2003 (Spring) Male Player: Brad Lindmark
/Brad Lindmark
Over a career stretching from 1982 to 1998, Brad Lindmark hit for a .670 average and hammered over 1,100 home runs. He played in state and national tournaments for 15 of the 16 years he played USSSA ball, five years at Class C, then up to Class B and final at A/AA. He was primarily a first baseman, but also played third and catcher.
From 1982 to 1984, Lindmark played with his brother Greg and a group of friends at Metz Tools. It was his brother who encouraged him to move up to competitive tournament ball.
Lindmark doesn’t care to talk about his accomplishments, but that’s hard to avoid when you have a softball pedigree like his.
In 1985, a 21-year-old Lindmark led his RMA team to the USSSA Class B Divisional Championship. In 1987, he belted a grand slam, his seventh home run of the tournament, in the championship game to give Roger’s Drywall the 1987 Class B State Title in Champaign. Lindmark, who also batted .741 for the tournament, was named MVP. In 1991, he won a Class B State Championship with Roger’s Drywall, and again the following year in Class A with Chippers Pub when he was named Class A All-State.
“He played with pride and determination – you always knew you were in for a fun hard-played game when Brad was in the park.”
During the period, he was also a regular at the prestigious Coors All Star Challenge in Rockford. Toward the end of his career, he won the USSSA Class B Batting Championship with a .844 average.
“Brad achieved success at every level he played at, whether it be a rec league game in Rockford, or a World Tournament in Milwaukee,” Michael Rogers of Roger’s Drywall said. “Anyone wanting to form a successful team in the area had [Brad’s name] on their short list.”
Rogers went on to say about Lindmark, “He hit for average or for power, depending on the needs of the team he was playing for. He played with pride and determination – you always knew you were in for a fun hard-played game when Brad was in the park.”
Chipper’s teammate and coach Steve Hahn adds that Lindmark was “humble of his own contributions, instead giving praise to the rest of us, making others feel their defensive play was much more significant than Brad’s grand slam in the bottom of the seventh.”
Lindmark is grateful for the opportunities the USSSA afforded him.
“The USSSA and our great sponsors gave me the opportunity for great competition, new friendships, lots of travel and years of joy on and off the field,” Lindmark said. “They’ve provided me with memories I’ll never forget.”
Lindmark has come full circle. He’s back playing once a week for a Don Metz sponsored team in a recreational team, just for fun. He has some advice, however, for younger players coming into the game. Basically, it’s “be as competitive as you can.”
“I feel the game has changed over the last few years, with equipment upgrades and players wanting to play down in classification instead of moving up,” Lindmark said. “It seems like when we were younger, everybody wanted to play up. We always wanted to win at a higher level.”
For 16 season, Brad Lindmark did just that.