Ed McNevin started the first JPL slo-pitch softball league in 1968. Ed soon saw the need for a less competitive coed softball program to include more people, and in 1975 (approximately) he started the B league. Then in 1979 (approximately), Ed founded the casual C league, with more coed participation, for almost anyone who wanted to play softball. At the height of softball's popularity at JPL in the late 1980s or early 1990s, various offshoots of B and C leagues also sprung up. One of these new leagues was D League.
According to Dennis Wittman: The reason for the
creation of the D League was two fold: 1) the C League had too many teams..., and 2) about half the teams prefered the
idea of a game competitiveness between [that of] the B and C Leagues.
Bob Koukol adds some more specifics about how D League started:
The D League started as a rivalry between Bob Sutherland (Div. Manager of HR) and Frank Colella (Div. Mgr of Public Affairs who recently passed away) in one of thosemy people can beat your peoplediscussions. It was primarily teams from single organizations playing each other for bragging rights in the old executive dining room at lunch, and later other organizations wanted in also.
D League's first season was approximately 1988, and by 1990 it was a vigorous league with 10 teams participating. Several teams dropped out during the 1990s, and D League played its final season in 1997 with only 4 teams. These four teams played an interleague schedule with C League during June and July of 1997, and at least three of them (Infra Red Sox, B-52s → Eclectic Eccentrics, and Paper Tigers) found a home in C League for the 1998 C League season.
Long-time veterans of D League are requested to contact Sam Dolinar
Scanned documents from some D League seasons (thanks to Dennis Wittman): 1990-1993