[37][38] Showing his financial commitment to winning, Ilitch even signed Ford and Nye to personal service contracts with Little Caesar's, employing them through the company, and did the same for Cash and Northrup.
[43] The team was led by manager Gary Vitto, and the Caesars would win two World Series titles before disbanding after the 1979 season.
[47] In addition, former Caesars Cal Carmen, Gary Vitto and Chuck Drewicz are members of the United States Slowpitch Softball Association (USSSA) Hall of Fame.
Chicago owner Lou Knudston said of the Caesars, "they've got a bunch of guys who stand 6'4" and weigh about 280, and they walk up there and whack it out of sight."
[59][60][61] Ilitch made the team even better for 1978, adding Rick Trudeau, Larry Elkins and Chuck Drewicz from Snyder's, a Detroit amateur softball power who had won the 1975 and 1976 USSSA national title (runner-up in 1977).
"[66] The Caesars rolled again in 1978 with another league best record, 49–15 (.766), 9 games ahead of the Minnesota Norsemen in the Midwestern Division, and received a first-round bye in the playoffs.
[68][69] The Caesars would repeat as professional softball champions with a dominating 4–0 victory (22–16, 50–12, 24–16, 26–12) as Detroit's Bert Smith hit 15–16 (.940) with 5 home-runs and 16 RBIs to earn the series MVP.
[72] Ron Ford of Detroit was edged out in the last game of the season by teammate Mike Nye in batting percentage (.654 to .645) to prevent his taking of triple-crown honors, but still took home league MVP.
Manager Gary Vitto offered to sit the two Caesars stars in the last game of the season as they were essentially tied for the battle title, but they elected to play and compete on the field.
[73][74] Detroit owner Ilitch made news in 1978 when he offered $30,000 for the contract of former MLB player Joe Pepitone of the Trenton Statesmen.
[77] Early season injuries to Ron Ford, Mike Nye and Bert Smith had the Caesars off to a less than dominant start in 1979.
[89] Milwaukee went on to beat the Kentucky Bourbons 5–3 in the APSPL World Series, broadcast nationwide on the new start-up sports network ESPN.
ESPN Broadcast, 1979 APSPL World Series, Game 8, Milwaukee at Kentucky The APSPL had also instituted several rule changes in 1979, including moving the base paths to 70 feet from 65, moving the pitcher's mound to 49-feet and several of the fields lengthened their dimensions to 315–330 feet from 300-feet in an effort to promote a less power-oriented game.
[40][97] Cleveland owner Ted Stepien intended to split the young professional sport, forming a new league, which Pittsburgh Hardhats ownership challenged in court.
[101] Several Caesars, including Mike Gouin, Dan Murphy, Tony Mazza and Gary Geister, played for the Auto Kings along with former Detroit Tiger Mickey Stanley.
In 1982, Detroit Softball City, playing at and named for a large softball complex on the grounds of the Michigan State Fair, played in the UPSL and were led by Charles Mitchell, along with former Caesars Rick Trudeau, Chuck Drewicz, Doug Gerdes, Gary Geister and manager Gary Vitto.