KOM Flash for week May 22, 2016. Photo taken July 20, 1950 Left to Right: David Elliott, Bobby Joe Graham, Harold White, Charles Sauvain, Ed Wolfe, E. C. Leslie, Don Hinchberger, Leroy Mehan and Jim Ryan. Bartlesville Pirates.

The KOM League

Flash Report

For week of

May 22—28, 2016

 

 

Warning:

 

This report is far ranging and voluminous so you might wish to read it in small doses. There is some “good” stuff in this edition and if you miss any of it your knowledge of the KOM league will be less than what it could be. On the other hand, if you ignore this report entirely, and concentrate on something else, you’ll probably be using your time more wisely. The report is posted at: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/26797573400/ Thus, you can go back to it, if needed. You will see the rare photo of a baseball team in short pants. The experiment didn’t last long as Bartlesville manager, Tedd Gullic, put a quick end to the nonsense. His main reason for doing so “The players wouldn’t slide.”

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Has it gone far enough?

 

It has been a contention that my best thinking is done when I’m mowing the yard or running the roto-killer (correct description) in the garden. Those two machines drown out all noise and no one is about to come around asking if they can help. Thus, you are alone with your thoughts.

 

One morning this past week I was decked out in my “best” attire. My socks didn’t match, my straw hat made me look as old as I really am and my wife was pointing at me as she uttered to our daughter “There sits the spitting image of your grandmother.” Sure enough, I know that I do look like her but my mother was 98-years-old when she was last spotted on earth.

 

As I worked in the yard, sans anyone interrupting me, I thought about mother and my earliest years. I came into this world at the end of the Great Depression and two months prior to my birth Hitler was on the march. The war years were lived out with everyone getting by on the basics and no frills. I was always told that when the war ended we’d have more things and could go more places with the lifting of gasoline rationing and most everything else.

 

Shortly after the conclusion of the war my dad died and what my mother went through was far worse, for her, than either the depression or the war. She worked hard as both mother and father and we made it. But, in making it our family did things a little different than most any of my acquaintances at that time and different from anyone I know in this generation.

 

One thing I never thought about, until my son-in-law came along, was, how I ate. He told my daughter he never saw a family that ate the meat of every item clear to the bone. I thought everyone did that, no reason to waste good food. Another thing we did, when I was growing up, was use every drop of anything left in a jar such as jelly, catsup, mustard etc., and I still do it.

 

So, as I mowed and roto-killed this week, the thought kept running through my head that I have about used up every drop in the KOM league catsup bottle and can’t squeeze much more out of the toothpaste tube known as KOM history Writing about the KOM league has now gone on three times longer than it existed.

 

As you read, scan or ignore this issue of the Flash Report I’d really like to have a frank answer to this question; “Has all the meat been stripped from the bone and is the catsup bottle empty?” I have no desire to bore the readership with redundant stories or other stories that aren’t redundant that might fall into the category as “Boring.”

 

*************

In recent weeks mention has been made, in this publication, regarding the 70th Anniversary of the start of the KOM league. Quite by accident I spotted an article, this week, in a June 1996 edition of the Tulsa, Okla. World. I read it with interest and then told my wife that I don’t recall ever seeing that article. I do recall the author of the article being in Pittsburg, Kansas for the first reunion of the KOM league that transpired on the 50th anniversary of its inception.

 

Reading the Tulsa World story from 1996 it seems as far removed, in time, as 1946 was to 1996 when the KOM leaguers re-gathered for the first time. Most of the fellows quoted by Terrell Lester, the author of the article, became good friends of mine and left the scene far too early. If you were a family member or friend of Goldie Howard, Eldon Yung, Bob Newbill or Al Solenberger you will want to scan this article. The only two guys mentioned in the article, still living, are Don Ervin and Yours truly. Both of us live in Missouri and the constants in my life, as mentioned in that article, are the address and telephone number neither of which has changed since 1994.

 

Lester’s lead off reference in his two-decade old article stated the attendees at Pittsburg were in their 60s, 70s, and 80s Now, they are in their 80s, 90s or have “crossed over. So I’m turning back the clock two decades and letting Terrell Lester take over. You can either pull up the following URL or read the narrative I cut and pasted

 

KOM League Reunion Brings Back Memories--June 9, 1996 Tulsa World

www.tulsaworld.com/archives/kom-league-reunion-brings-bac...

 

Cut and pasted version.—

 

There were a lot of young baseball players running around Pittsburg, Kan., last weekend.

 

They were in their 60s, 70s and 80s.

 

They thought it was 1946. Or 1950. And, for three days, it was.

 

It was the field of dreams all over again. Back there in Kansas, Toto.

 

Some 125 or so of them came together to relive the glory days, and the only days, of the KOM League.

 

From 1946 through 1952, the league operated in towns in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, thus the name, KOM.

 

It was the lowest rung on the professional baseball ladder, Class D. To some, Class D ball was the bush leagues. But for those young men who were being paid the going rate of $150 per month to play in the days following World War II, life was good.

 

Just how good those days were was brought up over and over again, and undoubtedly even enhanced a little, during the weekend reunion in Pittsburg.

 

John Hall of Columbia, Mo., pulled together the golden anniversary celebration of the KOM League. And former players, managers and bat boys came from all sections of the country to talk of the games they used to play.

 

The highlight of the weekend was to have been an old-timers game but the highlight turned out to be a three-day conversation among 125 people who shared a common bond. Frank "Goldie" Howard celebrated an anniversary of his own during the reunion. He turned 83 on Sunday.

 

As a 33-year-old player-manager in 1946, Howard guided the Chanute (Kan.) Owls to the KOM's initial championship. The Owls were an independent team that year, lacking a major

league working agreement. Most of the players, ranging in age from 17 to 24, were scouted and signed by Howard just before the start of the season on May 31.

 

Howard graduated from high school in Dustin, Okla. His father sold a hog to raise enough money to send young Howard to Springfield, Mo., to a St. Louis Cardinals tryout camp. Howard was given a contract and played in the Cardinals minor league system until becoming a manager. He now lives in Hollister, Mo.

 

Bob Newbill was a catcher on the 1949 Independence (Kan.) Yankees team that featured a wild-throwing shortstop by the name of Mickey Mantle.

 

Late in the season, the Independence first baseman (Ed note: Nick Ananias) was sidelined by injury. Newbill, not overly familiar with the position, was tapped to be the replacement.

 

"They put me on first base and I couldn't catch, and they had Mantle at short and he couldn't throw," said Newbill, who lives in Windsor, Mo.

 

Newbill told event organizer Hall: "For a weekend, you helped a bunch of old men forget some aches and pains."

 

Eldon Yung of Warrensburg, Mo., was the only former player wearing a uniform at a Saturday luncheon.

 

But it was not a wool uniform worn in the KOM days. It was a modern-day knit uniform -- from the St. Louis Cardinals. Yung, who played first base for the 1950 Miami (Okla.) Blues (Ed note:--Eagles), took part in a Cardinals fantasy camp in 1991. The camp trip was a gift upon Yung's retirement from Central Missouri State University, where he was chairman of the Department of Graphics.

 

At the fantasy camp, Yung managed a hit off Cardinals Hall-of-Famer Bob Gibson.

 

Billy Guy Bukkious (sp--Bockius) of Muskogee visited the reunion on Saturday and showed off a collection of more than a dozen official KOM League baseballs.

 

All of the baseballs were autographed, and one was signed by Pittsburgh Pirates Hall-of-Famer Lloyd Waner.

 

Bukkious (sp) served as a batboy for the Bartlesville Pirates in 1950 after spending the 1946 and '47 seasons with the Pittsburg Browns as a bat boy.

 

His parents, Jack and Edythe, operated Jack's Shack in Bartlesville. It was a popular hangout among players. Jack's Shack was perhaps the most mentioned and most fondly remembered

establishment during the reunion.

 

The most popular individual at the reunion was its organizer and workhorse John Hall.

 

He received well-deserved salutes and plaudits from all of the 200 who attended a Friday night dinner.

 

Hall, an 11-year-old bat boy for the 1951 Carthage (Mo.) Cubs, has written a book that serves as the definitive recounting of the KOM League.

 

Manuscripts of the book, complete with scores of photographs, were the hottest items on display. It will not be ready for publication until late summer, but Hall is taking advance orders.

His address is 1709 Rainwood Place, Columbia, Mo., 65203. His telephone number is (573) 445-8125. (Ed note: When that book was released the following year, in October, the greatest review of it was done by Terrell Lester in a Sunday Edition of the Tulsa World and he gave it a large spread.)

 

Hall said that 225 people attended a Saturday night dinner from 37 states.

 

Al Solenberger of Bartlesville arrived in Pittsburg to discover that he was a record-holder.

 

Hall told Solenberger that he held the record for most hits in the seven-year history of the league.

 

Solenberger played center field for the Bartlesville Pirates in 1947-48-51, collecting 385 hits.

 

"I wasn't aware of any record," he said. "That's pretty neat." A native of Springfield, Ohio, Solenberger decided to remain in Bartlesville after his playing days. He later served 11 years as

coach of the Bill Doenges-sponsored Bartlesville American Legion team, leading the 1969 squad to second place in the national tournament.

 

Solenberger was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a pitcher. But upon his arrival at his first training camp, he moved to the outfield.

 

"I could see there were too many pitchers," he said with a laugh. The move was encouraged by Pittsburgh Pirates batting instructor Lloyd Waner.

 

After moving to the outfield and making the Bartlesville team, Solenberger roomed with outfielder Brandy Davis and pitcher Ron Kline, both of whom wound up in the big leagues.

 

Solenberger recalled the day that Pittsburgh general manager Branch Rickey telephoned to summon Davis and Kline to a higher classification.

 

Rickey had to call three times.

 

Solenberger answered all three times. And hung up twice. Each time Rickey announced himself to the young player, Solenberger, believing the call to be a joke, hung up. On the third attempt, Rickey had his secretary announce him to Solenberger. "Why did you hang up on me, young man?" Rickey inquired.

 

"Would you believe it was Branch Rickey if you were in my place?" Solenberger said.

 

Another KOM record-holder attending the reunion was Don Ervin. Playing for the 1952 Miami Eagles, Ervin hit 24 home runs, more than any other player in the league, Hall said.

 

Players gathered in small pockets with former teammates and talked about the days of skinned (all dirt) infields, and the practice of leaving gloves in the field when teams went in to bat.

They talked of $2 a day meal money and broken down buses. They talked of favorite cafes and not-so-favorite, second-rate hotels. But most of all, they talked about playing baseball in another

time, another era. They talked about being boys of summer. And for a while last weekend, they were again.

 

Terrell Lester carried this story in the September 29, 1997 edition of the Tulsa World, replete with pictures.

 

Fond Memories of Minor League Baseball

A major-league book about minor-league baseball has hit a home run.

 

"Majoring in The Minors" is John G. Hall's epic tome that offers an old-fashioned glimpse of baseball through the eyes of a small-town batboy.

 

John is the one-time Tulsan who has singularly and fastidiously chronicled the history of the KOM League, a Class D professional league that operated in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri from 1946 through 1952. He served as the batboy for the Carthage (Mo.) Cubs

in 1951, and now lives in Columbia, Mo. He orchestrated the successful reunion of some 250 former players during the summer in Pittsburg, Kan., and it was there that John

was putting the finishing touches on his book.

 

The 432-page, soft-cover work is now being shipped to those who ordered early. It is a delicious blend of nostalgic anecdotes, interviews, statistics (the lifeblood of any baseball fan) and

photographs (307 total, ranging from team photos to candid, off-the-field shots). It is a celebration of the life of minor-league baseball.

 

Jim Morris of Grove received one of the first copies of the book. He was with the Miami (Okla.) Owls in 1947 and pitched a no-hitter against Carthage in the season opener. He calls the book "unbelievable."

 

"I think it's a remarkable endeavor. It was a real challenge and a tremendous effort. I can't believe how much John put into it," he said.

 

As for the author himself, John says, "The greatest satisfaction that I have is to know that the book got out while many of the guys are still able to read it."

 

"Majoring in The Minors" is edited and published by Bob Dellinger and his Oklahoma Bylines Inc. house of Stillwater. It can be ordered through John G. Hall, 1709 Rainwood Place, Columbia, Mo., 65203. Cost is $47.50, which includes shipping and handling. (Ed note: That book is long out of print and now the asking price is around $200 on E-bay.)

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Look what was found-- finally

 

An old gentleman was asked “Who was the prettiest girl you ever saw?” The sage answer was “The last one who walked past me.” I feel that way about locating former KOM leaguers or learning of their fate. The latest guy found always represents the toughest research task. After 22 years of searching I now know about a former Miami Owls hurler by the name of John Thornton Wolford.

 

Miami News Record—June 20, 1948

New Hurler Join Owls Saturday -- Accompanied by a new pitcher, big Jim Hansen, who was the first- string- catcher on Miami's KOM league pennant winning baseball team last year, was sent to Chanute Saturday afternoon soon after his return here. The new Owl hurler is John Wolford, 19-year-old Otway, Ohio, youth. A rookie, he is a right hander. The announcement from the Miami Baseball club Saturday also advised that Tommy Tarascio, Owl second baseman, is now on the disabled list. He is suffering from an injured shoulder, it was said.

 

Wolford’s first appearance at Miami—July 3, 1948

 

John Wolford, making his first start for the Owls at the local park, started for the Flock but gave way to (Jim) Price in the third after three (Bartlesville) Pirate tallies had ambled across the platter. The hustling (Guerney) Freeman, playing his first game of his baseball career at first base, poled out three of the Owls' six safeties off Pirate hurler (Dave) Elliot. Plenty of fireworks will be on deck for local fans today as Boyd Bartley's loop-leading Ponca City caravan meets Art Priebe's Owls in a holiday twin bill.

 

Wolford’s second mound appearance—July 4, 1948

 

MIAMI, OKLA. MONDAY, JULY 5, 1948-- Owls Still Weak At Plate; Lose Pair To Poncans Ponca City's league-leading Dodgers rolled to a double Fourth of July victory over the Owls, yesterday at Fairgrounds park, 8-6 and 4-3, to wind up first half play in the KOM loop—four games out in front. Centerfielder, Joe Beran, clouted two homers in the afternoon tilt to lead Ponca City's- 11-hit attack off three Miami flingers. A four-run rally by the Flock in the seventh frame highlighted by doubles by Tom Tarascio and Warren Liston gave the Owls a temporally 5-5 tie. Each team added a single tally in the eighth frame, but a pair of singles off John Wolford, an intentional pass, and two infield rollers sent across two Ponca runs in the ninth. Ponca hurlers, (Dick) McCoy and John Hall, were nicked for only two bingles by the Owls. (The word “bingles” was often used by sportswriters instead of “singles.”)

 

Wolford’s obituary

 

John Thornton Wolford Sr., 83, of Lucasville, passed away surrounded by family and friends,

Monday, June 11, 2012, at SOMC Hospice.

 

He was born Nov. 9, 1928, in Otway; a son of the late Chester Ray and Helen Thornton Wolford.

John was a retired Shift Captain of the Goodyear Atomic Police Department with 34 years of service, a U.S. Army Korean War veteran, a member of the Lucasville Branch of the Community of Christ, and a 1946 Otway High School graduate. John was a 50-year member of the Lucasville Masonic Lodge 465 and a former Republican Committeeman.

 

He was an avid sports fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Cincinnati Reds, and the Valley Indians. John was honored by the Valley Local Schools as their No. 1 sports fan and was an honorary

member of the Valley Alumni Hall of Fame.

 

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Alberta Jane Kennard Wolford who he married Dec. 14, 1956, in Otway; one son John (Sigrid) Wolford Jr. of Lucasville; one daughter Julie (Tim) Mosley of Lucasville; two grandchildren Lauren and Drew Wolford; one sister Mary Ellen LaRue of Largo, Fla; four nieces; one nephew; and his good friend and fellow athletic booster, Ralph Merritt Sr. He was also preceded in death by an infant daughter Amy Ann Wolford; one

brother Chester Ray Wolford. Funeral services will be conducted 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 14, 2012, at Valley High School with Elders Paul Crabtree and Paul Gregory officiating. A Masonic funeral will follow. Friends may call 4:30 to 7:15 p.m. in the gymnasium. Graveside military

services will be conducted 1 p.m. Friday in Scioto Burial Park by the William A. Baker and James Irwin Posts of the American Legion. Arrangements are under the direction of the McKinley Funeral Home in Lucasville.

 

The epilogue:

 

After going through the obituary I located the whereabouts of John Wolford Jr.. I placed a call to him and he returned it. It was a busy time of baseball games and graduations and he promised to get back with me in a few days. Thus, there will be another story regarding the former Miami Owls pitcher, in the near future.

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Filling in the blanks on the late James Joseph Ryan—Bartlesville Pirate.

 

Since the inception of the task to locate former KOM leaguers, I knew that James Ryan of Covington, Kentucky had died in 1958. That was far too soon for a 29-year-old to leave this world. Just eight short years earlier he played the outfield for the Bartlesville, Okla. Pirates and was featured in the famous photo of the Bartlesville Pirates wearing short pants. Shown at this site: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/26797573400 It is also carried, along with the story in “The KOM League Remembered” page 82, published by Arcadia.

 

Ryan played with four other Pittsburgh Pirate farm teams during a career that spanned 1949 through 1951

 

Over the years I’ve carried his place of death as Warren, Pennsylvania but as the following story indicates, it wasn’t where he died.

 

Warren Times Mirror, Warren PA March 28 1958—

www.newspapers.com/newspage/56699482/ (If you subscribe to this feature you can pull up the front page of that edition and a photo of Ryan and his story is located there. If you don’t subscribe you can go to that site and then scroll down and find the story in OCR format. If patient, you can figure out what it says or as an option you can read the story in the following paragraphs.)

 

Another attempt was made to bring each of you that front page story. Hopefully, by clicking on the following URL you can avoid the OCR function. Let me know if it works. I took the liberty of changing one thing in the story that I copied for the Flash Report. Ryan went to Mt. Carmel Hospital in Detroit, not St. Carmel.

www.newspapers.com/clip/5287580/warren_times_mirror/

 

James Joseph Ryan, an engineer at Struthers-Wells Corporation, died about 7 a. m. today in Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital, Detroit, from injuries received in a taxicab accident there Wednesday. He was 29.

 

According to the Fatality Squad of Detroit's accident Prevention Bureau, Mr. Ryan was traveling on John R. Street in a Checker taxicab about 2:35 p. m. At the intersection of Seven Mile Road, the right side of the cab was struck, sending the vehicle caroming into the far lane where it was struck by a second car going in to opposite direct on John R. Street.

 

Doors of the taxi were flung open by the impact and the victim was thrown to the street. Mr. Ryan was rushed to the hospital suffering a fractured pelvis, possible skull fracture and severe internal injuries and bleeding.

 

Vincent Moxie, a 74-year-old Detroit man who precipitated the accident when he swung onto John R. Street from Seven Mile road, fled the crash scene but his front license plate had been jarred off.

 

William Harvey of the Fatal Squad said in Detroit today that charges of manslaughter and leaving the scene of the accident are pending against the man. Harvey said the man "almost passed out" this morning when being questioned at the station.

 

Driver of the second car which stuck the cab as it swung around on the street was Betty Freeman, 28, of Detroit.

 

No other injury report was immediately available.

 

Mr. Ryan had been in Detroit on a business and was expected home Wednesday night. Internal injuries were believed to have been the cause of death.

 

His wife, the former Corrine Culbertson, whom he married Oct. 3, 1953, was at the bedside in Detroit along with the victim's parents who reside in Covington, KY.

 

The body will arrive in Warren Saturday night. Funeral details are incomplete pending arrival of the family this evening. Peterson funeral Home will announce plans.

 

James Joseph Ryan was born in Covington, October 19, 1928, and came to Warren six years ago as a DuPont inspector. He was also employed by Pennsylvania Furnace and Iron Company for some time prior to his work as an engineer for Struthers-Wells Corporation.

 

Mr. Ryan was a graduate of University of Kentucky and the University of Cincinnati, and served with the Paratroopers following World War II. He was a faithful member of Holy Redeemer church; also a member of the American Society of engineers and had been serving as president of Warren Industrial Management Association. He was highly regarded in business and social endeavors.

 

Besides his wife, who resides at 206 Connecticut Ave. in, Warren, he leaved two children Patricia and Mary Beth, at home; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Ryan, Covington, Ky: a brother and two sisters.

 

Ed comment:

 

The driver of the car that hit the taxi in which Ryan was riding was Vincent Moxie who was born in Poland in 1884. He came to the United States in 1931 and worked as a carpenter and later with the Ford Motor Company. The Detroit Free Press on March 29, 1958 suggested manslaughter charges were being considered but from my research I could find none were ever filed. Mr. Moxie lived another nine years following the wreck.

 

Upon his death Joseph Ryan left a wife and two daughters. His wife, Corrine, remarried seven years later. She passed away in June of 2015 and if you care to read her obituary it is found here www.lewisfuneralhomeinc.com/corrine-c-shanshala/

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Closing the Tri-State Miners story—I think.

 

In the May 8—14, 2016 edition of this publication a photo of the 1953 Tri-State Miners was shared due to the passing of Max W. Buzzard. I’ve used that photo in the past when Ray and Roy Mantle passed away along with the announcement of the death of Johnny Lafalier.

 

Never did I detail the story of all the players in that photo, although it wouldn’t be difficult to do. In fact, one person who pitched on that team was a 17-year-old recent graduate of Chelsea, OK High school, Ralph Terry.

 

However, one of the best athletes on that team was Charles Gaylon Enos who is shown on the far left of the second row in this photo.

www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/26797573400

 

He was born in Joplin, Missouri on August 23, 1920 and attended school there until graduating in 1939. While at Joplin High school he led the Eagles to their first state basketball championship in 1939.

 

Two things happened to him in 1942. On May 23 he married Shirley Jean Tyler in Carthage, Missouri and then he went off to serve in the U. S. Army where he attained the rank of Master Sergeant. Following the war he went to work for the Tamko Roofing Company. During that era he spent his spare time playing baseball in the summer and basketball in the winter. Most likely he was a better basketball player than he was at baseball.

 

He played for the Tamko Roofers and later coached them until he was called back into the Army in 1950. After the Korean War Enos continued his employment with Tamko until his retirement. At that time he moved to Denver, Colorado where he died in 1995. He is buried at Rosecrans National Cemetery. This is his Find-A-Grave site: www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=625851... I assume that what is placed on a grave marker is “etched in stone” forever. On many sites he was Gaylon Charles and others it was Charles Gaylon. But, the Rosecrans site shows his grave marker as Charles G., so that settles it for me.

 

I found an article, on line, that told of a Tamko basketball reunion and I quote it and then place editorial notes when I think they might add to the story. The article was carried in the May 16, 2003 edition of the Joplin Globe. So, here goes. If this is as “clear as mud” you can send me a note to clarify what puzzles you.

 

*********

 

The TAMKO Roofers were an independent basketball team that played for five seasons in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

 

It was an era in which communities smaller than Joplin fielded teams and recruited talent throughout the region.

 

The Roofers, formed as an advertising tool for Joplin TAMKO Asphalt Products, probably were the best or among the elite independent or town teams of the era.

 

The Roofers traveled many miles — in addition to playing in a Joplin YMCA league — and won a high percentage of their games.

 

The TAMKO roster contained several former college standouts as well as prep stars basically from southwest Missouri. Nearly all were athletes. Their skills weren’t on the decline. At least two members played pro baseball. Another had been drafted by the NBA

 

There’s little doubt about the Roofers’ biggest win — a one-point decision against the Harlem Globetrotters in Joplin’s Memorial Hall. (Ed note: Game score was 34-33. January 6, 1948. Enos scored five points in that game that got very rough toward the end. This was the “Famous Globetrotter” aggregation. The group coached by Abe Saperstein that included Goose Tatum, Marques Haynes et. al. came to Joplin on February 13 of that year and played their “patsy” opponent, the New York Celtics. The Famous Globetrotter quintet that lost to Joplin was shown in the January 7, 1948 edition of the Joplin Globe as; Belcher, Bowen, Edwards, Johnston and Johnson. The night after losing to Joplin they played in Cassville, Mo and beat them 64-39.)

 

Keith Adams, Joplin, a member of the Roofers, will present the team for induction into the Joplin Area Sports Hall of Fame on Friday at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club. The event, presented by the Joplin Sports Authority, starts at 7 p.m.

 

A TAMKO roster handed out at a July 1, 1984, reunion held in Joplin at Cunningham Park and sponsored by Jay and Ethelmae Humphreys contained the following names:

 

Keith Adams, John Allen, Granvil Boyd, Clarence Brannum, Jack Carrithers, Les Cooper, Fred Daugherty, Bill Davis, Walt Dellbringge, LeRoy Deming, Gaylon Enos, Bert Evans, Bob Fitton, Red Haynes, Rusty Haynes, Charles Hight, George Hosp, Harold Howey, Bill Hurd, Roy Jackson, Bud Kite, Monte Lamb, Loren Olson, Scotty Plumb, Joe Pogue, Bob Rayon, T.G. Reynolds, Shelby Slinker, W.G. Tracy and Smitty Warden. (Ed note: Of that group Loren Olson, T. G. Reynolds and George Hosp played in the KOM league. Olsen pitched for Pittsburg, in 1946, Reynolds pitched for Chanute in 1947 and Hosp played first base for Carthage in 1946. Hosp didn’t play in 1947 but started the 1948 season on the Duluth Dukes roster. He was released before the bus crash the Dukes suffered that year.)

 

Adams, then a 6-foot-4, 165-pounder, played three seasons with the Roofers. Adams, a 1947 Joplin High School graduate, said Enos and Cooper served as player/coaches.

 

“I’m convinced Rusty (Haynes) and Gaylon (Enos) could have played pro basketball.” Adams said.

 

“Rusty was about 6-2 and a tremendous athlete. ... a terrific fast pitch softball player. He and Alton Clay had similar ability in softball.

 

“Gaylon, who helped Joplin win its first state basketball title in 1939, reminded you of a Bantam Rooster. He seemed cocky but he really wasn’t. He had a deadly two-handed set shot.

 

“Joe Pogue — we called him ‘Jumping Joe’ — was an excellent player out of Anderson (and Drury).”

 

Kite, who lives in Carthage, graduated from Rocky Comfort High School in 1948. He was playing with Fairview when his effort nearly beat the Roofers. He joined TAMKO after a visit with Enos.

 

“I actually was about 6-2 when I was playing with TAMKO,” Kite said with a laugh. “I grew to 6-4 (as a mainstay in fast pitch softball as a pitcher).”

 

Rusty Haynes and Gaylon Enos left a deep impression on Kite as they did with Adams.

 

“Rusty probably was the best all-around TAMKO player,” Kite said. “Gaylon was a warrior on the court. He was salty. He could agitate people, too.”

 

Adams believes during his time with the Roofers that Cooper and Hosp consistently were among the starters with Enos and Rusty Haynes. Good friend Daugherty, one of several Roofers who made education a career, also worked into the lineup.

 

“That Hosp,” Adams said with another laugh. “I think he’s a Joplin High School graduate. He attended Joplin as a freshman, moved to Seneca for two years and returned to Joplin.”

 

Adams insisted that Enos hit all 50 free throws in a contest with a player from Hazel Walker’s All-American Redheads. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_Walker

 

The second 25, Adams said, came after a couple of Redheads pulled Enos to midcourt. They wooed him. They ran their fingers through his hair in a futile attempt to fluster him. His opponent, after 25-for-25, hit “only” 23 of 25.

 

“For an independent team — and there was a lot of those teams around then — we traveled a lot,” Kite said.

 

Daugherty, a 1946 Joplin High School graduate, also played at Joplin Junior College. He said TAMKO may have averaged three games a week.

 

“We were serious about it,” Daugherty said. “We’d practice hard for three or four weeks before the season. We were in shape.”

 

Jack Carrithers wasn’t a TAMKO player or coach. But his appearance in the team photographs was richly deserved, Adams indicated.

 

Carrithers kept the scorebook. Plus, he was the business manager.

 

Winning a tournament might mean $100, Adams said. That was a tidy sum in those days. It all added up to a grand party or a chunk when divided.

 

Carrithers and his wife plan to attend the banquet on Friday night. They live in Conway, Ark.

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The last word:

 

Once in a while I receive a telephone call from someone who has lost touch due to computer problems. Probably more often than I’d like to think when the contact is lost the person is happy not to have my pestiferous Flash Reports cluttering up their mailbox.

 

However, I received a call from Aletha Bartley this week telling me her computer got all messed up and she had a new e-mail address. So, if any of you Boyd and Aletha Bartley friends want the new e-mail address, let me know.

 

Speaking of Aletha, and her late husband, that gives me the opportunity to share a Christmas card sent to me last week. Yep, in 1990 Boyd sent the 100th Anniversary card of Dodger baseball to Bernie Gerl. Gerl, is was one of the members of the 1948 Duluth Dukes who was involved in the worst baseball accident in history. Gerl noted that Boyd Bartley was the manager of a team on which he played during WW II in the Philippines. I told Aletha about that card, and Gerl’s statement, and she said that Boyd was in charge sporting activities for soldiers on R & R.

 

This is the inscription on the card Bartley sent to Gerl: “Bernie, I was glad to hear from you and I do remember you. It was nice of you to drop me a line. I have worked for the Dodgers since 1943—47 years and am retiring January 1st. I am going fishing. If you do any of that maybe we can get together. Nice to hear from you and good luck.” Boyd Bartley—Dodger scout

 

One of the nicest things to happen to me was the invitation to attend the 6oth wedding anniversary for Boyd and Aletha in Ft. Worth, Texas. It doesn’t seem possible that has been 13 years ago. Aletha said, in her conversation this week, that she felt deprived that she only had Boyd around until he was almost 93. She admitted that she should be grateful for many wives lost their mates long before they reached that age. They came within a month of celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary.

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Done