Ty Stofflet

MTR I get that same feeling whenever I see "Legendary" put in front of a coaches name. That should be reserved for a very few. John Wooden would be one of them.

halskinner said:

Here is a game we will mo longer be able to see. BUT;

IF we could bring Eddie back in his prime AND bring Ty back in time to HIS best year, AND have the best players they ever played with on BOTH teams AND Eddie's team was a full team AND they played a real softball game against each other.

I THINK THAT WOULD BE ONE HECK OF A PITCHER'S DUAL AND WOULD GO EXTRA INNINGS.

I think Eddie was the best at promoting the sport the way he played the game with a 4-man team and playing by their rules. I think he inspired more kids to want to pitch softball than anyone on an international basis.

I never got the chance to see Ty pitch. However, based on 'what I have heard' he was legendary and maybe the best ever when playing by the official rulebook.

As I ungerstand it, Ty is in the softball Hall of Fame for everything he did to help our dport. I think Eddie merits a posthumous induction for everything HE did to help promote our dport.

People will talk about Ty Stofflet after he gone, just like they do about Eddie. I think THAT is what qualifies someone for the 'Legendary' status in a sport.

Man, I would have loved to see them play by the book and against each other.

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Agreed......The Super Bowl of Softball. I'd pay big bucks to see that one.

Eddie was inducted into the National Senior Softball Hall of Fame in 2000.

GOINGDEEP said:

Agreed......The Super Bowl of Softball. I'd pay big bucks to see that one.

Eddie was inducted into the National Senior Softball Hall of Fame in 2000.

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ASA and Eddie did not always see " eye to eye". Obviously, as a "professional"
he and the Court were not eligible for Oklahoma City.

Bill Plummer helped rectify Eddie's legacy when he organized an opportunity for the Court to play
at the Hall of Fame complex in 1998. The game was billed as Eddie's 10,000th game.

Don Porter presented Eddie with a plaque, recognizing Eddie and the Court for
their contributions to the game of softball.

We actually had 5 players present that day.
The King, Eddie Feigner,
Rich Hoppe,( Hop and the Hustlers fame.) from NJ... pitched against Ty many times.
Mike Branchaud (now with Softball Canada)
Jack Knight ( Hollywood actor, remember him from Cheers)
and myself.. when I still had hair.... a mullet lol

WndMillR said:

ASA and Eddie did not always see " eye to eye". Obviously, as a "professional"
he and the Court were not eligible for Oklahoma City.

Bill Plummer helped rectify Eddie's legacy when he organized an opportunity for the Court to play
at the Hall of Fame complex in 1998. The game was billed as Eddie's 10,000th game.

Don Porter presented Eddie with a plaque, recognizing Eddie and the Court for
their contributions to the game of softball.

We actually had 5 players present that day.
The King, Eddie Feigner,
Rich Hoppe,( Hop and the Hustlers fame.) from NJ... pitched against Ty many times.
Mike Branchaud (now with Softball Canada)
Jack Knight ( Hollywood actor, remember him from Cheers)
and myself.. when I still had hair.... a mullet lol

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Do you have any video of the good ole days? Very limited video of Eddie, that I can find.

Thanks for sharing. I bet those were magical times. Put the rumors to rest, did he in fact pitch over 100 mph?

I have allot of footage, and will try and get it out.

The power of the press is amazing......

Our promo posters, that were distributed at locations weeks before an a event,
spoke of 104 mph fastballs and behind the back pitches...
It was always fun to watch the crowd, as Eddie would slowly walk to the mound.
You would hear comments.... he is going throw 104 mph??

The point is, The King and his Court is entertainment.
It is promoted in that manner and we, as the paying customer, get to believe what we think we saw....
As the years move on, stories are passed down and retold....

I wasn't there in 1946 when it all started.....
when it was explained to me how they calculated the actual speed that day, it had something to do with camera man in a moving car,
a horse running a full gallop and a bullet being shot out of a pistol....How they came up with 104 mph....???
Sounds like a great scene in a movie to me...

Eddie did amazing things with a ball.... So did the other fellows ( Hoppe, Branchaud, etc) that followed.
A ball thrown between your legs or behind your back for a strike in the low 60's is something to see...
It will put a smile on your face..... That's why they do it.....

Checkout the web site The Official Site of - The King & His Court: Original 4-Man Softball Team

There is already 20+ games booked this summer...

We're Back!!

Opinions on who is the "best ever" are just that, opinions. They can't be proven. Facts can be introduced to help support a claim and Ty has plenty of facts to support that he could be the greatest ever. He made All ISC in 1967 and again in 1992, 25 years later. Not too many people can stay that good for that long. Like I said about Eddie Feigner, he was a good pitcher. Rich Hoppe is now the King and he is a good pitcher. When you pitch against volunteer firemen and slo pitch teams and the like, you can look real good in a hurry. But neither one of them on their best day was as good as Ty.

Not sure what Eddie would have been against Ty, as that never happened in a real game..

But Hoppe and Ty faced each other plenty times over the years....with Ty winning most.
I asked Rich what he remember about playing against him.... here is his response.

"come on Charlie, a good 20times, just 5 victories though, I lost at
least 5 games that went 15, 17, 21, 22, and a no-hitter into the 9th I
also lost because Ty was perfect (the Bastard, no, He was truly
amazing,) we battled, I was at my peak, back in those days, his backup,
all 6' 10'' of him was no cakewalk, plus they had murderers row, 5
other names who I toed it with, all all american, Metro Zurick(OMG),
Dick Brubaker,ouch, Dick Nurenburg, holy shirt,(6'9'') Carl Lewis, from
Clearwater FLA. to Hull, Quebec, all in my league, one yr I had the
lowest era yet only a 500record, all 1-0 extra inning loses, maybe my
best games ever pitched, plus mvp in the world games in Hull circa
72.......I actually do come from an amazing time in the annals of
fastball, I could write for the next couple of hrs bout the legends I
got to play n drink with, starting in the midwest 1964, but you get it,
this next period of my life will be my best performances ever as that
injury to my leg, redoubled my passion n drive....so world, here I come"

Hi All,

I just happened to google Ty Stofflet as we were watching the Women's 2010 World Cup Softball Championship between US and Japan. My dad spoke highly of both Ty and Eddie. He was proud to have gotten a foul ball off of Eddie. I never saw Ty pitch, but I had the pleasure of watching his daughter pitch High School, as they lived in the Lehigh Valley. She was fast, and I didn't realize it was his daughter and someone mentioned it. Anyway, like someone said, perhaps trying to compare apples and oranges. Why compare. They were both great pitchers.
Funny related story; I followed Sandy Koufax as a kid, read some of his books. A couple of years ago, one of my running buddies had a Sandy Koufax book aside of him, and I overheard him mention that he was going to get it autographed. I laughed and sais, "Yea right! not THE Sandy Koufax!" He said, "Yea, he's my next door neighbor". It gave me the chills.

I had the privilege of pitching against Ty Stofflet in the "70's" and saw him up close numerous times and I thought he was the best, primarily because of his statistics, such as life time wins at the ASA Nationals where he was light years ahead of all of us in total wins. Regarding Eddie Feigner, I had team-mates that competed against him in an exhibition that hit him without much trouble and stepped out of the game to preserve his lime-light position. In fairness to Eddie, he was not in his prime at that time; but could still make slow- pitch and lower level fastpitch players look foolish. I would be part of the group that would say that you are not comparing apples to apples. I can think of an awful lot of pitchers through the years that could throw a lot of zeroes on the board for a lot longer time than Eddie probably could have!! JMO

halskinner said:

How would Ty have done with being the pitcher on a 4 man team? Against Eddie with his 4 man team? HMMM.

CT-TEXAS.COM

SneakySoftballPitching.com

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Hal, I don't think what I said carried any weight with you at all (my teammates were there playing against Eddie around 1975 ) or you wouldn't have posed such a question. Eddie was primarily a showman most of his career. His statistics are mostly meaningless based on the kind of competition he faced. If Ty ( who himself was a great hitter and the best fielding pitcher of all time ) would have had his 1st baseman ( we called him donut head ) and two other teammates in 1975 ( 1975 was one of the many years that Ty's team won the ASA Open Nationals ) in a 4 man team game against Eddie's team, trust me, it would have been no contest. I'll tell you again- comparing the two is " not comparing apples to apples ". ( Just my not so humble, and I think informed opinion.) Also Hal, there is no comparison between "the best Open Division Pitchers and the best A Division Pitchers".