley Regional before they could head to "nationals."
And that's just what that group of Elgin baseball players did 25 years ago. They'll celebrate and reminisce about those times on Sunday from 5-9 p.m. when they get together at the Prairie Rock in Elgin.
Taking a walk down that 25-year old Memory Lane with the team's manager, Bob Nelson, earlier this week was a refreshing break from the reality of what club sports have become today. It was a time to recall the heart and passion that group showed, especially after losing its first game in the World Series then coming back to win 7 games in 7 days to capture the championship.
"The biggest thing to me is that every kid on that team can look back on something they did in the World Series and they can say 'I did something to help the team,'" said Nelson, who will also celebrate his 70th birthday at Sunday's party. "To me, that's the most gratifying aspect of what we achieved."
This is a story that actually began in 1979, when many of the same players who won the Babe Ruth title in '82 helped Elgin National Little League to a state championship. They fell short of advancing to the Little League World Series but then, in 1980, they did advance to 13-year old World Series for Babe Ruth teams. But two quick losses sent them home and left them yearning for more, which they got in 1982.
"The more you reflect back on it the more I realize what an incredible experience the whole thing was," said Lee Sotos, who hit a dramatic two-out, 2-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Nashville, Tenn., a victory that allowed Elgin a chance to win the final game against Nashville.
"It wasn't just a one-day event that was remarkable in your life, it was a whole summer. All of us were really blessed to be a part of it."
The tournament trail started easy enough for Elgin as it romped through the district and sectional levels. A loss to Mt. Greenwood at state put Elgin in a win-or-be-done situation but the team, sponsored by Razor's Edge in Elgin, came back and beat Mt. Greenwood twice for the state title. They then disposed of the competition in the Ohio Valley Regional played in Niles, Mich., including a Detroit West Seven team many thought would be Elgin's match.
"That's the game I remember most, when we beat that Detroit West Seven team," said Brian Corn, who went on to become the MVP of the World Series, both for his amazing pitching and incredible hitting. "They were so cocky, and they had all their chants."
Beating that Detroit team sent the Teeners to Manchester for the World Series, but losing to the host team 7-6 in nine innings in the World Series opener left Elgin with its back against the wall.
"Not only losing the first game, but losing to the host team … we couldn't have felt like crawling in a hole more," said Jim Limberis, Elgin's third baseman, who went on to play at the University of Chicago with Sotos, where they were college roommates. "We just buckled down and when we got that first win the confidence started to grow."
The first win wasn't easy. Elgin beat a team from Brooklyn, N.Y. 11-10 in eight innings, a win that came with a little luck as Brooklyn dropped a pop up off the bat of Brian Lye that could have sent Elgin home.
"Rodney (Hondo) Taylor had hit a shot earlier in the game that tore the webbing out of the first baseman's glove and then later that kid dropped (Lye's) pop up," recalled Nelson, whose son David is now a lawyer in Chicago, while daughter Edie is an elementary school teacher in Huntley and son Bill a doctor here in Elgin who is married to Limberis' sister Magda, who he started dating at the World Series in 1982.
Want a little more "family" feeling from that team? Nelson's son David is married to the former Chris Gullickson. They met, appropriately, at Bill and Magda's wedding.
As the tournament continued, Elgin just kept on winning, right until that final day when Sotos' home run -- "I'll never forget it," Nelson says -- catapulted the Teeners into the title game
Behind the left arm of Todd Opsahl, Elgin won that final game 8-6, getting a solo home run from Limberis in the top of the seventh as insurance.
"I'm not a big believer in destiny but as I listen to the tapes at times (those games were broadcast live on Elgin's WRMN radio station)," Nelson says with a gleam in his eye, "you just got the feeling as the week went on that something good was going to happen. There's a lot of good memories. It was like it was meant to be."
One of Nelson's favorite memories came in a 2-1 win over Pittsburg, Kan., and had little to do with any play on the field but the act of an Elgin doctor, Jim Limberis' dad Dr. T.G. Limberis, who passed away recently.
"Jimmy hit a ball and the Pittsburg outfielder hit his face against the fence," Nelson recalled. "I can close my eyes and still see 'Doc' walking out to center field to help that kid."
That's probably because from players to coaches to fans, this was the true definition of a team.
"It was a wonderful experience and it was probably that feeling of a team that really sticks out," said Jim Limberis, who lives in Sleepy Hollow. "There were some outstanding players but everyone appreciated everyone else on the team. Everybody from 1-15 contributed."
One of those outstanding players was Corn, who went on to star at Elgin High and earned a baseball scholarship to Eastern Illinois University, where his career was cut short due to arm problems. In that World Series, Corn won three games on the mound and was 13-for-27 at the plate. Today, Corn is a 16-year veteran of the Bartlett Fire Department, lives in Kirkland and has coached his 10-year old son Will, who next summer will play for the highly competitive Wasco 11U program.
"I've still got three or four trophies from back then that (Will) sees and asks about," said Corn, who also has a younger daughter, Hannah. "We were all friends, we played with and against each other and we all knew each other.
Sotos, who of course made the 1982 all-tournament team along with Corn, Lye and Opsahl, couldn't agree more.
"We were all from the same league and the same town and everybody knew everybody," said Sotos, who now lives in Lake Forest, has two young daughters and works in asset management for UBS in Chicago.
We'll finish this walk down Memory Lane with Sotos' recollection of his home run that saved the day for Elgin and put the Teeners in position to win that final game.
"I don't know if it's even the home run," he said. "I almost don't remember that part. But I still have a vision of that pitch coming in. I remember that more than anything. And the second game (against Nashville) … I remember that so well because we had been through so much after losing that first game (to Manchester)."
And now, 25 years later, they will all get a chance to relive what was one of the most memorable summers in Elgin baseball history.