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| Sept. 14, 2017 JDub Men's 60 205 posts | Rest In Peace Elby Bushong Arizona Hall of Fame member, Elby Bushong passed away Monday, 09/11/2017. Condolences to Elby's Family & Friends . . . http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcentral/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=186653953 Jeff White Arizona Elite |
| Sept. 14, 2017 HAT MAN Men's 50 223 posts | NOOOOOOOO! This is upsetting. While I never was close to him, I met him as a young pup playing in is namesake tourney. Nervous as all hell playing in my first A/B tourney he came over to my dugout after my first at bat. The 30 second version was I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Stop stressing and just go have fun. I ended the weekend hitting in the top 4 of my team of grown men as a 25 year old. It was that moment with him I fell in love with softball!! RIP my dear sir!!! Vinny |
| Sept. 14, 2017 StevenL.Imlay Men's 60 173 posts | True Legend of the game! Even bigger in person, witnessed many times of offering strategic and wise softball help for various people. Hw will be missed! |
| Sept. 14, 2017 Funk 66 posts | So sorry to hear this news abou a great friend...Elby was awesome. George R. |
| Sept. 14, 2017 16wood Men's 65 77 posts | Elby was a man's man... a player's player... a fireman's firemen... a friend's friend... he was all of these things and many more. I first played against Elby in 1972 and was very impressed with his confidence and his power. It wasn't until 1978 that I played with him and, believe me, you can't really assess a player's total value until he's in your dugout. He joined us (Capitol Insulation) in June of 1978 (along with Dennis Myers) and this gave us IMMEDIATE credibility on the national level. They both were a force... Elby was as good a clutch hitter as I've seen over the past 40 years and also one of the most charasmatic people I've ever met. With him and Dennis we won our share of events in 1978 (and 1979) and beat a lot of great teams (Howard's, Campbell's, Howard & Carroll, Nelson's, Snyder's, Steele's, Ken Sanders Ford, CC Brick, etc.)... NSPC, ASA or USSSA. Our friendship has prospered over this time frame so this is a huge loss for me and many other of our close friends. Perhaps the most meaningful thing about Elby, IMO, was how he handled the many people (senior softball players) who approached him over the past 20 years. They would convey to him how they witnessed one of his many exploits... even though Elby probably had no clue who they were (he would remember the incident), he NEVER blew them off and would always make them feel that they were the most important thing on his mind for 2-3 minutes... this came from his love of people and his respect for the game. But he was not patient with players who were self-centered or who put themselves above the team. He was our first teammate honored by USSSA as a HOF inductee. There were 5-6 others to follow but Elby was the first. An honor well deserved. Softball has lost a great player and a super ambassador. The State of Arizona has lost even more. He is irreplaceable... Bob Woodroof |
| Sept. 15, 2017 Webbie25 Men's 65 2377 posts | Elby was also an Albuquerque legend in the late 70's and early 80's. His teams would come to the Albuquerque 4th of July Tournament and beat up on us-always with class. I recently got to know him finally after moving to Arizona as he came to many of our games. He was a total gentleman. He will be missed-Rest in Peace. |
| Sept. 17, 2017 jim16 Men's 65 180 posts | Elby was one of the real pioneers in our game and I will miss him. I was lucky to play on a couple of teams he played on and he was a leader that could hit with anyone. Great post from 16wood. Jim Cary |
