Padilla inducted into softball Hall of Fame

There was a time when men’s fastpitch softball dominated the local sports landscape. Those days may be long gone, but they’re not forgotten.

Los Banos native Steve Padilla, who resides in Manteca, was inducted into the ASA/USA National Softball Hall of Fame on Saturday in Louisville, Ky.

“I didn’t know how big a deal it was,” said Padilla, a 1971 graduate of Los Banos High School who attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on a cross country scholarship. “And then my phone started blowing up.”

Family, friends and old teammates were well aware of the significance of the honor. And they called him to tell him as much. Of the 370 members of the National Softball Hall of Fame, fewer than 100 are men. Padilla is one of eight members of the Class of 2015.

Padilla was introduced to the sport by his brothers.

“A couple of them played, and I just started hanging around the fastpitch diamonds and got hooked,” he said. “My brother, Ed, was pitching and pretty much started me. And I just picked everybody’s brain. I was a student of the game.”

Padilla helped Tee House of Turlock win the 1982 Class-A national crown and earned an All-America honor. He moved up to the Major Division and joined the Merced-based California Kings, who won the national championship in 1984. Padilla went 5-0 and allowed one earned run in the tournament to earn the MVP honor and another All-America nod.

“Both times, with the ’82 and ’84 teams, we lost our first game and had to win 10 straight out of the losers’ bracket to win the title,” Padilla said.

Padilla’s playing career included stints with powerhouses such as Guanella Brothers of Santa Rosa and the NorCal Merchants of Stockton, and for the U.S. national team at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, where he helped the U.S. to a silver medal. He also competed in five U.S. Olympic Festivals.

After his playing days ended, Padilla served as an assistant coach for the 1999 men’s national team at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, Canada, and the ISF World Championship in Sydney. He was also an assistant coach for the Puerto Rican women’s national team in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

As for the heyday of men’s fastpitch, Padilla remembers it fondly and thinks the time is right for the game’s resurgence.

“I got a look at the U.S. boys 19-under team, and there’s a lot of talent on that team now,” said Padilla, who threw three pitches – a dropball, riseball and changeup. “What killed men’s fastpitch is that we ran out of pitchers. Nobody wanted to put in the work.

“If it was easy, everyone would want to do it. But you’ve got to work your butt off.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2015 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Padilla inducted into softball Hall of Fame."