Kenosha Softball: Brothers

By Pat Hegewald

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My grandsons are here today…the Rheineck brothers, aka The Waukesha Wrecking Crew, relentless little dudes.  Got me thinking about softball brothers..no list, just some brothers that crossed my mind:

Ron and Tim Tegel.  All business, and neither of them gave a shit what you thought about them, they were there to win and to be with their team…the polar opposite of a softball “beautiful person”.  Winners

Tim, Brain and Dan McGonegle.  Tim was playing with Tenuta’s softball back then with Scott Kessler and they let me and Marc Hujik play the summer going into my sophomore year at 14.  Always appreciative of that.  Goon had the best average and set the McGonegle tone.  Danny Love is a great mix of his older brothers and a deserving Hall of Famer.

Paul, Joel and Mike Umscheid.  All 3 have their father’s swagger…the youngest may actually more than his old man.  Championships everywhere..local, regional, national  In my opinion the first family of Kenosha softball.  No way anyone comes close to those career accomplishments.

Kevin Brothers.  No one you ever want on your bad side. Competitor.  If we were down three runs and actually got though an inning where I didn’t give up 3 or 4 more runs…Bro would “snap” the last out and you just wanted to play with a dude like that.

The Allman Brothers Band.  Nothing to do with Kenosha, just sayin’.  Is it a coincidence I have a daughter named Melissa and Jessica?  Maybe.  And apologies to daughter Katelyn, Gregg Allman died before I could convince him to write a song with your name in it.

The two, cross-handed hitting Latino brothers from Inbetween Lounge, that always played at Bullpen.  Never could figure out how they could hit so well with those jacked up hands.

Gordy, Jeff and Brad Munroe.  Pony League with Gordy and Butch (Jockey dynasty)..loved the Gehring/Sunnyside group, RIP Butch..great dude..Brad crazy athletic going back to the racquetball whiz kid days.

Jim, Micky and Tom Johnson.  Just a classic Kenosha softball batch of brothers.  TJ was the better hitter. Bird Dog play the hell out of some 3rd base.  Mickey played all over and was “that guy” for that group of friends.

My Brother’s Pub.  A wonderful KTown venue.  A place that always had great representation in the local sports scene for its entire existence.  Always seemed to have cool uniforms.

John and Micky Garza.  Really know nothing about them and have no clue how they spell their names.  What I do know is they were always there.  Guys that would battle you all day.  Along with Felix and Russell Guerra, that Ralph’s bunch would beat Cenni’s as much as we beat them

Br6ther.  Had to come back in and edit after posting.  I’m ashamed of myself for creating an article about Kenosha and brothers and not mentioning The Brother Six Band.  Simply put, the greatest local band EVER.  RIP Rick C.

If you got a brother..give him a call…relive some old memories.

 

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