1948 Baxter Springs Whiz Kids. This photo is being shared for two consecutive weeks. The Flash Report narrative in this report is for the time period of May 17 thru 23,

If you wish to see the photo identification that was contained in the previous report as well as the entire report you can get there by clicking on the following: ttps://www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/17426782126/

 

 

The KOM League

Flash Report

for

Week of May 17 thru 23, 2015

 

Due to lack of input from readers and too much output in my yard and garden this week, this report will be much briefer than past issues.

 

Bulletin: I interrupt this report for a late breaking story that came to my attention at the time the Columbia, Mo. Tribune hit the street on Friday afternoon May 15. I will carry the article in next week’s Flash Report. If you want a preview of it you can go to this site: www.columbiatribune.com/arts_life/community/pick-up-timel...

 

Ever since that report appeared in the evening edition of the Columbia Tribune my telephone has been ringing and books have been flowing out the garage door like hot molten lava going downhill. (But it is a small flow). I am going to have some great and unlikely tales about the people who showed up to claim their prize in my next report. As I attempt to reduce the stack of books in my garage I’m reminded of the legendary stripper, Gypsy Rose Lee. When asked why she didn’t bare all she replied “If you give it away you can’t sell it.” In that spirit my saying is “If you can’t sell your published books, give them away.”

 

With the “Midweek Missive” being sent last week I’m about out of anything of significance to report. The primary reason for sharing the May 12th information was to let Lilburn Smith’s friends know of his passing. I had planned to share his full obituary in this issue but what was released through Internet sources was pretty sparse. So, if you need to know more about him get in touch and I will either give you a response or find someone who can.

 

Another reason for sending out the May 12th report was to see if I could find more information on Jack Lee Dorrell. I didn’t mention him by name for a reason. That being, I didn’t want to influence anyone with what they might wish to share. I had heard some conflicting stories over the years with regard to his life. Fortunately, some of the tales I heard were not true. Here is a quote from the previous Flash Report and I’ll go from there. “Look the photo over ‘real good’ and let me know who you think the Yankees signed. The third guy signed, and not in this photo, inked his contract in 1954. That one is pretty easy. Another hint about probably the least identifiable was that in 1952 he was one of the top 48 high school football players in the State of Kansas. I probably just gave you the hint that makes him identifiable to most of the readers. And, if you haven’t figured it out by now his dad was born at Ash Grove, Mo. in 1884. He was a widower by 1915. He was a miner who moved to Prosperity, MO (between Carthage and Joplin) where he took unto himself his second wife that was where his son was born in 1933. (Later found the son’s birth place as Picher, OK) Daddy was 49 when the future Whiz Kid was born. The young man’s dad died in Baxter Springs in 1949. Okay, that is enough of the hints about the young men Tom Greenwade signed out of Baxter Springs, Kansas. I’m working on a story for the next Flash Report and I thought maybe someone would like to fill in the blanks.”

 

Coming in as the first guess as to who the third Baxter Springs Whiz Kid was receiving a “significant” bonus from the Yankees was from Bob Mallon. He was Mantle’s roommate at Independence in 1949. Here was his guess. “Was the other boy named Deatherage? Mantle got 1500.00 dollars. I'll guess the other boy got 6000.00 dollars. In reply to that guess I stated “Abner Edward Deatherage was a Joplin High athlete but never played for the Whiz Kids. He became a foreign service agent.”

 

Next up in answering the quiz regarding three Whiz Kids getting bonuses to sign with the Yankees came from Don Steele. He wrote “Hello John...Would one of Greenwade’s signees be Jack Dorrell? Well, of course he hit the nail on the head.

 

Ed reply

 

I was looking at some old Joplin Globe stories and I figured out Jack Dorrell got more money to sign with the Yankees than either Mickey Mantle ($1,500) or Ralph Terry ($2,000). I know that he died around age 30 in Baxter Springs. Do you know what he did after high school and that one season in minor league baseball? I wonder if he worked in the mines around there? You guys had a great football season in 1952. Carthage (MO) used to play Baxter Springs, once in a while, in football. I don't recall if those two teams played each other that year or not.

 

Steele’s reply:

 

Jack died at the age of 31 due to a blood clot after a surgery at Baxter Memorial. He had married a daughter of one of the owners of Root Mfg. and became a salesman for that company.

 

We did have a great season in 1952 going undefeated. Our only blemish was a tie with Carthage. We had beaten them the prior year 12-6. Guess who caught the winning TD!

 

Jack was my best friend in school and was truly sorry to lose him.

 

Ed reply:

 

Thanks for that update. I never knew what happened to Jack. Some of the guys had asked me about him and I just didn't know anything.

 

Congratulations on that winning catch even though it was against Carthage. I remembered that Carthage Tigers always had its hands full when they played your Baxter Springs Lions.

 

Comment:

 

With the issue on Jack Lee Dorrell resolved I went directly to another question I’ve never been able to figure out about another Whiz Kid team member from 1948, Gene Linderman-Lindenman?? This note was sent to Don Steele. “If Gene was Linderman's middle name his first name was Floyd. He had a sister named Nellie and two other brothers one of which was Albert. Do any of those names ring a bell? Another interesting item is that Jack Dorrell and his family lived on the 600 block with the Linderman family in 1940. One was at 607 and the other 615. That family must have included Gene. I did verify that Jack Dorrell was born in Picher, OK by virtue of the 1940 Federal Census.

 

Steele’s reply:

 

I remember Gene, but no one else in that family. My memory keeps telling me that Gene spelled his last name Lindenman. I will try to research that further and get back to you.

 

Ed reply:

 

There was a Juanita and a Richard Lindenman in the 1941 Baxter Springs Yearbook. On the same page was Robert Steele Jr. That was their sophomore year. (A quick errata note was sent. “That was Floyd Steele Jr. in the 1941 yearbook.)

 

Steele’s reply:

 

Floyd was our oldest brother. He graduated in 1943 and entered the Navy, serving on the U.S.S. Hornet. He is now 89 years old. I would ask him if he knew Richard Linderman, but unfortunately has severe dementia.

 

 

Ed reply:

 

Juanita was the sister of Richard Lindenman. She died in Bartlesville, OK in 2002.

 

For what it’s worth, which isn't much, the Joplin Globe always spelled the name, Linderman. They had him in an article from August 21, 1948 as being one of the Whiz Kids who went to see the Red Sox and Yankees play the Browns on the 18th and they saw a doubleheader with the Yankees on the 19th. That was the trip where Jim Kenega started climbing the side of the YMCA in St. Louis claiming he was “Spider Man” and in the process had Barney Barnett very upset. I do have a photo of the group who made that trip and they posed in front of the YMCA which was directly behind the centerfield wall at Sportsman’s Park.

 

________________________________________________

Another former Whiz Kid responded with his wife doing the computer work.

 

John: Both of my computers are down. One is in the shop & the other one I am dealing with (very slowly). 1949 Mickey, 1954 Ralph Terry signed with Greenwade. Wylie signed in 1947. Billy Joe Pace & Bennie Lee signed with Miami Owls soon after. Babe Garrison (pitcher). Seven signed professionally that he knew from the Whiz Kids.

I’ll get back to you as soon as I get up and rolling. Mary Ann Pitts—Riverton, KS

 

Ed reply:

 

Also Jack Dorrell signed with the Yankees in 1953. The first Whiz Kid to sign was Jackie Moore with Miami in 1946. Of course Ray, Roy and Max Mantle signed after playing for the Kids and Tri-State Miners. I think Ben Craig played a couple of weeks in the Sooner State League, didn't he? Also, Jim Kenaga played for about seven years in the Big State and Sooner State leagues.

 

The Pittsburgh Pirates tried to sign Nick Ferguson after he moved to San Diego, from Commerce, OK, but they were going to send him to Bartlesville and he didn't want to return to Oklahoma so he didn't sign with them.

 

The whole point of my inquiry was to learn little bit more about Jack Dorrell. I think he was 30 years old when he died. I've been trying to figure out what he did in the 10 year period after he played minor league ball with Owensboro, Kentucky and Joplin in 1953. (That was determined in my correspondence with Don Steele)

 

Billy Joe Pace and Bennie Lee signed with Miami in 1950. George Garrison pitched for Miami in 1951 when I was the batboy at Carthage. Garrison also played for Miami in 1950. Out of that group of fellows only George Garrison survives. He lives in Joplin and the last time we spoke I found out he spends part of each Sunday in Webb City where he attends church services.

 

When Mickey Mantle went to Coffeyville, KS on the night of his high school graduation, Wylie Pitts was back with the Whiz Kids. Tom Greenwade was there to ink Mantle to a Yankee contract and was shocked to see Pitts wasn’t playing professional a baseball that season. As it turned out Mantle had a good night at the plate in that “last look see” before being signed but Wylie Pitts had a better one.

 

Comment:

 

This story was found on the Internet regarding Ralph Terry www.agg.com/media/interior/publications/baseball49th.pdf It is mostly accurate but some obvious errors such as Tom Greenwade being called “Greenway.”

 

One thing to which I’d take exception is the spelling of Tom Greenwade’s name and also the lack of any mention of Terry’s days with the Whiz Kids and also at Independence. I’ve spoken with Terry a number of times and his Whiz Kid experience was very important in his life. I guess it proves that it depends upon who is doing the interview and writing the story on what gets reported. At the time of Mickey Mantle’s funeral Ralph Terry picked up Barney Barnett Jr. at the Lowell, KS nursing home where Barney was living and they drove to Dallas. On the way home they stopped at the old Whiz Kid ball park for a moment of remembrance and the shedding of a few tears.

 

Still on the topic of Mantle et. al.

 

John, still have Mantle Pins? I can't find the address to send the ten dollars

 

Ed reply:

 

I can solve that dilemma.

 

John G. Hall

1709 Rainwood Place

Columbia, MO 65203

________________________________________________

Lilburn Smith remembered:

 

I DO REMEMBER THE NAME LILBURN SMITH FROM 1948 WHEN HE AND HARLAND (Coffman) PLAYED IN INDEPENDENCE. Donna Coffman—Topeka, KS

________________________________________________

A few people I’ve known weren’t connected to baseball

 

A note to a friend in Texas who lived near a guy I saw mentioned on the Internet this past week. “ I just saw the obituary of a guy I got to know in Round Rock, Texas. It was the obituary of Johnny Gimble. He was a great guy. I was talking about him this past week with the columnist who was interviewing me for a story. Then, a couple of days later I found that Gimble had “graduated” to another realm. Gimble was the kind of guy who didn't let fame and talent go to his head.” www.google.com/search?rls=aso&client=gmail&q=John...

 

Friend’s reply:

 

I saw that in the paper today. A fiddler. Sorry, Dave—Austin,TX

 

Tying the loose ends.

 

A note was received from a lady by the name of Connie Ward stating that her husband, Jim, would take one of those Mantle books because he was interested in the subject. On the other hand Connie claimed to want the book because of the author and she wished to learn more about Baxter Springs, KS.

 

It is doubtful that Connie has or ever will see the bright lights and skyscrapers of the old mining town. Going back in history was family by the name of Nealy and one of the Nealy girls became my grandmother. She married Geddes Hall at the turn of the 19th century and they moved about from such places as Ford County, Kansas to Delta, Iowa and to many of the mining communities of Southwest Missouri and Southeast Kansas. They never “stooped” so low as to live in Oklahoma. Ha!! ha!!

 

In this section of the report I’ll attempt to synthesize every thing contained in the rest of it. Back in the mid 1920’s my paternal grandparents were pretty much Baxter Springs residents. In 1931 my grandfather was suffering from a mine related lung disease and after a trip to a hospital in Topeka went back to Baxter Springs and died. My grandfather, Geddes, was the great grandfather of the lady I mentioned earlier, Connie Ward. Connie’s father (son of Geddes) passed away in 1919 in a mine accident while he was oiling the machinery on the surface. At barely age 18 he was too young to do a dangerous task. The machine he was oiling caught his clothing, pulled him inward and took his life. Connie’s father was just an infant at the time and never knew his father, Harry.

 

Are you still with me?

 

Like my second cousin, Connie, I lost a Hall family member way too early. By 1930 my dad was still living in Baxter Springs and didn’t leave there until his father died, in 1931. At that time he moved my grandmother and Connie’s great grandmother (same person) to Carthage.

 

All things in research will take you to places you never imagined. The KOM league has been the basis of all my research in the past 20 years. One day I was searching for former members of the 1946 Miami, OK Blues and the trail of a member of that Miami team pointed directly to Baxter Springs. In looking up the ancestry of the person I’ll call William Jackson Moore, since that was his name, caused me stop and glare at the Census page where his name was contained on the 1930 Census. I had seen thousands of pages of Census records but not many so fully filled out and with such great handwriting. When I determined Moore was the fellow who played for Miami I looked at the top of the page to see who had done such a great job of filling out the form. It read “Cecil C. Hall.” Other than seeing his signature on a couple of documents in the past I had never witnessed his penmanship. I can assure you that I don’t possess the same skill daddy did.

 

Now, this is a shaggy dog story so stay with me. Connie’s father, Ernest Hall, left the area after hid dad, Harry, was killed and moved back to the small community where Ernest’s mother, Bryna, had been raised. It was a place actually called Competition, Missouri.

 

Over the years, when I was a kid growing up in Carthage, cousin Ernest (21-years my senior) was connected with the Federal Narcotics Agency, the forerunner to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and going between investigations in Oklahoma and Kansas City would stop for a visit. Cousin Ernest and I never talked about that affiliation. However, in recent years I was contacted by former Iola Indian, Bill Ashcraft, and in comparing notes both he and another former KOM leaguer Bernard Leroy Coulter had worked in the DEA with cousin Ernest.

 

Well, that is part of the story as to how I can locate information if I have any questions. In the case of Jack Dorrell and Jim Linderman I made contact with Don Steele. He played his high school sports at Baxter Springs, KS and then attended Joplin Junior College. While there he played on the same basketball team with Eddie Nealy from Webb City, MO. Eddie’s father was the brother to my grandmother Minnie B. Hall.

 

When I want to know something about Eddie’s college days I ask Don Steele. Like many of my cousins, I never got to know Eddie real well but saw him play basketball against Carthage during my days in junior high. I must say that I didn’t get the writing skills from my father or my athletic ability from Eddie.

 

However, he did pass along those genes to son Eddie Jr. who plied his skills with Kansas Sate University and later with the Chicago Bulls during the heyday of the era that included Michael Jordan.

 

Now you know how I obtain reliable information. It all reverts to Baxter Springs, Kansas. By the way my mother and dad made the trek by streetcar from Carthage to the Kansas mining town for their wedding

________________________________________________

Going way back

 

From time to time, like most of the time, I’ll mention amateur teams around SW Missouri, NE Oklahoma and SE Kansas. Those teams were loaded with players who went on to professional baseball careers and other significant fields of endeavor. The Baxter Springs Whiz Kids are now well known to this readership. I suspect Yours truly has written more about that team than anyone.

 

In the era of the Whiz Kids there was a team out of Treece, Kansas called “The Tri-State Miners.” Many of the guys who played for the Whiz Kids also saw action with the Miners.

 

When word got out that there were some cheap Mantle books to be had I had a call (not Hadacol) from Grove, Oklahoma. The caller introduced himself as Dewayne Treece. I chuckled and remarked, “That is a pretty famous name.” Dewayne said that his ancestors had founded that mining town which for the readers in “far away” places sits on the Oklahoma-Kansas border and is a “twin city” to the recently condemned and vacated, Picher, OK. In a recent Flash Report I mentioned Jack Johnston whose father, “Rattler,” founded the Tri-State Miners before turning it over to Jack McGoyne, who, when he was playing, was a baker for Junges Bakery in Joplin. (Junge’s was the bakery that introduced “Bunny Bread” to the grocery stores of the area. Bunny Bread was an instant hit with the homemakers who would stand in line waiting for the truck to arrive each morning.. The bread came to the stores, (Safeway, where I worked) still warm, and could only be stacked two rows high. The real reason for that was due to the amount of air in the bread but you would never have convinced the ladies standing in line that was what made it so soft.)

 

Dewayne recalls attending many games in 1950 when Joplin was in the Western Association and Mantle was playing shortstop for that club. He recalled one game where the home plate umpire was a bit “questionable” on some strike calls. The batter happened to be Mantle and the first pitch was out of the strike zone in his estimation. The second pitch was even worse, in Mantle’s opinion. Dewayne recalled that Mickey’s dad, Mutt, had told his son never to argue a pitch call. So, according to Dewayne, Mantle glared at the umpire. On the third pitch Mantle hit a ball over the flag pole in centerfield.

 

Of course, if anyone saw Joplin play in 1950 they would recall Lou Skizas for two things, being able to hit hard line drives and then having a “ceremony” before stepping into the batters box. He had to enter between the umpire and catcher for starters and then slip his hand in his back pocket before hitting. There are a lot of stories about that but one of my readers was the batboy for Independence, KS in 1949 when Skizas showed up there, about a month into the season, and the other batboy was at Kansas City when Skizas showed up there. So, if Dan Dollison and Jim Jay wish to comment about their memories of Skizas I’ll share them in this forum in upcoming issues.

 

Other stories about Ralph Terry, Ken and Cletis Boyer and Sherman Lollar wound up in Dewayne’s conversation with me. But, I don’t have the space for all that. However, he did inject the names of Bobby Cox and Jim Beauchamp and a banker from Grove, OK. Bobby Cox hired Jim Beauchamp as a coach with the Braves. That led to the banker being allowed in the Braves clubhouse and being treated like royalty. Beauchamp had KOM league ties through his uncle, Herschel Beauchamp, who was a co-founder of the KOM league and President of the Miami, OK baseball team in 1946.

 

During the 1951 season Jim Beauchamp saw KOM games at Miami, Ralph Terry attended a few at Bartlesville, OK and as a batboy for Carthage that year I didn’t realize that two of the young men viewing those games would have big league careers and the only games at the “top of the heap” I’d ever get into would be by virtue of paying the price of admission.

________________________________________________

About out of stuff to report.

 

The following article is one I found tucked away on the Internet that I had written about a decade ago. For those of you who are new to the Flash Report you may find some of this material of interest. And, then again, maybe not. The following article was written to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the KOM league. This is the 70th year of the league’s founding and next May 1 will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first year of operation.

 

 

Glimpses of Baseball

By John G. Hall

Friday September 15, 2006

 

September 6, 2006 was a day when the pick-up truck was pointed Southwest and the occupants took a 225 mile trip from Columbia to a destination to relive some memories of a part of history that began in 1946.

 

With the cessation of hostilities of World War II, the minds of Americans again returned to baseball, apple pie and Chevrolets. The years of ration stamps and cities devoid of young males had come to an end. Many of the young men returned to the United States to pursue their aspirations of playing baseball. The places where those dreams could be pursued were in leagues that spanned classifications including: D, C, B, A, AA, AAA and the Majors.

 

The landscape of minor league baseball stretched from border to border and coast to coast. The "D" leagues were found in towns with populations ranging from 10,000-15,000. One such Class D league sprang up in 1946 and included the towns of Carthage in Missouri; Iola, Chanute, Iola and Pittsburg in Kansas, along with Miami and Bartlesville in the Sooner State. In 1947, the towns of Ponca City, Oklahoma and Independence, Kansas were added to the league and, with the Brooklyn Dodgers sending players to Ponca City and the New York Yankees sending peach-faced boys to Independence, some great baseball players called the Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri (KOM) league, home for their initial year in the game.

 

From that humble beginning, 32 (later found two more) young men worked their way to the top of the baseball ladder: the Major League level, which in that era was limited to 400 players. One of those 32 was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame--Mickey Charles Mantle.

 

Many of the aspirations of young ballplayers of the 1946-1952 era were interrupted due to another armed conflict and three lost their lives on the battlefield called Korea. Many of the 1588 young men who didn't make it to the Major Leagues played the game for another decade or so and found their way to the higher classifications of baseball.

 

As with all dreams they come to an end and reality sets in. In a twelve year effort, Yours Truly has attempted to locate the young men who wore the uniform of a KOM League team, even if it was only for one day. At the present time, 1225 (number has increased to about 1450 since that time) of those former players have been contacted or their fate determined.

Learning of the post baseball lives of those formerly young men has precipitated the publishing of three books, a newsletter that has been published for 12 years and a KOM League Internet Flash Report that is published probably far too often for those on the receiving end.

 

One of the most popular functions of the past dozen years is the gathering of former players, their families, friends and former fans. These functions have been held around the Northeast Oklahoma, Southeast Kansas and Southwest Missouri area where the KOM league teams competed. This past weekend, the beautiful surroundings of Precious Moments in Carthage, Missouri were the site billed as the 60th Anniversary celebration of the league. It was also stated that it would be the final event.

 

For an event that was supposed to start on Thursday, it was my decision, as coordinator of the event, to get there before anyone else and get the "loose ends" handled. Upon my arrival at the Precious Moments headquarters, I was shocked to find 17 people in town one day ahead of any planned events.

 

Those early arrivals had come from Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, California, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Their first clamor was "Where are we eating?" So, an unscheduled dinner was quickly set up and a weekend of fun began.

 

This writers affiliation with the KOM league was that of a batboy. Only 10 years of age when I first took on the job of visiting team batboy at Carthage, it was my job to look after the wants and needs of the ballplayers. It was only poetic justice that as I entered the motel in Carthage I found a number of the guys and gals refusing to go to their rooms. A snake had been spotted inching its way along the wall to the rooms in the 100-190 section. With my room assignment of 163, I assumed I would have to do my St. Patrick or Steve Irwin impersonation and rid the motel of at least one snake. Since it was only about a foot long, it was presumed that there were more from where that one emanated.

 

Throwing caution to the wind the snake was captured, placed in a baseball cap and escorted outside. Upon release, it curled up in a knot and then sprang for freedom as it straightened out its body. Everyone speculated as to what kind of snake it was. Not one person guessed right. It was a Great Plains Rat Snake. Needless to say, no one in rooms 100-190 slept too soundly the first night.

 

On Thursday the crowd gathered from across the United States and by mid-afternoon over 100 people were registered representing 20 states. The usual cast of characters showed up with a few new faces. One person getting a lot of attention was the last St. Louis Cardinal manager to lead the team to a World Series title -- former manager Whitey Herzog.

Herzog looked much younger than his 75 years on this planet would indicate. He was there with former Kansas City and New York Yankee second baseman, Jerry Lumpe. Lumpe and Herzog had played for the 5th Army team at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri in 1953 and that club eventually went on to win the National Baseball Congress tournament in Wichita, Kansas. Three other former players on that Ft. Leonard Wood team and their wives attended the reunion.

 

Registered at the reunion were eight men who were former major leaguers. To recite their names to baseball fans of this era would bring blank stares. However, these names: Bill Virdon, Bob Speake, Boyd Bartley, Gale Wade, Cloyd Boyer and Joe Stanka were known to fans of the 1940s, 50s and even into the 1960s.

 

In the environment of the KOM League reunions, however, the fellows who only played one year and that at the Class D level are held in as high esteem as the guys who "made it all the way."

 

Walking through the reunion venues a lot can be learned about the success of the baseball players. On their fingers are World Series rings and around the necks of some of the wives hang a World Series ring altered for necklace apparel.

Over the course of the many reunions, one of the impressive things is the number of couples who have been married to the same partner for 50 to 60 years. These are people of great moral character. Over the years a large number of the former players have provided constant care for their disabled spouse. They took their wedding vows seriously and never complained.

 

In their days in the KOM League many of the players dated the local girls. Each went their separate ways and yet, when the wives of the players pass away or the husbands of the former local girls go to the great beyond, it is not uncommon for Yours Truly to receive a call from each of those groups asking about their former boy and girl friends. Time changes a lot of things, but it doesn't erase memories.

 

KOM League reunions follow a fairly predictable format. There are initial greetings, a lot of eating, sight seeing, shopping, more eating and finally the final banquet. At the final banquet, it is never known in advance what the entire program will be. As the reunion, organizer great attempts are made to give it some structure but old baseball players can decimate the best laid plans.

 

On Saturday evening, I arrived at the Precious Moments eating establishment to find a couple of the fellows selling raffle tickets. When I inquired as to what they were doing, I was informed it was none of my business. Later in the evening, the drawing for the prize was made. The winner was Bill Clark of Columbia, Missouri, but I was handed an envelope stuffed full of money instead. From the raffle, the fellows had collected more than $1,000.

 

To say the least, I was speechless and that is a difficult thing for me to be. What Clark had won through the raffle was a baseball lamp. The lamp's pedestal was constructed of ash, the same lumber used in the manufacture of baseball bats. The pedestal was an exact replica of home plate. The supports for the lamp were three miniature Louisville Slugger bats with a former KOM leaguers name on each--Mickey Mantle. A set of baseball spikes was placed on the home plate with an official National League baseball signed by three former KOM leaguers who attended the reunion--Bill Virdon, Gale Wade and Bob Speake.

 

Speaking of Speake, I couldn't speak at that moment and signaled the Miller Bluegrass band to continue to "pick and grin." In my most valiant effort, I was attempting to delay the inevitable--my final statement. At the close of the musical portion of the reunion, Joe Stanka, former Chicago White Sox hurler and later the first American to star in the Japanese Major Leagues, stepped forward.

 

In 1951, when I was the Carthage Cubs batboy, Stanka and his manager, George Scherger were two fellows the Carthage fans "loved to hate." Stanka came to the front, turned to the audience and encouraged them to stand and give the old batboy the longest and loudest ovation they had ever given anyone in their lives. That was a nice gesture on his part but way too embarrassing for the recipient of the accolades.

With the applause concluded, it was time to utter the last words of that reunion. After a couple of futile attempts at getting the words out, they finally came. My concluding remark was, "As a young man I went in search of my heroes and I found you."

posted by John @ 8:03 AM

 

Done