Last Glimpse of the Silver Hawk

May 1, 2014

I grew up in Wyoming where a person can lie alone on a Mountaintop and watch a Hawk float effortlessly on an updraft and then drop fast enough to decapitate a dove leaving a burst of floating feathers.

Don Berg played softball like that.

In his younger days he was handsome, agile, and very fast. He was elected to the San Diego Sports Hall of fame at a young age. Meeting Don lulled any competitor into a false sense of safety.

He was a kind man, a beloved teacher, and a gentleman. He floated elegantly above his competitors, always with a genuine smile, but a predator’s eye.

When the first pitch reached its apex in any game he played, the Hawk would dive. In 1988, at the age of 67, Don begin an unparalleled run of tournament victories and championships that spanned fifteen years.

The team he built was the now legendary Silver Hawks and their tournament record was 180 wins against forty losses. They won 53 tournaments and finished second in twenty-one. Among the various associations they won nineteen world championships.

Most amazing, was that this former PT boat officer, who was torpedoed in World War II by a German U-Boat, was able to dominate in softball at the highest levels for all those years without making enemies or even creating jealousy.

He died April 9 at the age of 92, a proud, yet humble member of the National Softball Hall of Fame.

His long time teammate and friend, John Paulette, suspects that the Silver Hawk hovers on some updraft, waiting for the chance to dive into the ultimate exhilaration.

As softball community members and/or war veterans, let’s salute one of our great warriors.