THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2008
50 Years In The Making
Niles Baseball Icon Walt Beusse Talks About A Half Century of Fun
By DWIGHT ESAU
Journal Sports
Eddie Olczyk, a kid baseball player...old Jozwiak Park...wool uniforms...appearances by Minnie Minoso, Dick Butkus, Brian Piccolo, and Glenn Beckert...23,000 players over 50 years...
No story of Niles Youth Baseball can be told without the commentary, wit, and insight of Walt Beusse.
Since this year is the NBL's 50th anniversary (chartered in 1958), the Journal thought it fitting to talk to Beusse, who at the same time is celebrating his own 50th anniversary with the village's youth baseball organization.
Beusse is a retired mechanical engineer who refuses to reveal his actual age, but simply calls himself a "senior."
Listen to him talk local baseball lore for a few minutes, and you're convinced that he has forgotten more about the subject than anyone else will ever know.
He not only has served the NBL as a coach, manager, commissioner, board member, and president and now as a financial advisor, he has researched the organization's history and is full of anecdotes and fascinating tidbits.
"I guess umpiring is about the only thing I've never done," he joked in a conversation with the Journal. "I also wonder how our players survived hot summer days wearing the old woolen uniforms we used. Our new uniforms are a good example of progress."
"A big highlight for me was the visits we have had from teams from New York and even the Philippines," he said. "The players stayed in our homes, and my wife and I played host to many of them," he said. "They were talented and disciplined players and young men, and it was exciting and rewarding to have them among us."
Beusse also fondly remembers the players he coached who went on to become prominent professional and amateur athletes and coaches.
"I coached Eddie Olczyk (former Chicago Blackhawk player and now a hockey broadcaster), in baseball and hockey," he recalled.
"We have always had a big, active hockey program (Niles Rangers) here, and Eddie turned out to be one of those who pursued hockey later. We also had Jim and Tom Les in baseball, who became prominent basketball players at Notre Dame High School (Tom now coaches the high school Dons, and Jim is head coach at Bradley University).
"I remember the old Jozwiak field, where we played most of our games in the early years," he said. "I've even counted the names on rosters over the years, and I figure we've had 23,493 kids come through our program, and they played on 2,244 teams, in 50 years."
He also remembers the installation of lights at Jozwiak, and the conversion of it into a Village of Niles maintenance facility and the development of Pioneer Park, previously occupied by St. Hedwig's orphanage, which is now the prime location for NBL games.
He also recalls running out of Major League team nicknames.
"We had to resort to using names of professional football teams as well as animals, Elks, Rams, Seals," he said. "We needed more ball fields as our league expanded. We persuaded Harrig Manufacturing Co. on Howard Street to let us use an empty section of their property. Peanut League parents, managers and players all chipped in and set it up, including an outfield fence."
"Vapor Corporation property, off Howard Street, also was made available to us. We've had excellent support from local businesses and volunteers through the years."
"The league flourishes today with the support of hundreds of volunteers to sustain us in so many areas," he said. The commissioners, board presidents, board members, managers, coaches, and parents have spent thousands of hours to help keep these youngsters occupied during the summer months in a positive way.
"We also need to thank the many, many sponsors over the years for their support, which has helped hold down the cost of registration for our players."