Reporting by Isabella Russomanno, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mark Hare had never touched a softball before joining Milwaukee’s Saturday Softball League nearly 20 years ago.
“I walked in, said ‘I don’t know how to play,’” Hare said. “They said, ‘We don’t care, welcome to the team, have a beer.’”
Now, the league that welcomed Hare, 62, and his then-partner with open arms has entered its 50th season. And Hare is its assistant commissioner.
“I am so proud to be part of this organization as it hits this milestone,” Hare said.
Originally named the Saturday Softball Beer League, SSBL Milwaukee was founded in 1977, attracting membership via word-of-mouth in the city’s gay bar scene at a time when being openly gay was risky.
With the founding of SSBL, Milwaukee became one of the first cities to start a gay softball league alongside San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. It was a founding member of International Pride Softball, or “iPride,” an association of gay softball leagues in America and Canada.
In the league’s early days, games were held at Mitchell Park behind the Mitchell Domes. Advertisements distributed in local gay bars are now featured in the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project’s archives.
Today, the SSBL is the only LGBTQ-oriented softball league in Wisconsin, according to the league’s website.
The league is open to those 18 and older and offers three divisions based on player experience and comfort level. During its season, which runs May through August, the league hosts games at Wilson Park and offers skills clinics to its nearly 190 players.
Mike Westley, the league’s umpire-in-chief who joined when he was 19 years old, recalled the tensions involved with playing gay softball during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. This is Westley’s 45th year with the league.
“People were very hidden back then,” Westley said. “They were not as out and as proud as we are right now.”
As part of a rebrand this year, SSBL’s new slogan is “Bridging our past to our future,” which league commissioner Kurt Baldwin said is intended to remind players of the challenges its founding players faced.
Baldwin said the league combats the stereotype that members of the LGBTQ community are not athletic.
Some older players who can no longer participate on the field continue to manage teams, keep the scorebooks and cheer from the sidelines.
Melinda Grabowski, 70, also known as the “Queen Bee,” is the manager of the “Stingers” team. With her bee-themed jersey, visor and socks, she is an SSBL fixture who started playing in Milwaukee-area bar leagues when she was 18 years old.
“This is family. Everybody knows everybody,” Grabowski said.
While the league was originally created for the LGBTQ community, she reiterated that the league is for people of all backgrounds.
“I think that most people think of SSBL as a ‘gay’ league, and it’s not, it’s an everybody league,” Grabowski said. “We let anybody in, and no matter your skill level, we’ll show you how to play.”
Gasper “Casper” Garcia, 80, began playing in the league during its early years and was profiled by the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project in May. He said league members often volunteer at American Family Field and engage with the community outside of games.
“SSBL stands for a lot more than just ‘softball league,’” Garcia said.
Hare, the assistant commissioner, said it is important for any metropolitan area to have an LGBTQ-inclusive softball league.
“There’s a need for us, especially in this political climate,” Hare said. “People travel from Illinois, from Madison, from north of the city, so it tells us that we’re doing what we need to be doing right now.”
The SSBL will host its 48th national Dairyland Classic tournament July 10-12 at Wirth Park in Brookfield and Kelly’s Bleachers in Big Bend. Between 30 and 40 teams from across the country are expected to participate.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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