WILLIE HERNDON
Des
Moines, IA 50314
282-7932
Willie played 18 years (1970-1987) for various
teams, beginning his career with the Des Moines Jets and the Police Community
League, and ending it with Henry J’s of Des Moines in 1987 after the Iowa State
Open Tournament. During his career,
Willie consistently hit over .300 with great power every year. He was a well-respected hitter by teams like
Modern Piping, Clear Lake Buttertop, the Des Moines Bombers, and Hall of Fame
pitchers like Al Rausch, Greg Bosch, and both Dean and Gene Olson, to name just
a few. The tougher the pitcher, the
harder they threw -- the better Willie liked it. With as quick a wrists as anyone in the game, “Whipper-Will,” as
his teammates called him, could hit any pitcher in the nation. Will was well-known for telling his
teammates, "I can hit a pea in a storm!" And maybe he could!
Here are just a
few highlights of Willie’s career:
·
His first appearance in the Iowa State Open
Tournament was in 1974 with C&P Vending, playing 3rd base at the
time. While C&P lost their two
games, the first loss came after 16 innings against Collins Radio 2-0, and
their second was a 1-0 defeat. These
losses were unusual because C&P was looked upon as perhaps the best hitting
team in Iowa that year, with Willie being one of their leaders.
·
In 1975, C&P finished 3rd in the
Iowa State Open Tournament, with Willie being one of the leading hitters in the
tournament.
·
In 1978, Willie joined Reames in Des Moines,
playing both 3rd and 1st base. From 1978-1980, Willie was one of the leading hitters on a Reames
team that finished 6th, 5th, and 6th
respectively in the Iowa State Open Tournament.
·
Another highlight in 1980 came in the
City/District Tourney when Willie hit a 2-run triple off the Des Moines
Bombers’ Dean Olson in the 8th inning to win the title.
·
Also in 1980, Willie was named MVP at the
prestigious Kiwi Classic in Cedar Rapids, facing some of the best pitchers in
the world and leading Reames to a 2nd place finish.
·
But 1982 was Willie’s best year ever. He led the Coors Bombers to the Central Iowa
Classic League title (tied with Clear Lake), and was named to the All-League
Team. He homered in the title game of
the Sub-State against Spaghetti Market and then went on to have one of the
greatest state open tournaments ever.
Against Clear Lake, the pre-tournament favorite, Willie had a triple, a
home run and 6 RBI’s against Al Rausch as the Bombers won 7-0. Then, in the title game against Penn Corps,
he went 2-4 with 2 RBI’s as Coors won the state championship. Overall, Willie batted .533 with 9 RBI’s in
5 games and was named the MVP for his performance -- the first time that a
black athlete had ever been named MVP in the Iowa State Open Tournament.
·
After the 1982 season, Willie continued his
terrific hitting. Highlights included:
winning the 1983 Hall of Fame Tourney with his 2 hits and RBI in the
championship game for the Like Bombers; and winning the Sub-State in 1984
coming out of the loser’s bracket. Also
in 1984, the Like Bombers finished 2nd to Penn Corps in the State
Tournament, having battled back through the loser’s bracket to come within one
out of winning the championship. Willie
went 3-3 with 4 RBI’s in the loser’s bracket finals that year to lead the
Bombers back into that championship game.
·
In 1986, he batted .433 for Henry J’s, winning
both the City and Sub-State tourneys with Willie having home runs in both title
games. And in 1987, he joined LaPizza
House, and led the team to both the City (coming out the loser’s bracket) and
the Sub-State titles. La Pizza went on
to the state tourney, suffering disappointing 1-0 and 2-0 losses there, the
lowest finish for Willie since 1974.
·
In all, he played in 10 Iowa State Open
Tournaments, with 7 of those teams finishing in the top 6 or better. He also
played in 4 ASA Regional Tournaments.
Willie Herndon
was not only a great hitter; he was a very versatile player. While his primary position was 3rd
base, he also played 1st base equally as well. During his 18-year career, Willie actually
played every position during his career, including pitcher and catcher! He was a very gifted athlete.
Willie was also
well-known for his great sense of humor as a teammate as well as his fierce
competitive spirit and hitting prowess.
“Whipper-Will” kept his teams loose and having fun while playing at the
highest level of competition possible during what was arguably the best era of
fast-pitch softball in Iowa. But, the
thing that Willie remembers most about playing softball beyond the wins and
losses is the wonderful friends that he made over the years.