The following is a compilation of events that led to the establishment of the Baltimore Senior Softball League as it enters its 26th year in 2012. It all began in 1986, with four teams, namely: the Howard County Seniors (which became the Maryland Old Liners in 1990); Dundalk; Greenbelt; and Montgomery County. The history of our league, was compiled by Commission Jim Ganz with input from several of the team managers.

History of the Baltimore Beltway Senior Softball League (BBSSL) as of 2012

In 1985 there as a senior softball league called the MARVA league that consisted of teams from Maryland and Virginia.It was short-lived, because travel was so complicated maneuvering through traffic on the Washington Beltway.When the MARVA league folded, the Baltimore Beltway Senior Softball League came into existence in 1986 with four teams from the MARVA league: Howard County Seniors; Dundalk; Greenbelt; and Montgomery County. In those days the league was a Coed league with several women playing. Men over 60 and women over 55 were eligible to play.Games were nine innings in duration; there were no umpires; no balls, nor strikes were called; no sliding; and after 10 runs were scored the inning ended. In 1986, the league was known as the Baltimore County Senior League and it took form with six Charter teams: Howard County Seniors, Catonsville, Dundalk, Parkville, Greenbelt and Montgomery County.A number of players from this era played in local and national tournaments under the name of the Montgomery Marauders.

 Around 1987-88, a team from Holabird (Baltimore) entered the league.At the end of the 1991 season Commissioner Flavio Nardone dropped the Holabird team from the league because they did not want to play any games away from Holabird.In other words, they only wanted to play home games.

In 1990, when the Howard County Seniors became the Maryland Old Liners, a second team was formed and they were called Howard County Red.At this time the Montgomery County team dropped out.

In 1992, one new team, Bowie Sixties and one of the Charter Members, Montgomery County re-entered the league.Montgomery County played for two years, 1992 and 1993, then dropped out, but returned for another year in 1998.

In 1994, two more new teams, Carroll County and Bowie Gold (formed from extra players on the Bowie Sixties team) joined the league.Bowie Sixties then became Bowie Silver.

In 1995, a team named Arthurs entered the league and eventually changed their name to Glen Burnie.

In 1999, a new Bowie team, Bowie Bronze, and the Harford County team joined the league.

In 2000, a team named Crownsville, which later changed its name to Glenelg, entered the league.

In 2001,the Bel Air team was added as the 14th team to the league which operated for the next seven years without any new team changes..

In 2008, two new teams were added: the Howard Hitters and a second team from Carroll County named Carroll Gray.The original Carroll County team became Carroll Blue

In 2010, a fourth team from Howard County called the Howard Hawks was added.

In 2012, Reisterstown became the last team to enter the league to bring to 18, the total number of teams that comprise the current league structure.

The league is divided into three divisions: 'A', 'B' and 'C ' based on their level of competitiveness.The 'A' division never plays against the “C” division.Only the “B” division plays against the "A and "C" divisions.

During the life of the Baltimore Beltway Senior Softball League there have only been four Commissioners: Flavio Nardone, Charlie Renner, Skip McAfee and Jim Ganz.

The league plays a schedule of approximately 44 games per year.The season usually begins in the third week of April and plays through the end of August and includes playoffs.Single games are still nine innings, but doubleheader games are just seven.There is no Fall League. The Board of Directors, consisting of the Managers of the eighteenteams with the Commissioner chairing the meetings, meets at least twice a year; usually in February before the season begins and again in the fall in either September or October after the season ends.There is a Rules Committee that meets at least yearly and an Ad Hoc Committee is formed to handle protests when they arise.

Teams pay an Annual Franchise Fee of approximately $70 and each team is required to provide a field for playing the games, providing umpires and balls and coordination for any emergencies like potential rain outs, wet field conditions or traffic delay problems.A Cell Phone network has been established for this purpose.

We have an excellent webpage: baltimoreseniorsoftball.com which was designed by Irv Salzberg (Greenbelt) and currently maintained by Joe Valonis (Bowie Bronze). It contains extensive information about the league and its many teams.League results and standings are posted the same day the games are played and one of the members (Rich Costa) has developed a comprehensive tool for assessing team performance.

Jim Ganz, Commissioner

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The 2012 Structure of the BBSSL is as follows: