Modified pitch summer league since ???
This is a list of teams that used to play in the Lower Manhattan Softball League. The pre-2005 men’s league teams will be listed separately, if and when any new information comes to light. If by any chance you played in the LMSL prior to 2010, we are very interested in hearing about it. Please leave a comment below.
Angels
One season only, 11-8 record in 2019.
Ball Busters
Played 2009-2022. 5 time champions (2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018). Early teams featured several key players from Bandits. The Ball Busters are still active in other leagues.
Bandits
Entered league in 1st co-ed season 2005. Lost championship series to Machine in 2009. Semifinal appearances 2006 and 2010. Last season 2016.
Boom
First season 2007. Semifinal appearance 2010. Last season 2015.
Bunt Pirates / Ninja Pirates #1
Played 2010-2019. Spinoff of 2009 NY Dirt Dogs. Won league in first season 2010. Semifinal appearance 2011. New version of Ninja Pirates 2025-present.
DJ Reynolds
Played one full season, 2022. Folded early in 2023 season.
Grills
One season only, 12-6 record in 2019.
Hanging Curves
Played 2017-2019. Finished 1st with 15-3 record in 2018. Lost championship series to Ball Busters in 2017 and 2018.
Honey Badgers
Originally called Duke & Earl’s, or Duke’s. Known to exist in 2006, dropped a playoff series to Bandits. Made it to semifinals in 2009 and 2011. Lost championship series to Bunt Pirates 2010. Last season 2019.
Hudson Hawks
Played in 2018 and 2019, several players went on to form Dead Ringers in 2021.
Kenny & the Jets
Played one season only, 2022.
Machine
Played in men’s league days under different names (Atomic Pencils, etc). Believed to have won in 2000 and 2004, also probably a few times in 1990s. Won co-ed league in 2008 & 2009, last season 2009.
Molly Pitcher’s
Known to exist in 2007. Last season 2008.
NY Dirt Dogs
Played in 2008 and 2009. Core of the team became Bunt Pirates.
Reif’s Tavern
League champion 2005, 2006, and 2007. Regular season record something like 58-2 over those seasons. Last season 2007. Reif’s currently has a softball team, which may or may not be directly descended from the LMSL entry.
Sloppy Sundays
Originally called Varsity Booze. Known to exist in 2006. Last season 2018. Only 4 playoff appearances 2008-2018.
Soldier McGee
Also known as Bourbon Street (2008-09), Brother Jimmy’s (2015), and Promenade (2016). Finished second with 18-6 record in 2010. Last season 2016.
In true LMSL fashion, there is no existing recap of the Bandits-Machine final the following weekend, won by Machine. I believe the authors to be Jimmy Maresca (Machine) and Juan Monroy (Bandits).
Machine vs Good Times
GAME 1: Machine 7 Good Times 5
At Heckscher Field, Good Times started fast with 3 runs in the first inning helped by some unMachine like sloppy defense and a walk. Machine broke through with 5 in the 4th, added 2 more in the 5th then held on as Good Times added 2 to make the final score-Machine 7 Good Times 5.
GAME 2: Machine 15 Good Times 5
In Game 2 it was deja vu all over again as Good Times, thanks to clutch hits and a porous Machine defense scored 4 in the top of inning one. Machine came back with one in the bottom of the first then added 6 in the second, to take a 7-3 lead. Good Times added 2 more runs, but Machine scored in every inning except one –final score-Machine 15 Good Times 5. Machine wins the series 2-0 and will meet the Bandits in the Finals this Sunday @1 PM , Heckscher Field #1 for the 2009 LMSL Cup.
Dukes vs Bandits
GAME 1: Duke’s 7, Bandits 2
It was clear early on that nothing was going to be easy. Both teams were scoreless in the first two innings. The Bandits left the bases loaded in the first inning. Duke’s bats woke up in the top of the third inning when they put a string of hits together resulting in 3 runs. The Bandits answered in the bottom of the third when Kevin scored a run; we left the bases loaded with Pete M., Petemo and Hermes left stranded.
Duke’s hit a home run in the 4th inning and tacked on three more in the sixth inning. The Bandits scored one more run in the sixth inning. We lost for the first time in about a month. As we started walking off the field I heard Mere say, “I guess we’re just going to have to play three games today” and I knew that she was right and we would find a way to win.
GAME 2: Bandits 5, Duke’s 1, 10 innings
The Bandits scored one run in the 4th inning when Deng crossed the plate as a result of Petemo’s single. There would not be another run on the board from either team until the 7th inning. This game was a defensive gem. Everyone did their part– sliding catches in the outfield, good throws in the infield and a lot of good communication among the fielders.
Duke’s was the home team in this game and the top of their lineup was up in the bottom of the 7th. We had a 1-0 league and were in need of three outs. Duke’s lead-off hitter started with a single and then followed up with two pop ups from their #2 and #3 hitters. The cleanup hitter smoked a single and the #5 hitter dropped a ball right in front of me and a run scored to tie the game. They did have a chance to win the game but the runner was held up on third base. The next hitter hit a dribbler to Kevin and that was the third out.
Neither team scored in the 8th inning and the Bandits bats exploded as we tacked on 4 runs. Deng started the rally with a single and Pete M. and Hermes followed up with singles. Bryan picked up an RBI when he lined the ball to third base allowing the runner to score. Bill picked up a RBI, Bri advanced the runner and Mike had a clutch RBI.
Duke’s didn’t score again and we forced a third game. We love our boosters, we love the rally caps and we love the slow clap for wiling us to a third game and the chance for a glorious comeback.
GAME 3: Bandits 4, Duke’s 1
At this time, I think we had been playing softball for about four hours. Both teams were tired, hungry but not wanting to quit. Our 9th inning heroics forced a palpable momentum shift and we were now the hungry team that was not going to quit.
Duke’s came out of the gate swinging away; the first three batters hit singles and Kevin jammed up the clean-up and #5 hitter with pop ups to left and right field. Colin walked to bring a run in and Ali batted out to the pitcher. Bases were loaded and only one run came in. Duke’s managed only four hits after the first inning and none of them resulted in runs.
The Bandits went down in order in the second, third and fourth innings until we started another late inning rally in the bottom of the fifth. Petemo started the rally with a single and Hermes and Bryan followed up with singles of their own. Bill had a huge at bat resulting in 3 RBIs (I don’t remember what happened, errors?!).
The Bandits late innings comeback continued in the sixth inning when Kevin started a two out rally by scorching a single. Deng and Pete followed with singles and Petemo had a clutch bases loaded walk that brought Kevin across the plate.
Duke’s came up in the top of the 7th inning with their last chance to put some runs on the board. Jordan started off with a base hit but overran second base. He got caught in a run down between 2nd and 3rd base. Bryan and Pete threw the ball back and forth until Jordan made a desperate leap back to second base. Bryan jumped right after him and tagged his foot before he got back to the base and he was called out. Colin came up and hit a single and the next two batters popped out. Bryan caught the last out hit by Pete Miranda. Celebration begins!
2009 LMSL CHAMPIONSHIP (BEST 2 OF 3)
SUNDAY AUGUST 30 1PM HECKSCHER FIELD #1
BANDITS VS MACHINE
No one knows how long the Lower Manhattan Softball League has been around. The commissioner was asked for a list of champions going back to the beginning. “Before 1984 I don’t know” was part of the answer, and if anyone reading this *does* know when and how the league began, please drop a note in the comments.
The home field was once the J.J. Walker, a bandbox of a park occupying most of a city block at Clarkson & Hudson streets in the West Village. An LMSL fall league still plays co-ed arc ball there, and if a man hits it over the fence it counts as two outs. The original teams were mostly sponsored by bars and restaurants in the vicinity of the J.J. Walker. The 1984-1994 era was dominated by the now defunct Riviera Cafe (“food not the best but edible”).
There is a book, “Professor Baseball,” about the middle period of the LMSL. Author Eddy Amenta is a sociologist well-known enough to have his own Wikipedia page. He played for the original Machine team in 2002 and 2003, by which time the league had moved to its current home, Heckscher #1 in Central Park. The Machine existed for many years under the names of different sponsors, and along with Riff Raff and the Hit Men, were the top teams of the 1995-2004 era. In 2003 they came up just short, losing a 5-game championship series to the Hit Men. Three of the games, including the decisive Game 5, went to extra innings.
As Lou Reed once sang, “We all love women,” and beginning in 2005 the LMSL was no longer a softball sausage party. Since then, teams bat and field a minimum of three women. If a team’s female players are slick fielders and strong batters who don’t take vacation in August, there’s a good chance you’ll see them on the list of champions.
| Years | Home Field | Format | Teams | Notes |
| ???? | ?? | Men’s | it had to start somewhere… | |
| ????-1999? | James J. Walker | Men’s | mostly W. Village bars | known to be at JJW in 1993 |
| 2000?-2004 | Heckscher | Men’s | 6 teams in 2003 | JJW closed for renovation 2000 |
| 2005-2019 | Heckscher | Co-ed | usually 10 | |
| 2021-present | Heckscher | Co-ed | 6 to 8 |
Lower Manhattan Softball League 