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Back in the golden era of slow
pitch softball, if you asked a fan "Who was the most recognized and famous slow
pitch team in America?" more often than not that person would reply," Howard's
Furniture of Denver, North Carolina." How did a team from a small hamlet 30
miles northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina reach such notoriety? The talents
of Don Arndt, Gene Fisher, Bert Smith and Stan Harvey and others of course
helped, but the glue and the driving force behind the team was its sponsor, the
late Richard Howard. Howard had a business acumment second to none and used it
in a variety of business interests--furniture stores, restaurants, motor racing,
sporting goods, restaurant supplies and equipment, bowling alleys and of course
slow pitch softball. His team started as part of a church league, gradually
branching out to compete with other church and Open teams throughout North
Carolina.
Richard pitched on the Mt. Pleasant Church team and on a summer day in 1955, the
Mt. Pleasant Mules traveled to an all-day tournament in Richmond, VA. Despite
injuries to two players, the team played eight games in one day to win the
tournament. Said Howard," It didn't mean a lot to anybody but us, but we really
loved it." Winning that tournament made Howard want to win more trophies. With
money from his discount furniture business, Howard gradually put together a team
of some of the best players he could find. From season-to-season the team grew
in stature, winning state and regional tournaments. But it wasn't until 1969
that Howard's Furniture made its first appearance in an ASA National
Championship.
It wasn't the kind of
appearance Howard had expected. His team lost two straight and finished last in
a field of 32 teams. This prompted Richard to say," We got out of the car on one
side and got back on the other side." He told his players." We are going back to
North Carolina and practice and if we don't get any better, we are going to say
in North Carolina." As history has shown, Howard's team got better and four
years later won their first ASA National Championship in 1973 and repeated in
1974. In 1978, the team was changed to Howard's/Western Steer and three years
later the team won the first of its three ASA Super Division Championships.
Ironically, Howard's first of three Super Nationals was held in his home state,
with Burlington, North Carolina the 1981 host. The remaining two Super Nationals
were back-to-back 1983 and 1984. The 1981 season marked Richard's 25th year of
championship softball and the team performed like champions on softball diamonds
throughout the United States, winning 160 of 175 games and seven players from
that team now members of the ASA National Softball Hall of Fame: They are:
Richard Willborn, Dick Bartel, Don Arndt, Gene Fisher, Stan Harvey and Rick (The
Crusher) Scherr.
By 1989, however, Howard
decided to call it quits and didn't sponsor a team for the first time in more
than 30 years. Richard said it was time to stop because the players got too
greedy, the bills grew too large--topping $200,000 in 1988--and the schedule of
150 plus games becoming a grind. Because of his love for the sport, some thought
Howard would never get out. But remember he was a business man first and
foremost. Said Howard in an interview July 16, 1989 in THE ATLANTA JOURNAL. "We
felt like if we dropped off and others dropped off, softball would be what it
should be, a game, not a salaried job. The players thought I'd never get out,
they didn't figure I could live without it." On April 28, 1998, Richard Howard
passed away at the age of 73,leaving behind a record of accomplishment that is
unmatched. |
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