Kiwi trio inducted into HoF
New Zealand pitching great Bill Massey has been inducted into the world softball Hall of Fame – 50 years after firing his last fastball.
Massey, two-time New Zealand women’s world championship team captain Nardi Leonard (formerly Clark) and Wiremu Tamaki, who umpired the 2008 Olympic Games softball final, were among 23 softball inductees approved at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Congress in Tokyo last weekend.
Massey’s induction is long overdue. The Hutt Valley stalwart played in the first two men’s world championships in 1966 and 1968 and was New Zealand’s first great international pitcher, paving the way for Kevin Herlihy, Owen Walford, Michael White, Chubb Tangaroa (all WBSC Hall of Famers), Steve Jackson and Marty Grant to follow.
Dubbed ‘‘Mr Softball’’ by the New Zealand media at the peak of his career, Massey pitched New Zealand to a bronze medal at the 1966 world championships in Mexico City after dominating the domestic scene.
He won eight Beatty Cup inter-provincial titles with Hutt Valley between 1958 and 1967 and six John Lennon national interclub crowns with Railways.
For four consecutive seasons – 1962 to 1965 – Massey pitched his teams to Beatty Cup John Lennon doubles, dominating batters with his pitching speed and movement.
Massey – a foundation inductee in the Softball New Zealand Hall of Fame in 1988 – did not know of his WBSC award until contacted by Stuff yesterday, but said he was delighted to be recognised.