Anyone who had the honor of being a Bobby Hickey teammate knew the laughter and the fun that came with the territory. They knew the awesome effect of the Hickey Knuckle Curve and so did the opposing hitters. One by one the flailed or watched the spinless gem fall off the table. It was virtually unhittable and a challenge for a catcher to catch. Fortunately, Bobby seemed to be able to throw the KC for a strike almost at will. Today he admits he needed to throw the knuckle curve for strikes because as he puts it "I had a dime store fastball".

His Legion Coach Jim Peck knows the book on Bobby Hickey Solis. A graduate of Benidle High School, he was recognized as "All State" in his 1980 senior year. Bobby's Excelsior Legion team records still stand:  his three year pitching record was 34-8, 10-0 as a high school junior, 10-5 his senior summer, and 14-3 as the first ever Excelsior Legion college freshman. 34 wins is the all time best and his 14 win season ties for most wins in a single season. Hickey pitched 112 innings in his last year, a record. There were two pitching gems tossed by Bobby had just 102 pitches in total pitch count or 51 pitches in each complete game. Wow.

College baseball at Notre Dame, a Minnetonka Millers Hall of Fame amateur career, and a move to Phoenix AZ to build a terrific family with his wife Sallie Solis. In typical character, Bobby admits he married "way over his head". Those of us in the know kind of agree!. You may see one of their five children these days pitching for the Washington Nationals. That's right. Sammy Solis is Bobby and Sallies kid! Sammy is a left-handed reliever for the Washington Nationals and sports a 2.72 ERA over two major league seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Son Sammy is 6-5 and 245 lbs. Bobby played at 6-2 and 165 lbs.

In 2006, Bob and Sallie raided their life savings to found Open Arms Home for Children, an orphanage in South Africa that is now home to 58 children.  Read and see more at www.openarmshome.com . Open Arms Home is an amazing story and an amazing gift to our broader world.

Bobby Hickey Solis remains a terrific supporter and teammate of Excelsior Legion Baseball. We are proud to feature Bobby in the first of our Excelsior Alumni series.