This Guy Can Rise It, Drop It And Pop It At 104 Mph

So, ironically, Stofflet and his ilk have, in effect, been partly responsible for the downfall of fast-pitch softball. By raising pitching to a high art, they've brought the best batters to their knees. It might be thought that able-bodied men from the sandlots of America would want the challenge of fast-pitch; after all, 2 for 10 off Stofflet beats 10 for 10 off the ribbon clerk pitching for Shakey's Bar & Grille any day. But, no, contact is the thing, as Stofflet will tell you and tell you and tell you.

So by the time Stofflet hangs it up, fast-pitch may have even fewer followers than it has today. How many people know the name of Herb Dudley? Does anybody remember Johnny Spring? Stofflet will be enshrined in the Softball Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, but that hall, unlike the one in Cooperstown, is hardly a tourist attraction. Unless the Barbells or some folks in Reading take up a collection, there will probably be no Ty Stofflet Day. As for Joseph Hartmann down at the Ballietsville Inn? No testimonial dinners there.

"I'm not worried about it," says Stofflet. "I've had my moments. That night in New Zealand there were 10,000 people there. I bet I signed 500 autographs, and I bet they never forgot that game. And what I'll remember most over the years is the people who came up to me and said, 'We don't like you just because of your pitching. We've seen you're a good sport and you pay attention to the kids.' That's what I'll remember.

"But once I'm finished with this competition, I'm through. A tour? I don't even know how it could be done, to be honest. I've run around all these years, and when it's over, I'm just going to disappear, know what I mean?"

Probably true. The Stofflet legacy will be preserved only by occasional motorists or Ballietsville Inn diners who happen to be passing down the road and see an old lefty windmilling 'em in to an awestruck catcher. If they park for a moment, they'll hear the sound of ball meeting glove. And they'll hear it plainly. Ol' Ty will still be poppin' even when he stops poppin'. Know what I mean?