Pikesville Men's Softball League Early Years History
(this page is in progress of development)

In 1971, a pick-up softball game began on Sunday mornings at Pikesville Junior High School -- now known as Pikesville Middle School. Two distinct group of friends, the Hunky Funky Junkies (managed by Jeff Rubin) and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir of Pikesville (run by Skip Millison, Brian Keller, and Joey Feldman) met up on a summer Sunday afternoon to see which team was the best. The 2 groups commonly saw one another at a nightclub called the Hollywood Palace. Someone had the idea to call WJZ, channel 13, to tell them that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was in town for a charity softball game. Apparently a film crew was actually sent to Pikesville Middle School Field #2 to report. Despite the 'wrong' Mormon Tabernacle team on the field, highlights of the game were shown on the news that evening. By the way, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir team won the opener 6-4. The 2 teams showed up to play again the following Sunday and something was brewing.

Within a couple of years, too many players were showing up for just 1 game, so 4 teams were formed and the league grew from there. The league was loosely organized until Ira Gershman took the lead, with league games starting in about 1974. The 2 original teams were joined by Hair Garage (managed by Michael Libertini), Reed Street Ramblers, and Merry-Go-Round (run by Boogie Weinglass and Charles Benjamin).

By 1977, the league had 12 teams playing on the 4 fields at Pikesville Junior High School (Pikesville Middle School) and 2 games at Pikesville Senior High School (Pikesville High School). The games at the High School had outfielders from one field with their backs to the outfielders from the other field. Commonly games would be held up momentarily when a long shot came into play from the other field. However, with wooden bats and just primitive aluminum bats, there was not much problem playing the games on adjacent fields at the High School.

The league remained at 12 teams through the 1990 season. With 12 teams, the league was divided into 2 divisions. You would play each of the 5 other teams in your division 4 games each season and you would play the 6 teams in the other division 2 games-- a 32 game season most of the time. Make-up games were sometimes played on Wednesday evenings until about 1986. Up until 1983, the Tournament was played in 1 day and was single elimination.

During the 1980's, Pimlico Hotel was the dominant team and won several Regular Season and Tournament championships. Among their star players was pitcher Izzy Carroll, who pitched in the league until about 1992 when he was in his mid 70's. Teammates on the Pimlico Hotel team included Marc Appel, Robert Dubansky, and Elon Merkel.

Lou Greenfeld was a team manager in the mid 1970's and one of his teammates from 1976-78 was Paul Bell. Bell would leave the team after 3 season to join up with the Stan "the Fan" Charles team in 1980 that had David "Spider" Seidel pitching and David Jaskulsky, Mark Mignono, Stick Klein, Skip Millison, and others. Stan 'the fan' managed Manny Mota's from 1978-84. The team  would later become known as Marley Station, but it soon after assumed the name Attman's Deli (later they would also get sponsorship from Jilly's Restaurant in Pikesville). Stu Tabb was the manager in 1985, but Tabb retired after the 1985 season and Paul Bell took over as manager of Attman's Deli in 1986. Bell, the father of Northwest Corridor 2B Matt Bell, led the Attman's Deli dynasty through 2001. During his 16 year tenure behind the bench, Attman's Deli had an impressive record of 401-99. In that period, ace pitcher Bruce Eisenberg was 269-63. During Attman's 33-3 season in 1989, Eisenberg was a perfect 17-0, while his counterpart Skip Millison was 16-3.

When Paul Bell retired as manager after Attman's 2001 Tournament championship, it took 2 guys to replace him -- Dave Sandler and Robbie Ressin. The duo did help lead Attman's to the Finals again in 2002, but they were defeated in the final game by Quizno's. The Attman's team remained strong with Bruce Eisenberg on the mound thru the 2003 campaign, but with Eisenberg retired in 2004, the team finished under .500 for the first time in their franchise history. The Attman's team (then known as the City Crab Turtles or Jilly's Under Armour) disbanded following the 2004 season. Sandler rejoined the Kings, a team he had played for throughout 1991-98.

Greenfeld was also the League Commissioner during the early 1980's, turning the job over to Paul Blinken in about 1986. Blinken was also a team member of the Attman's Deli squad. Blinken remained Commissioner through the 1993 season, with Mike Herr assuming the role to begin the 1994 season.

Throughout the 1980's and early 90's, some of the older players from Pikesville Men's Softball League went over to the over-35 Deer Park Softball League (run by Allen Schiff). From 1994-1998, there was a post-season All-Star game between the Pikesville All-Stars and the Deer Park All-Stars. Members from every team in both leagues were selected. The games were played the first 4 years at Summit Park Elementary School, a neutral site. In 1998, the doubleheader moved to Deer Park Middle School. The Pikesville league held an 8 games to 2 advantage during the 5 All-Star game doubleheaders. Unfortunately, the Deer Park League folded up after their 2000 season.

With the start of the new millennium, a changing of dominance was also occurring on the fields. The offensive powerhouses were Quizno's Owings Mills (known as Money Mailer during much of the 1990's) and the Havana Club Cannons (known as the Black Sox during their early years in the late 1980's). Both of those franchises began league play in the 1980's with the continuing force of Quizno's represented by Larry Henderson and for the Cannons, Gerry Edelman. Quizno's had advanced to the Finals in 1993, 1994, and 2001, but had lost each time. They did finally come away with Tournament wins in 2002 and 2003 under the leadership of Andrew Rosenstein, with Larry Henderson still involved as an assistant coach and catcher. The Cannons, meanwhile, reached the top with a Regular Season title in 1998 and a Tournament championship in 1999. Among the champions on the 1999 team was Michael Dubansky, son of Robert Dubansky, a 4 time league champion-- the Dubansky's became the first father-son generation champions of different eras. The Cannons had their own father/son champions on the 1999 team as father Gerry celebrated with son and teammate Johnny. The Cannons remained under the leadership of Gerry Edelman until 2004 when Neal Charkatz took charge. With Charkatz at the helm, the Cannons won the Regular Season in his first 4 season and won the Tournament title 3 out of his first 4 seasons.

The Kings celebrated their 20th season of play in 2008. The Kings were never the dominant team of the league, but have finished many of their Regular seasons in 2nd or 3rd place. The franchise has had a record of .500 or better in 19 of their 20 seasons. The team advanced to the Finals in their 3rd season of play and have been to the Finals a total of 8 times, winning 3 Championships (1993, 1996, 2005). The team has a record of 409-217 during their 20 years of play. Mike Herr has been the manager for 401 of those wins (as of August 10, 2008) and hopes to surpass Paul Bell (401-99) for the all time managerial wins total in the Kings 2008 Finals against the Cannons.

A group of 2nd generation players are now part of the league. In addition to the father/son Edelman and Dubansky duos mentioned above, other father/son lineages include Paul & Matt Bell (current member of Northwest Corridor), Sheldon & David Stein (current member of Northwest Corridor), Dave & Brooks Sandler (Kings), Larry (Stingers) and  Alex Newman (Sky & Sky), Carl & Jeremy Helfand (both former players of Rue Rue's Raiders), Mark & Eric Radom (AR Bodies), Morty & Brad Marcus (Northwest Corridor). The league has remained at 8 or 9 teams since moving to the 4 diamond softball complex at Northwest Regional Park in 2004.

Recollections of Gerry Edelman -- longtime manager of Black Sox/Havana Club Cannons and father of Cannons outfielder Johnny Edelman

In 1981 I first played in the league. Ted Siegel was the manager, but in the first games on Sunday mornings he did not play and we never lost. Don Weinapple was our 19 year old shortstop, and we had Buzz Hiken pitching while he fought off testicular cancer. I swear he was green from the chemo therapy. I played third base and Mark Weinapple played center field, with Gar Heird (six foot six) a long stretch at first base. We had 8 or more shutouts, but won no championships.

1983 + 1984 Louis Greenfeld managed the "greenies" to best record championships....playoffs 50% wins and losses Excellent players included Dave Desser, Lee Eidelberg, Joe Friedman, Sheldon Stein, Jeff Ruben, Mike (Doc) Miller, Louis Greenfeld. and Mark Taubenfeld.

1986 Gerry Edelman managed "Fader's Dominicans" former greenies, to runner up in playoff championship. 1989 the Towson Black Sox at 13-18 defeated Paul Bell's 30-1 team, which got them knocked out the following week to Richard Berger's club. 1989 was also Tom Paulshock's first year in the league, although he was unavailable in the playoffs.

Recollections of Marc Appel -- league member from 1977-early 1990's. Served as team manager and general manager of the Bombers. The Bombers, in 1983, were the first to win both the Regular Season and Tournament titles.

I found a few old notes from the Pikesville Men's league which refreshed my memory. I joined the league in, I believe, 1977. My notes reflect that the league had 12 teams beginning 1977 and that no team which had the best record during the season won the tournament until 1983.

In 1979 we (Appel) defeated a team that John Axel pitched for in the championship game. At that point the playoffs were single elimination. Double elimination in the playoffs started in 1983. The standings came out each week for a time only in the coaches names, but each team had names as we were the Bombers.

I believe we(Appel) had the best record in 1980, but lost in the finals to a team Buzz Hiken pitched for. Ted Seigel was the coach.

In 1981 & 1982 a team I called Pimlico Hotel (Elan Merkel was the coach) won the Playoffs and once again, I thought we (Appel) had the best regular season record. I know in 1981 we(Appel) were 34-4 and in 1982 30-8 during the season. I have an old final regular season standing in 1982 showing we had the best regular season record.

In 1983 I thought we (Appel) had the best record and won the playoffs beating a team Gary Berlin pitched for. I was surprised to see Greenies listed as the regular season champ, but there were two divisions and I know we won our division and I thought we had a better record than the other division winner. I remember at that time the team spoke about being the first team to win the Regular Season and Playoffs with the league having more than a couple of teams.

Robert Dubansky joined our team in 1983. I was the coach thru 1986. I decided to stop coaching and Robert took over in 1987.

I don't remember the team which won the playoffs in 1984, but I remember them. They had a losing record during the year.

I can't believe it was 30 years ago I started playing in the Pikesville men's league.

Recollections of Harry Schevker -- 9 year veteran of the Attman's Deli / Jilly franchise

E-Mail : harry00@comcast,net

Years in the league 1996-2004

Teams- Attmans 1996-2001 Jilly’s 2001-2003- Sky and Sky 2004 then retired.

I would like to take this time to thank Mike Herr for his tremendous dedication to running the Pikesville Men’s Softball League. Mike has dedicated himself to growing and maintaining the Pikesville Softball League for years. I never played in a softball league that had its own website, statistics, and pictures. Mike I want to take this opportunity to thank you for a JOB WELL DONE!

My first year in the league was 1996 and Paul and I had a mutual friend who asked me if I was interested in playing modified fast pitch softball. Well, I had played slow pitch for many years but never thought about fast pitch, so I gave it a try.

Paul and I had played on teams before and I enjoyed playing with Paul, so I was looking forward to it. My nickname was “Slinky” and the minute I walked onto that field everyone on the team greeted me as “Slinky” and welcomed me to the team. I thought to myself, this is pretty cool they know my nickname. Wow!

We played our asses off because that's how Paul played. He was unselfish and we played unselfishly! We played as a team; everyone picked each other up, no finger pointing, arguing, or selfishness. We had a lot of talented ballplayers, but we played as a team…. That's why we were so successful.

Paul thanks for the opportunity to belong to something special I will never forget the years I played for you!

Harry Schevker

Recollections of Morty Marcus -- 25 year veteran of Gers, Appel, Marcus, and Attman's Deli.

E-Mail : morton.marcus@cms.hhhs.gov

Years in the league 1975-2000

Teams- Stan Charles-- The Gers Marc Appel Ira Gershman (2 weeks) Stu Tabb Myself (Managed 1 year) Paul Bell

Hey Everyone-- My name is Morty Marcus. The Pikesville Softball League was an integral part of my life for over 25 years. Around 1975, I received an invitation from my cousin Joel Marcus to play a doubleheader of 7-inning softball games on Sunday mornings. I figured this would be a great diversion from basketball which I played probably 5 times a week. That first year our team stunk to high heavens. Stan Charles took over the management of the team the 2nd year and we were called the 6'ers. However, the team shirt was so poorly fashioned that the "6" looked like a "G" so everyone called us the "Gers." We were competitive for a few years, although we never competed for a championship. Stan referred to me as Chico Salmon, a player on the O's during that time who played many positions. I moved on to play for Marc Appel, where our team quickly became a top-flight squad. I played a lot of 2nd base and outfield and then for some strange reason, I started pitching. During our 1st championship season, I routinely pitched both games of the doubleheader. A few of the very good players on that team were Dave Greenberg and Fred Mendelsohn. When we picked up pitcher extraordinaire "Dicker" Berger a few years later, I figured my days as a pitcher were numbered. When Marc (who only hit to the right side of the field) asked me to be the catcher for one of the 2 games, I figured I needed a change. In my last year with Marc, we lost a heart-breaker in extra innings in the semi-final game when John Axel gave up a bases loaded double to Stu Tabb. I think we had one loss for the entire season going into that game. Meanwhile, Tabb's team lost the championship game the following week to Pimlico. I moved on to play for Stu Tabb. He managed for one year and then left, turning over the reigns to me. I had one very successful year of managing (we lost in the final game to my old team led by Appel) but I hated the managing job and turned over the team to Paul Bell the following year. The rest as they say is history. Paul led us to several league and playoff championships. I may have filled in as a pitcher from time to time but for the most part I played 2nd base or an outfield position. Bruce Eisenberg was our mainstay pitcher and we had a team that may have changed faces from time to time but there was one constant--we hardly ever beat ourselves. We kept errors and walks to a minimum and we knew how to win, even if our talent level was not as high as some of the other young teams that came into the league (Gerry Edelman--you listening?). Some of the great characters in the league that I got to know and enjoy were: Phil "Raaaaagg Arm" Pine, the incomparable Norm Greenberg, Geoffrey "Rooooooobbb" Rubin, Stan "Walking Man" Segall, "Huff," Izzy Carroll (deceased), Paul "Eeeeeeeeel" Blincken, Steve Saffron (horrible pitch player), Buzzy "Hike" Hiken, "Big Frank" James, Kenny Paul, Wayne "Spain" Berger, Sheldon Stein, Howard "Moffett Shift" Moffett, Lenny Weinstein, Freddy "5 No's" Shapiro, and Kenny the Umpire. Besides the tremendous camaraderie between the players in the league, we all wanted to destroy each other when we got on the field. The competition was fierce and we loved beating up on our fellow Pikesvillians. I for one enjoyed "bench jockeying" and did my utmost to get under the skin of my opponents. What can I tell you? As Vince Lombardi said, "Winning isn't everything--it's the only thing." After my playing days were over, I couldn't resist going up to the field on Sunday mornings (I hated the Fenway Park field--Field 1) and helping out Paul and the team with keeping score and just keeping everyone loose. It was always fun and I even filled in on occasion when we were short of players. I'm now happy to report that my son Brad is now playing in the league and, as coincidence would have it, he is playing on the same team as Matt Bell, Paul's son. So, add our names to the list of father/son players.

Morty Marcus

Note received from Stingers rookie Taylor Honkofsky

Last week I went on craigslist and posted an ad that I wanted to play softball. The Stingers coach James got in touch with me and I came out last Sunday and played. Today, I went on the website and looked around and checked out the history. I saw the original team was the Hunky Funky Junkies and thought it sounded really familiar. My Dad's nickname was Hunky, his name was (He passed away in August 09) Richard Honkofsky.  Thanks for putting up the history page it's really cool that I found all that out. Just so happens that my Mom must like softball players, because she is getting married to Stuart Tabb in July. I saw his name up there as a manager as well, so it's pretty ironic that I randomly found this league that my Father was a part of starting and my new Stepfather played a big role in. I remember him showing me an old softball picture if I can dig it up I will be sure to let you know. Thanks again.

-Taylor Honkofsky

Pikesville Men's Softball Alumni:

Share your stories. Click here to reconnect with some old teammates, friends, and to share some of your fond memories.

Note: I'd like to thank Brian Keller, Paul Bell, Robert Dubansky, Marc Appel, Skip Millison, and Gerry Edelman for providing information of the early league history.