{"id":3909,"date":"2010-03-04T18:43:18","date_gmt":"2010-03-05T01:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=3909"},"modified":"2010-03-04T18:46:19","modified_gmt":"2010-03-05T01:46:19","slug":"someone-to-know-herb-wisdom-si-senor-men%e2%80%99s-fastpitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/?p=3909","title":{"rendered":"Someone to know: Herb Wisdom, Si Senor men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fastpitch"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest from the pen of Bob Otto at his website,
\n<\/strong>“OttoinFocus”<\/strong>\"\"<\/a>
\n(click banner for original news story)<\/em><\/p>\n

Written by Bob on March 3rd, 2010
\n
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fastpitch is still the greatest game in the world.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Herb Wisdom<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

TUMACACORI, ARIZ \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Herb Wisdom had a choice, straddle the saddle or don the catcher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gear.<\/p>\n

He chose the later and has no regrets. But back in 1957, the 18-year-old Arizona cowboy was on his way to following in his dad\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s footsteps as a rodeo cowboy.<\/p>\n

Fastpitch softball? Not on Wisdom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s radar. That is until he enlisted in the Navy. And from 1958 to 1962, during his stint, he played with and against some of the greatest pitchers and players the Armed Forces had to offer.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There were some great, great pitchers,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the 69-year-old Wisdom. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I remember Buck Brown and Jim Hines as two of the great ones. The competition was tough.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

While stationed in Long Beach, Wisdom happened across Red Meairs, who managed the famed Long Beach Nitehawks, winners of 10 International Softball Congress (ISC) World Tournament championships.<\/p>\n

He started playing with the Nitehawks in 1965, embarking on a Nitehawks career that lasted until 1976. During that time he watched, listened, and learned from Meairs, who was inducted into the ISC Hall of Fame in 1988. And he got valuable schooling from Stan White, the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s catcher.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Red was a great, great manager,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wisdom said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He told me something I never forgot. He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcstay in shape, come ready to play, and be on time. See that guy up in the stands? He wants to be a Nitehawk, so you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d better hustle.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Wisdom followed Meairs direction. And as for White, he watched how the ISC Hall of Fame catcher, who was selected as an ISC All-World player 11 times (1951-1963), went about his business.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I learned a lot from him,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Wisdom said.<\/p>\n

After his Navy tour, Wisdom joined the Long Beach Police Department. But after a 20-year career, he retired and moved back home to Tumacacori.<\/p>\n

But his fastpitch career was far from over. He started and managed the Si Senior team that for years played in the ISC World Tournament. And the team is still together today.<\/p>\n

For his long devotion to the game as a player, sponsor, and manager, the ISC inducted Wisdom into the Hall of Fame in 2000 in the Manager\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Category.<\/p>\n

With six decades of fastpitch under his belt, Wisdom has a treasure chest full of memories that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s willing to share.<\/p>\n

How long have you managed and sponsored Si Senor? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Since 1982. And for about 24 years I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve helped place players on ISC teams. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the money to send a team to the World Tournament any more, but I try and get some of my players on teams that are going.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

What do your players tell you after they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve played in a World Tournament? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Once they see those pitchers and players at the World Tournament, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking about wanting to do that again and again.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Tell us about those great Nitehawks\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 players. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There were guys like Nick Hopkins (shortstop) and White, and all those great pitchers. Another great catcher for the Nitehawks was Jim Herrick. Jim will probably not make the Hall of Fame, but other than Tim Wahl (2007 Hall of Fame), I know of no one better.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

You also caught a couple of world-class pitchers in Jimmy Moore and Ty Stofflet. Tell us about them: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I caught Jimmy Moore in the Pan Am tryouts and Stofflet in a couple of tournaments. Moore had pinpoint control. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the hardest thrower, but he put the ball where he wanted at any time and wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afraid to go 0-3 in the count. He never gave into a hitter.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stofflet had the velocity to blow the ball right by you. He had a great change up. He could make it rise \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it was a tremendous pitch. He mixed his pitches up and had unbelievable competitiveness. He wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t back down from any hitter. No one intimidated him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\n(Stofflet was inducted into the ISC Hall of Fame in 1984, and Moore in 1996.)<\/p>\n

Who are some of the sport\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s greatest hitters that top your list? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nick Hopkins, Bill Boyer, Bobby Guy, Tim Wahl, and you have to add Mark Sorenson and Ryan Wolfe.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

What concerns you about the game? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There is NO pitching rule. Today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pitchers are so strong and talented they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to jump out of the circle. Can we change it? No way. It won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happen.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

What don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t people know about you? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve caught Eddie Feigner (King and His Court) and Rosie Black (Queen and Her Maids), where I even wore a wig.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

You had a great fastpitch career, but it seems someone followed in your footsteps. Tell us about your son, Cliff. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cliff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 40 (age) now and still plays second base for Si Senor. He played in the Pan Am\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and was (ISC) All World (1997, second team,.533 batting average). He and David Frank set the example on our team. The younger players see their work ethic and they know they can move up if they work hard.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the make up of your team for 2010? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a good mix. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got some young guys like Buddy Armijo. He plays every position including pitching. Each year he gets better and better. Chris Monico is 21 and hits for power and Mark Tadeo has great speed. Both play the outfield. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to try and make Mark a slapper with his speed.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

What about your pitching? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Daniel Camacho and Peter Zazueta. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re both (age) 24. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve played in the city league as position players, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been learning to pitch. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be hearing about these two kids.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

What kind of schedule will you play? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to play in Las Vegas (April 9-11, NAFA sanctioned tournament run by NAFA Commissioner, Robert Hernandez) and we will be in Poway in June (California Classic, June 19-20). We will play in the NAFA Open \/ AAA (Middleton, Wisc.) July 23-25. And maybe the ASA Major in August.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The ISC World Tournament? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153For us, the ISC World Tournament (Aug. 13-21 in Midland, Mich.) is too long and expensive. My kids can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take that long a time off from work. If it could be cut down to five days, I and others would go.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

What else is keeping you fastpitch busy? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be running a six-team Tucson city league that starts April 8th.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Herb, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve played, managed, and sponsored for so many years. What keeps you going? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen young kids start playing and old guys who still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to give it up. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve formed lifelong friendships. Fastpitch is still the greatest game in the world.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest from the pen of Bob Otto at his website, “OttoinFocus” (click banner for original news story) Written by Bob on March 3rd, 2010 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fastpitch is still the greatest game in the world.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Herb Wisdom TUMACACORI, ARIZ \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Herb Wisdom had a choice, straddle the saddle or don the catcher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gear. He chose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3909"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3909\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fastpitchwest.com\/morningbrief\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}