Ed Urban - Softball

Year Inducted: 2002

He was one of three dominant fast-pitch softball pitchers in Port Huron in the 40's, 50's and 60's. He was small in stature and did not depend on speed and power. Instead he used cunning and guile. His ever changing array of pitches and speeds never allowed batters to dig in. His change-up dropped seemed to stop midway from his hand to the catcher's glove – his strikeout pitch. The teams he played for – Chrysler, Muellers, Gaffney Appliance and Shoffners – won championships locally and state wide. He pitched several no-hitters in all three decades and at least two perfect games – one in a city championship for Chrysler. In 1959 he was the ace of the Shoffner team that won the State Class "B" championship. The next year at age 35, he pitched Shoffners to the Class "AA" State Championship, coming from the loser's bracket to win three games. He was named the outstanding pitcher and one of the two outstanding players in the tournament.