Hidden ball tricks, pitching from second base and ripping the leather covering off the baseball and injecting it with lead.

Those were just a few of the shenanigans that came with the traveling softball group known as “Mr. Softball” that was popular in the Oregon area in the 1980s. The group, which was made up of just four players, was a fixture in summer entertainment in the area for a number of years, from its founding in 1978 to its dissolution in '85.

The founder and manager of the group was Larry Erard, a man who was active on the local sports scene for a number of years. Erard coached a number of sports, among them basketball and baseball. In fact, one of the basketball players he coached in the '70s, Ray Lothery, went on to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Mr. Softball members are Jerry Burton, Larry Erard (in driver's seat), Mark Erard, Don "Chopper" Schmeltz, Andy Vasko, Doug Brummett and Greg Christian.

The members of the four-man team included catcher Don Schmeltz, shortstop Doug Brummett, second baseman Greg Christian and pitcher Jerry Bergman. Schmeltz, who is nicknamed “Chopper,” replaced the team's initial catcher, John Pirrwitz, who left the group after a few years. Erard, who also served as the broadcaster for the team's games, had his son, Mark, serve as the team's bat boy, where he occasionally got in on the action.

They were something of a Harlem Globtrotters-like act, a collection of goofballs who used softball as a medium by which to behave in a silly manner in the hope that spectators would find the event funny and engaging.

The group would constantly try to confuse and bewilder the opposition, running the wrong way on the base paths, having the bat boy come in sometimes to pitch and constantly moving the pitcher's mound around.

Like the Globetrotters, Mr. Softball rarely ever lost, winning, according to Erard, roughly 450 games and losing approximately five.

The group traveled throughout Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, competing against other softball teams, and even, on occasion, competed against some prison teams. They migrated around in a van provided by Dunn's Chevy Olds, the team's sponsor.

On Sept. 24, a birthday party will be held in Oregon for Erard, who will be turning 75. Besides celebrating an important milestone, it will give people a chance to reminisce about Mr. Softball and the enjoyable times the group had entertaining people in the community.

The highlight for the group came in the summer of '84 when the television program Real People, which aired on NBC at the time, taped a segment with the group and later aired it on television. The segment, which was taped at George Ouskey Field at Oregon’s William P. Coontz Recreation Complex, drew an estimated 5,500 spectators.

“We had a big party at Tony Packo's and watched the show when it aired,” said Erard. “That was probably the highlight, being on NBC. How many people can say they were on national television?”

Another special moment for the group came when former Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich traveled south from Michigan and joined the group for an evening. According to Erard, Lolich, the MVP of the 1968 World Series, spent several hours with the group and had an enjoyable time.

Yet another story told is about the team’s pitcher, Bergman, who was discovered by Erard after pitching a perfect game while both were attending a tournament in Cincinnati. Oddly enough, Bergman sang the national anthem before each event, which was rather fitting, considering that he was a veteran.

While serving with the Marine Corps in Vietnam, Bergman lost an arm and a lung when a grenade exploded near him. He had an arm attached in place of the lost one, but has lived the rest of his life with just one lung. Currently, Bergman, a winner of the Silver Star and the Bronze Star, is living in Texas, working as a preacher. The group is hoping to finally get in contact with him.

Schmeltz certainly has some pleasant memories about his time with the group.

“We had a lot of good times, a lot of good experiences,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. I just went out, had fun and drank beer. We beat the crap out of people. I think, while I was playing, we lost one game.”

The idea behind the act was to give the spectators a taste of something different, something that combined sports with humor, and, above all, was entertaining.

Unfortunately, things fell apart in 1985 when Bergman suffered a heart attack. He would later undergo a heart transplant. From that point on, the group stopped competing together.

“It was just starting to get really good when he had his heart attack,” said Erard.

Erard believes that, if the group had competed in more recent times with the Internet being popular like it is today, that he would have been able to find a replacement for Bergman, thus ensuring that the group could have continued its act.

To this day, all of the men except for Bergman still live in the area. Schmeltz is a longtime Pemberville Legion baseball coach, Pemberville resident, and former Eastwood coach, and Christian is a longtime Cardinal Stritch baseball coach who resides in Oregon.

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