A Brief History of the Beantown Softball League

Originally organized as the "Esplanade Softball League" in 1978, The "Beantown Softball League" was formally founded on January 17th 1980. On that day, the League's constitution was ratified and League officers were elected for the upcoming season. The main objective of the BSL was to "provide the opportunity for people who support gay fellowship to play softball in an atmosphere of friendly competition, free of discrimination." The new League officers credited Joe Leo -publisher of the "Esplanade Newspaper"- and founder of the previous "Esplanade Softball League", for his hard work which provided members with a great deal of pleasure, satisfaction and Gay Pride! BSL League officers planned to continue the tradition and make it available to an even larger segment of the gay community.

In March of 1979, the BSL was accepted into the North American Gay Alliance (founded in 1977 & later to become known as NAGAAA- North American Gay Amateur Athletic Association). This is a national organization that brings together gay-oriented athletic leagues for the exchange of ideas and competitive play. The Beantown Softball League was represented for the first time in the Gay Softball World Series in 1979 by "Paradise Café". This was the 3rd Annual World Series and it was held in Milwaukee. "Paradise" finished in 3rd place behind the winner - Minneapolis and runner up - Los Angeles.