Fastpitch Bulletins to be archived online at Fastpitchwest.com
1984. No, not George Orwell’s 1984. Fastpitch, circa 1984. None of Clyde Bennett’s Young Buck 23-and-under-players had even been born. But fastpitch was going full throttle, and being covered in the “Fastpitch Bulletin” by the late Ray Anderson and his ace reporter, the late Betty Stout (wife of Roy Stout). There were no computers to speak of back then, nor an internet to post the news on. It was a typwriter with a lot of time and patience that Ray used to put the Bulletin together and see that it got out to subscribers every month. A true labor of love. A year’s (first class mail) subscription was $12.50. That translates to $1.04 per issue. As you can see from the stamps on some of these issues, it was 54 cents to mail them back in 1984. Add in the xeroxing costs, and, well, you get the idea.
As I wrote on our “About Fastpitchwest” some ten years ago, the Fastpitch Bulletin played a big role in the establishment of this website:
The publication of FastpitchWest began in 1998, with the hope of helping to promote the game, teams and players of fastpitch, particularly those in Southern California and the West. In doing so, we pay appropriate homage to some of the people who have been, for the longest time, the “keepers of the flame”, ensuring that we in the world of fastpitch get our requisite dose of information about the exploits of our favorite players and teams: the late Ray Anderson, whose “Fastpitch Bulletins” still occupy an honored corner of my garage, and his top writer, the late Betty Stout who covered the game for years during the 1970’s and ’80’s. Bob Tomlinson, picked up the torch, and published the Fastpitch Chronicle serving as the “bible” of information for fastpitch for years (and now publishes it online)
We are currently in the process of archiving those old Fastpitch Bulletins, for our readers, filling in gaps with the help of co-NAFA founder and current ISC VP Jim Williamson. We will be adding a new section to the website, with menu buttons and all, but thought you might enjoy a sneak preview of some of the old issues. They are all in PDF format, so you’ll need Adobe Reader, but most computers have that nowadays. The first batch is from 1984, courtesy of Jim Williamson. (note the mailing label on the last page)
Last year, we were the successful bidder on eBay for the entire set of Bob Tomlinson’s Fastpitch Chronicles, and have spoken with Bob about a joint venture to make them available here, and at his site, the Fastpitchchronicle.com as well. That task is a bit more daunting, due to the fact that most issues of the Fastpitch Chronicle were published in “full newspaper format”, and therefore, do not fit in conventional 8.5 x 11″ scanners. But scan them we will, and look forward to making them available to fastpitch fans around the world.
We hope you enjoy this bit of fastpitch history. Like the players written about inside, the issues are a little worn around the edges, but with plenty of great stories to tell.
Comments welcome, jim (at) fastpitchwest (dot) com.
Click links below — but please be patient, the files are VERY large and take a little time to load, even on a high speed connection. Not sure where we’re going to house all of the issues, but we’ll figure it out as we go.
Fastpitch Bulletin – January 1984
Fastpitch Bulletin – February 1984
Fastpitch Bulletin – March 1984
(some issues still loading on Friday afternoon)
Watch this blog for further issues and information on the archives.