Jack Hermsen
Softball, Fastpitch-Mens (2006)
Hall of Fame Inductees
Softball (fastpitch) (1987)
Jack Hermsen was a Tacoma area men’s fastpitch standout in the 1940s and 1950s.
Born in 1926 in Tacoma, Hermsen played football and basketball in high school, graduating from Bellarmine in 1944. He went on to a career as a longshoreman working for Pacific Maritime.
Jack organized the Tacoma Fire Department basketball team and became a seven handicap golf but it was on the softball diamond that his talent was most evident.
Hermsen was an outstanding player for several different teams, including the Elks, Red Spot, Amvets, Irwin Jones, Wood Realty Spring Air, and Nalley’s Tangmen. A second baseman and centerfielder, Jack was a member of the Irwin-Jones Dodgers team that traveled back to Bridgeport, CT in 1952 where they finished second in the national championships under the guidance of manager Doug Adam, a former Tacoma Rockets hockey player, and standout pitcher Lloyd Blanusa.
Hermsen earned all-regional honors 10 years and had a lifetime .347 batting average in the area Traveling League. He was inducted into the Northwest Region Softball Hall of Fame in 1986.