Dave Bartnick was asked if he wanted to join a gay softball team that was to be playing in Chicago in the spring of 1980—and he admitted just hearing "'gay softball' sounded goofy."
But nonetheless he joined one of the few teams playing 16-inch softball—as it was played back then—in the Gay Athletic Association (GAA), now known as the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association (CMSA).
"It was an odd, eclectic group of people [on the team]," Bartnick said. "Some [had] shoulder-length hair, some [were] jocks, some really good players, some were [straight and] married.
"There was nothing flamboyant about the league that said it was gay. We just played the game, and then looked forward to the 10 or 11 hours after the game. We not only went to our sponsor bar, but to other bars, too. The whole league was out socializing together, even if it was only six or eight teams. That really meant a lot. Almost everyone stayed in their uniforms all day; you didn't shower before going out.
"I do miss that."
They played on Saturday, often at 10 a.m., on a field near Belmont Avenue and Lake Shore Drive, and would stay out drinking until 10 p.m., or later.
Eventually, the league expanded over the years, meaning games were played on Saturday and Sunday. Today's CMSA open division, composed mostly of men, plays on six North Side fields, often with nine back-to-back games per field. With about 800 players, spread over about 50 teams in six skill-based divisions, the Open Division Sunday Softball League is at capacity.
Bartnick has played in the league longer than anyone.
He now mostly manages, although has been thrust into action several times this summer already, for the Sidetrack Blues in the C1 Division.
"When I joined the league, it was just an instant group of new friends, people who I otherwise wouldn't have known. There was great camaraderie. No one took it as seriously back then," Bartnick said. "The majority of the teams were there to have fun, socialize and make friends after [the games]. And the early 1980s were a critical time, when you had to make friends."
In 1981, through a teammate, he met Jack Hazard. They are still partners, 31 years later.
Meeting Hazard, falling in love and committing to a monogamous relationship "probably saved my life," Bartnick said.
After all, this was the start of the HIV/AIDS era, during which contracting the disease "was a death sentence," Bartnick said.
"By 1983, we had heard about AIDS, but that's when the whispering started about certain players [in the league]. You'd all of a sudden see dramatic weight-loss in teammates or players you played against. And then, seemingly all of sudden, people would die," he said.
Bartnick said Brad Reimer was the first friend he knew well who died of HIV/AIDS. (Reimer passed away in 1984.) Bartnick was a pallbearer at his funeral.
"That was kind of an awakening," Bartnick said.
The heartache from HIV/AIDS continued through 1996, a 12-year period of tears, funerals, bewilderment, shock, sadness and more gripping emotions.
"I have a picture of my [softball] team from 1983 with 18 players, and I'm pretty sure that six of them died from HIV/AIDS," Bartnick said. "What [the disease] did was, it made the softball league and CMSA as a whole very important because you needed that group—your teammates and friends. As a kid, you're used to old people dying, not people who are your own age. We needed CMSA for the support.
"That was a really heartbreaking period."
Of his six-member bowling team from the mid-1980s, four are dead from HIV/AIDS.
"It was a very hard time. I still get sad today thinking about that [era]," Bartnick said. "During my CMSA Hall of Fame speech [in 2011], I realized how many people who would have been there [to support me], but they are dead from HIV/AIDS. Some were very close friends who I really got along with, soul mates." He singled out Joey Perez, Greg Kilbain and Jeff Fields—friends beyond the softball fields.
After the 1982 season, league organizers decided to move the league north to fields near Lawrence Avenue. "That seemed like such a giant move to so many of us because it was so far away [from Boystown] and we were going into a dangerous neighborhood. That was a big move for the league," Bartnick said.
In the 1990s, Bartnick said gay softball exploded, and his teammates discovered the joys of traveling to out-of-state tournaments and to the Gay Softball World Series.
"We'd travel to places like Milwaukee for tournaments and we'd see, perhaps, 40 other teams with guys we had never met. That was really cool," said Bartnick, who has played in the Series 10 times, with two third-place and two fourth-place finishes.
His Sidetrack Blues are back on the national stage starting Aug. 14 in the Series, which will be held in Minneapolis. "I like our chances this year," he said.
Bartnick umpired the CMSA league for about five years, and has run his team since 1996.
"By 2000, that's when it really felt like it was my team," Bartnick said. "It's a team that I built and recruited, and the thing with my team has always been, it has had to have been a no-drama team."
Over the past decade or so, Bartnick and many other local teams have further expanded their traveling for tournaments. They now travel to farther-away destinations and travel more often.
"I'm just amazed how well-oiled this machine [CMSA Open Sunday Softball League] is, how well it runs. I'm very proud to be a part of this league," Bartnick said. "I love every league championship that we've ever won [over the years], including 2011. I love that my players appreciate the league championship as much as they do."
Personally, Bartnick's favorite on-the-field memory came in a 1996 playoff game, when he hit a three-run home run over the left fielder's head. "I still remember the amazed high-5s that I was getting from teammates. I still remember that [hit]," he said.
Bartnick and Hazard have a lasting legacy in the CMSA Open Sunday Softball League, having sponsored a D2 team since 2004.
Note: Bartnick's CMSA softball team won the C1 Division championship Aug. 5.
