Well traveled, but softball diamond home to Brady

Still playing at 69 and joining Wall of Fame

By JOHN RICE Contributing Reporter

Mike Brady has been a model of discipline and determination. It takes discipline and a nononsense mom to have perfect attendance in grade school and high school. It takes determination to fulfill a lifelong goal of visiting all 7 continents and 50 states. Both of these strengths were on display during Brady’s 50-year softball career. That is why he is being honored this year with his plaque being displayed on the 16-inch Softball Wall of Fame.

During his long career, Brady was never involved in a fight. He has only been ejected once and his only significant injury was to an ankle. It’s even more remarkable that Brady is still playing softball at 69. “I have been incredibly blessed,” he said.

Those blessings began at St. Maurice Parish in the McKinley Park neighborhood. Brady attended the school and joined the Cub Scout troop. He was 8 or 9 when he first played softball for the troop’s team. Softball was just one of the many sports he enjoyed back then. “We were always outside playing softball, basketball and touch football,” Brady recalled, “We didn’t need organizations to play sports.”

When it came to attending high school, Brady was destined to attend St. Ignatius College Prep. His mother, Eileen, had emigrated from impoverished County Mayo and had heard from a fellow émigré how great Ignatius was. Brady joined the high school’s baseball team which was managed by the fiery Greg Klatecki. Brady tried out for the team by hitting off a pitching machine. When he scored 18 out of a possible 20, Klatecki declared, “You’re my leadoff man.”

As a left-handed batter with good speed, Brady was an ideal leadoff man. After his freshman team finished at .500, Brady took his manager’s advice and played hardball all summer. In his senior year, the St. Ignatius baseball team won their league championship. That marked the end of Brady’s baseball career and the beginning of his softball career

When he started his studies at IIT, Brady played in a 19-and-under league at nearby Armour Square Park. IIT wasn’t a good fit, though, so Brady transferred to Loyola University. Brady

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