What is a better way for 20 to 25 gay friends to pass the time on Sunday afternoons than to play volleyball? Well, we can think of a few, but this was the regular summer routine for a special group of friends during the early 70's behind the Rose Garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. However, on one particular Sunday, the volleyball net was accidently left behind! Instead of letting the afternoon go to waste, Russell Porter, the 15-year-old straight nephew of Jack "Irene" McGowan, suggested that they play "punch ball", a version of softball without bats. The players would hit the ball with closed fists and circle the bases (which were, in actuality, the player's jackets). The game was played under regular softball rules.
As usual, after the game, the players gathered as they did each week at the Castro district bar MISSOURI MULE (now called The DETOUR) for charades and gossip. Because of the excitement and comradeship generated by the game, the celebrants began talking about their experiences with baseball during their youth. It was agreed it might be fun to play a couple of games of pick-up softball.
The first organized softball game was played in August 1973 at the annual Tavern Guild Picnic in Marin County. Due to the surprisingly positive reaction from the players and spectators (there were more volunteer players than the game could accommodate), Irene suggested that it would be fun to stage a weekend gay softball tournament.
The first worldwide gay softball tournament was held at Rolph Field at Army & Potrero Streets in November 1973 in San Francisco. The first teams involved were: The Pendulum, Sutter's Mill, Twin Peaks, The Mint, Purple Pickle, Kokpit, Missouri Mule and The Mistake (now called Men's Room). The winner was Sutter's Mill - coached by Irene - defeating the highly favored Mint in 2 of 3 games! At the instigation of Irene, TV Channel 7 and Officer Greg Cloney of San Francisco Police Dept, the "stars" of this tournament were chosen to form an all-star team which played against San Francisco Police Dept. Central Station team - the first legitimate game between police and gay men held anywhere in the world! In the game played, the police won 11 - 3 although the gay team, led by Pendulum / Twin Peaks star, Durwood Saber, held a 3 - 0 lead after 4 inning.
In the Spring of 1974, the Gay Community Softball League, the first of its kind in the world, was formed under the leadership of Jack "Irene" McGowan and the late Peter Switzer - the gay league's first two commissioners. The name was ultimately changed to The Community Softball League, dropping the word "gay", because many of the gay players feared that they would lose their jobs or adversely affect their precarious family ties by being affiliated with an upfront gay organization.
Finding sponsors was no easy task. Jack "Irene" McGowan, wearing a sandwich board advertising for softball players and sponsors, went from bar to bar throughout the city of San Francisco where he was usually dismissed with... "a waste of money!"... "our customers would not be interested!... "gays don't know how to throw a ball!". Jack was asking for a mere $25 sponsorship fee (nowadays, the costs range between $1,500 to $4,000 a team!)
The main obstacle faced in establishing a gay league was the opposition of most Park & Recreational field managers to allowing gays the use of public playing fields. The manager of the Collingwood facilities in the heart of the Castro district was particularly anti-gay. Also, near-riots took place at Rolph Field when neighborhood toughs physically confronted the gay teams on the field. Head to head confrontations between the late Steve Cook of Twin Peaks Terrors and coach Irene McGowan on the one hand and soccer players on the other was a sight to behold. Ready bats and clenched fists forced the toughs to back off. As a result of subsequent meetings, which included Irene, the head of Park & Recreation, not too gay-friendly representatives from Mayor Joseph Allioto's office and State Senator Willie Brown (an avid supporter of gays) and various recreational managers, it was finally ruled that gays had the same right as any other group of citizens to use San Francisco Parks. In the following years, both Willie Brown and Mayor George Moscone threw out the first ball of Opening Days of the following CSL seasons.
