The history of Minnesota’s biggest softball tournament, the Bloomington Fireman’s.
The idea for the tournament came from Rollie Regeur, Bob Eglund and Clarence Kelly in the Bloomington Sun newspaper office, with the underlying idea that perhaps the fire department could win its own tournament. The Bloomington Fire Department was one of the top teams in the metro area, but never could quite win a big tournament. The Firemen usually took second place.
1959 – Tournament debuts at Legion Field on 98th and I-35W. The single-elimination event attracted 16 teams. Tournament headquarters was Marthels Tavern.
1960 – The second annual tournament saw the Bloomington Fire Department lose in the championship game. The event attracted 32 teams, making it the largest tournament in Minnesota.
The home of the big trophies!
1969 – The 11th annual tournament drew 128 teams, and, for the first time, held a women’s division with 16 teams, for a total of 144 teams. A home run derby also was held on Sunday afternoon. The admission fee was 25 cents per game, or a tournament pass was $1.
1971 – The 13th annual tournament attracted 96 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams at an entry fee of $35. The tournament grossed $12,500 and netted $6,250 for the relief association.
1973 – The 15th annual tournament hosted 164 teams. A color TV designated to be awarded to the winner of the home run derby was donated to the Shrine Children’s Hospital because there wasn’t enough time to hold the contest. The celebrity game also was canceled. A full scholarship to the University of Minnesota Williams Scholarship Fund was donated instead.
1976 – The 18th annual tournament was held at Valley View Fields and Dred Scott Fields. The event attracted 176 teams, who played 352 total games. Headquarters at Dred Scott was a motor home, and the folks in the motor home used the oven to bake the water out of softballs for re-use during a primarily rainy weekend. After a vote, it was agreed that the tournament would only be held at one park in future years.
And Pretty Ladies!
1978 – The 20th annual tournament was held despite poor weather. The Fire Department Old Timers vs. the Minnesota North Stars was the feature attraction.
1979 – Virg Ellrich died and was buried with full honors. He was the tournament director for 19 years.
1983 – Former Chief Rueger was honored at a Bloomington Adult Sports banquet. HE was honored for his many endeavors in sports, including playing softball with many of the Bloomington Fire Department teams and tournaments.
1989 – The 31st annual tournament was held with 128 teams.
1991 – The 33rd annual tournament was marred by lightning and bad weather. The championship was decided with a “gentlemen’s agreement,” in which both teams ended play with two innings remaining and split the prize money.
A City of Bloomington health inspector blamed the Bloomington Fire Department for health violations stemming from the tournament. Specifically, Chief Seal was charged with a misdemeanor for “illegally dumping” wiener water in the city sewer system. The “wiener water” caused quite a stir within the city. Where the spill was located and the water dumped could not have been the same, due to the fact that there was no way for the storm sewer system to link the two areas together. Chief Seal was fined $100 for “illegally dumping” polluted waters into the drainage pipes.
1993 – The 35th annual tournament attracted approximately 25,000 spectators.
1996 – The 38th annual tournament was renamed the Virg Ellrich Memorial after the Bloomington Fire Department voted to cancel its sponsorship. Jeff Barnes immediately took over as the tournament director. The Fire Department elected to drop the tournament about a month before the start of it. The tournament was smaller but it went off and in the following years it would grow rapidly again.
2001 – The 43rd annual tournament drew 118 teams as Team Miken won the men’s upper division. Miken Sports donated five softball bats to the MVP of each division.
Hank Garris
2002 – Long Haul/Miken wins it’s second Fireman’s in a row by run-ruling every opponent in the tournament.
2003 – Long Haul/Miken wins a third Fireman’s in a row, a feat that had not been done in the Men’s Upper since Newell Concrete did it in the early nineties.
2004 – 150 teams from six states will compete in the Fireman’s this season. The six states represented are: Minnesota, North Dakota, Massachusetts, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. Long Haul/Miken made it four championships in a row in the men’s upper and Macken Plumbing also did in the women’s upper by reeling off six wins in a row. This was the year of the “Cooler Ball Controversy.” Teams allegedly kept balls in coolers to improve the performance of the ball.
2008 – The great Jeff Barnes begins use of the 52/300 softball. ASA would adopt the ball in its bat testing models in 2012. Safety has always been a premium at Fireman’s with overlapping outfielders on the open fields.
2010 – The TC Longhorns win the Men’s top division as a “C” team. This is the first only time any team other than an “A” team has won Fireman’s top Men’s division.
2012 – The 54th event attracts 160 teams and 3 inches of rain on Friday afternoon. City of Bloomington staff and Fireman’s officials have the fields ready to play right on time as usual.
2013 – July 19-21, Rip City/DeMarini out of Iowa takes the Open Bracket!
Spectators fill the left field line!
2014 – July 18-20, Xtreme/Miken runs through the open bracket undefeated to win the 56th annual event.
Xtreme/Miken’s Alex Bremer
2015 – ???