From the Modesto Bee
Editor’s note: Nice honor for one of California’s best ever pitchers, Steve Padilla. Before he became a great pitcher at the open level, Steve pitched the 1982 Tee House team from Turlock CA to the 1982 ASA “A” National title in Albuquerque. I remember that one well, as it was my first ever national tournament, pitching with the late Ted Jensen’s Phase Alloy Miner team. We went 2-2 in that one, and were not playing on the final day. We did though, get to see Padilla and his Tee House teammates enroute to their championship. There were intermittent thunderstorms in Albuquerque that year, with huge, dark storm clouds that created a dramatic backdrop for the final games. It was a large crowd that filled the bleachers and circled the outfield fence, with Padilla at center stage. Interesting side note mentioned in the article: Of the 370 members of the National Softball Hall of Fame, less than 100 are men.
Editor’s note 2: The HOF ceremony is actually in Louiville, not Oklahoma City as reported below.
Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/sports/article41886018.html#storylink=cpy
Los Banos native and current Manteca resident is one of eight members of the Class of 2015
Padilla helped Tee House out of Turlock to the 1982 Class A fast pitch national crown
There was a time when men’s fast-pitch softball dominated the local sports landscape. Those days may be long gone, but they’re not forgotten.
Los Banos native Steve Padilla, who resides in Manteca, will be inducted in the ASA/USA National Softball Hall of Fame on Saturday in Oklahoma City.
“I didn’t know how big a deal it was,” said Padilla, a 1971 graduate of Los Banos High School who attended Cal Poly San Louis Obispo on a cross country scholarship. “And then my phone started blowing up.”
Family, friends and old teammates were well aware of the significance of the honor. And they called him to tell him as much. Of the 370 members of the National Softball Hall of Fame, less than 100 are men. He is one of eight members of the Class of 2015.
Padilla was introduced to the sport by his brothers.
“A couple of them played, and I just started hanging around the fast pitch diamonds and got hooked,” he said. “My brother, Ed, was pitching and pretty much started me. And I just picked everybody’s brain. I was a student of the game.”
Padilla helped Tee House out of Turlock to the 1982 Class A fast pitch national crown while earning All-America honors. Soon after, he made the jump to men’s Major Division fast pitch, where he joined the Merced-based California Kings.
In 1984, the Kings won the national championship as Padilla earned MVP honors and another All-America nod, going 5-0 and giving up just one earned run in the national tournament.
“Both times, with the ’82 and ’84 teams, we lost our first game and had to win 10 straight out of the loser’s bracket to win the title,” said Padilla.
Padilla’s playing career included stints with powerhouses such as Guanella Brothers (Santa Rosa) and NorCal Merchants (Stockton), and for the U.S. national team at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, were he helped the U.S. to a silver medal. He also competed in five U.S. Olympic Festivals.
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