Gay World Series

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - Cheers, the clang of aluminum bats and umpires' earnest calls of steee-rike echoed across the fields in Wirth Park on Friday, all ringing the success of one of the largest gay sporting events in the world.
The North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance Softball World Series drew 127 teams and more than 2,500 ballplayers to Milwaukee, and its return to the area after two decades helped ring cash registers at hotels and restaurants throughout the area.
The tourism officials at Visit Milwaukee put the series' economic impact at roughly $1.1 million, a figure that the tournament organizer said undercounted the cash flow generated by the weeklong tournament and party by about $5 million or $6 million.
"This was a nice shot in the arm for the local economy," said Brian Reinkober, co-director of NAGAAA-fest 2009 and a commissioner of the host, the Saturday Softball Beer League.
The league was created in 1977 and played host to the first NAGAAA Softball World Series in 1979, with teams from eight cities playing for the championship crown. Milwaukee last hosted the series in 1985, and Reinkober was happy for the opportunity to remind athletes from across the country that the small town in the Midwest stood proudly with larger cities in welcoming gay athletes.
"We have a special little place," Reinkober said. "It's part of what makes Milwaukee so endearing."
Tommy Salzsieder and Ronald Burbey helped organize the first NAGAAA World Series in Milwaukee and noted the acceptance that has grown over the past three decades.
In the early years, the organizers dodged publicity or news coverage to protect the participants and their jobs. Pickets protested at the games in several host cities in the series' first decades, they said.
In contrast, Mayor Tom Barrett welcomed the participants during the opening ceremonies on the Summerfest grounds Monday night.
"It was a great party atmosphere, very festive," Barrett said, happy to have thousands of softball players joining thousands of bikers in town for the Harley-Davidson motorcycle rally.
Over the years, the Gay Softball World Series has served as more than an athletic outlet for the participants. It has helped present a positive image to the broader community, Reinkober said.
A talent show at the Pabst Theater on Wednesday night generated $14,000 that will be divided among three local AIDS service organizations, and members of the Saturday Softball Beer League have raised more than $150,000 working a concession stand at Miller Park.
"The Softball World Series is about friendships being made, getting together once a year to celebrate the gay culture and appreciating the athleticism of the game," Reinkober said.
from Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel