KOM League Flash Report for Week of June 19--26, 2016

The KOM League

Flash Report

For week of

June 19—25, 2016

Opening salvo:

 

Most weeks start with nothing to write about. This week was no exception. Then, someone will call or e-mail me with a question or obituary and the verbiage commences. Thus, without reader input I’d have nothing to share for everything I ever knew, for a fact or have fabricated, has already been shared in the 22- years of writing about the KOM league.

 

At this time I know some things that will appear in the next issue of this report for I didn’t have room to share them in this epistle. So, if you want to be mentioned in the next issue, get in touch.

 

Three historical photos of KOM leaguers are referenced in this report.. One had to be selected to place on the Flickr site and the one of the recently deceased Jim Allicotti was the winner: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/27654549751/

__________________________________________________________________________

Bad start to new week:

 

Early on the morning of June 12th I was copied on a Facebook message from the son of Richard and Molly McCoy. Not having access to that function I immediately went to the KOM database and pulled up the telephone number of the McCoy’s. No one answered the home phone but the call to the cellphone number had me in touch with Dick.

 

Immediately upon saying “Hello,” Dick knew my voice. I asked him if anything was wrong and there sure was. He said he had just gone through a traumatic experience. He had a biopsy of a large tumor under his left ear and learned that it was malignant. He will enter the hospital on June 13th for surgery. He told me on Sunday, 12th, that the procedure was first estimated to take two to three hours but due to further examination the surgery time was increased to an estimated eight hours.

 

A conversation ensued about life from youth to its advanced stages. Dick told me that he is nearing his 87th birthday and figured he had escaped some of the diseases that befall others. He said “I thought I was on the downhill side of that.” He mentioned that his mother lived to be 105 and figured he was on his way to equaling her longevity.

 

McCoy recalled that in his youth, as a Brooklyn Dodger farmhand and big league hopeful, that he thought the sun was wonderful when he could pitch a game in hot places like Ponca City and Ft. Worth. That turned out to be a major contributor to his current condition. As he spoke with his doctor he was asked if he ever chewed tobacco. McCoy said he had a little Beechnut while sitting in the dugout but was never a big user of it.

 

It’s pretty tough talking to someone like Dick who I’ve known for over 20 years and have been affiliated with him and Molly at wedding anniversaries as well as numerous KOM reunions. Many a morning, in the past couple of decades, I’d receive a call from Dick and it was usually a conversation that went “John, I played baseball with a guy in 1951, can you tell me if he’s still alive and if so, where?” Sometimes the guy had passed on and other times a connection was made for Dick to reunite with an old teammate. I recall the first time he ever asked about finding someone and it happened to be the widow of Pepper Martin. The Martins and McCoys were great friends and Dick has as many tales about Pepper as anyone I ever met.

 

“Every day is a new experience,” Dick declared. He had already been on the telephone with former teammate Gene Castiglione of the Ponca City Dodgers and a fellow mounds man in the Dodger organization by the name of Jim Melton. He opined that Melton was always on the verge of making it to the big leagues, posting large win totals in the minors.

 

Most generally I don’t share health conditions of former players in this forum. However, there are many readers who know Dick and Molly and I figured I’d share the news so that they can be in touch with the family.

 

I’ll keep everyone apprised of McCoy’s condition as it unfolds.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Death of James Vincent Allicotti—baseball player, educator and screen actor

 

Last week I was going through my list of living, former KOM leaguers, from whom I hadn’t heard from for some time. One name I looked up was James Vincent Allicotti who played centerfield, in the month of June of 1950 for the Miami, Okla. Eagles. He joined the team on May 28. In 1949 he played for Wausau, in the Wisconsin State as well as Ada, Okla. in the Sooner State league. Aside from Miami, he also played for Ada in a dozen games prior to showing up in Miami. I didn’t find anything but less than a week later he passed away.

 

Most record books don’t indicate it but Allicotti hit from the right side of the plate. He was a big guy for his era going 6’ 2” and 190 pounds while at Miami. A photo of him in his time at Miami can be seen at this site: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/27654549751/

 

During the 1951 season Allicotti played for Spokane, WA in the Western International. He finished his baseball career in 1952 with Yuma, AZ in the Southwest International and Magic Valley (Twin Falls area) of the Pioneer leagues in 1952.

 

The following is his obituary that was brought to my attention by Jack Morris on June 15.

obits.ocregister.com/obituaries/orangecounty/obituary.asp...

 

James Vincent Allicotti, "Jim", 85, of Anaheim, CA passed away on Sunday, June 5, 2016. He was born September 22, 1930 in Denver, CO to the late Vincent and Josephine Allicotti. He was an avid golfer and also enjoyed fishing and hunting.

 

He played professional baseball in the minor leagues for the late Western International Baseball League's Spokane Indians. Between baseball seasons, he was a screen extra in several Hollywood films, and returned to work as an extra for television after retiring from his teaching career.

 

He earned his Master’s Degree in Health Science from CSU Los Angeles; and Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) Credential from Pepperdine University. He taught Health and Driver's Education for Anaheim Union High School District for 30 years, during which time he also served part-time as a Parks & Recreation Coordinator for City of Anaheim Community Services Department.

 

Jim is survived by his wife, Diana Allicotti; daughters Gina Allicotti, Sharon Allicotti, Annette Addie, Lola Allicotti; and granddaughters Amanda and Haylie Addie. He is also survived by sisters, Marie Parr and Lorraine Giordano; and was preceded in death by his sister, Mamie Coleman. A Funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, June 15, 11:00 AM at St. Anthony Claret Catholic Church, 1450 La Palma Ave. Anaheim, CA 92805. Donations in Jim's name may be made to Anaheim Public Library Foundation:

 

The remnants of the 1950 Miami Eagles

 

With the passing of James Allicotti, the 40-man Miami roster is now down to these known survivors: George Garrison, Charles Kohs, Gary Plant Hildebrand, Bob Paulausky, Richard Sassi, Charles V. Quartaro, Louis Salreno and Don Fitzgerald. There were two members of that club I never located—Orlando G. “Tex” Simpson and Charles Mann. Simpson was a pitcher from Corpus Christi, Tex. and Mann was a first baseman from Moffett, Okla. . Mann also played for the Iola Indians in 1950. Miami had three managers that year—James Dorn Oglesby, Oren Carroll “Jack” Hodge and Francis Arthur “Pug” Griffin. They are all deceased. Miami had the tragic oddity of having a manager from 1950 and 1951 who later committed suicide. Jim Oglesby took his own life in 1955 and Tommy Warren did so in 1968. Both of the suicides occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

_____________________________________________________________________________

A tough task in fate verification

 

Had I refrained from using a photo of the 1946 Chanute, Kansas pitching staff I would have saved myself a lot of effort. That photo carried with it an image of “Red” White. On the back of the photo “Red” was identified as Bob White. Well, there was a pitcher in the KOM league by the name of Robert White but he pitched for Miami, OK and not until 1949.

 

Had I used the 1946 Chanute team photo I would have identified Bob White as William D. White. After Frank Houston asked me about Mr. White and whether he ever lived in Oklahoma City I decided I had better go back to my early 1990’s records. This reference takes you to the 1946 team photo. William “Red” White is the second from the left in the back row: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/27729119415/

 

Chanute’s “Red” White had the full name of William Denzil White. He was born on September 2, 1923 in Arcola, MO which is in Dade County with the largest town in that county being Greenfield and the population there has been around 1,000 for decades.

 

By 1930, Red White’s father, William Barton White, had moved his family to Visalia, California but in 1935 the family was back in Dade County. Death records indicate Red’s mother died in Visalia in 1961 and his dad died in 1966 in Oak Grove, Mo.

 

William Denzil White graduated from high school (most likely, Greenfield) in 1941 and on 8/21/1942 he joined the U. S. Army. He served there until January 22, 1946 and then returned to Dade County. During the spring of 1946 he made his way to Carthage, MO where the Topeka and Chanute Owls were holding spring training. He made the team as a left-handed pitcher and “went northwest,” to Chanute, when the Carthage Cardinals returned from their spring training in Albany, Georgia. The following photo of Topeka/Chanute players was taken at the motor court just across the street (Route 66) from the Carthage ballpark. . That was one of two motels in Carthage at the time: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/27729119415/ Ballplayers stayed there while the big brass of those teams stayed at the Drake Hotel or Boots Motor Court. Boots was where Clark Gable stayed when he came to Carthage.

 

The 1946 season wasn’t the best for the recently discharged soldier as he went 8-15. That season Chanute was the only farm team of the Topeka Owls. In 1947 Miami took the Owl franchise and Chanute played as an independent club. White went back to Chanute for his second season in pro ball but it was not as successful or as long as his first.

 

Most likely, White played a lot of baseball with and against Floyd “Goat” Wooldridge., who was born at Jerico Springs, in 1928, and lived in Greenfield when he signed with the St Louis Cardinals in 1950. It wasn’t possible to track White to more than two places after his stint in the KOM. He lived in Bellflower, Calif. and died in the same place Floyd Wooldridge was born, Jerico Springs, passing away there on June 14, 1993 and is buried at the Anna-Edna Cemetery.

____________________________________________________________________________

A Special story—regarding a former Whiz Kid

 

The following only proves that by dropping every name of anyone I have ever known, in these reports, yields feedback. A reader in Kansas City sent a clipping with a post-it note attached that read “John, for some reason I seem to remember you referencing this Ben Craig information one time. Am I dreaming?” I informed the writer that he wasn’t dreaming and due to Casebolt keeping his eyes open and maintaining a sharp memory the following is being shared.

 

www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/steve-rose/a...

By clicking on the aforementioned URL you’ll get a photo.

For those without URL capability here is the entire article:

 

By Steve Rose

Those who don’t know Ben Craig may think his request to throw a portion of his ashes in the air along Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park is a bit odd.

 

But this 87-year-old civic leader, who has cancer and has been given three months to live, has rational reasons for this unusual request. Metcalf Avenue is the spine of Overland Park — and, by extension all of Johnson County — and that is the community that Ben Craig has poured his soul into. Aside from his family, Ben has dedicated himself to this community above all else. And he has left his indelible mark.

 

Ben came to Overland Park 52 years ago to become president of Metcalf Bank, a small start-up at 79th Street and Metcalf Avenue. It was also in 1964 that Ben joined the Overland Park Rotary Club, where he holds the distinction of perfect attendance over those 52 years.

 

Ben brings total commitment to everything, which has made him an icon. He has been involved in so many causes and achieved so many awards that a list of them is literally six pages long.

 

When Metcalf Avenue’s business development stretched only a few blocks south of 75th Street and the county was strictly a bedroom suburb, Ben saw a fertile community that he thought would someday be far more than simply nice homes, shops and outstanding schools. Johnson County has become a commercial hub, thanks in part to Ben.

 

Economic development is in Ben’s blood. He founded the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce and has led almost every business organization that exists in the county. He is the only Johnson County banker to serve as president of the Kansas Banker’s Association. You might expect that kind of business involvement from a banker. But although Ben built a thriving, sprawling bank empire, he never solicited business from those he served with or from any government. He kept banking and serving in two separate worlds.

 

Ben’s clear choice for his most significant life achievement is chairing the campaign committee that championed a $12.9 million bond issue to establish Johnson County Community College. The success of that campaign resulted in the community’s crown jewel, ranked as one of the finest in America. But that was just the beginning of Ben’s involvement there.

 

Ben was the first chairman of the JCCC Foundation, which has raised tens of millions of dollars over the years toward scholarships for those who couldn’t afford full tuition. He has stayed involved with the college. It should come as no surprise that Ben is leaving a large part of his estate to the college scholarship fund.

 

Ben has been behind the scenes in local politics. He was always on the lookout for good officeholders. Ben mentored hundreds of candidates over the years. Sometimes he raised funds for their campaigns.

 

Ben’s true joy, which lights up his face, is the Deanna Rose Farmstead in Overland Park. Not only has Ben been a longtime leader of that organization, he generously built a large, all-brick replica of an old-time bank called “Ben’s Bank” for children to learn about banking.

 

Throughout most of his life, Ben didn’t take the time for hobbies. But in his ’60s, he took up golf, which became a passion. A natural athlete who once played minor league baseball (on the same team as Mickey Mantle), Ben has religiously played twice a week until recently. He finally shot a hole-in-one four years ago.

 

Ben is a privately spiritual man. As he tells his life story, Ben assigns much of what has happened to him to his creator. He views the last few months of life as a gift, so that he has the time to get things in order and say goodbye to his family and many friends.

 

So, one day, if you see ashes flying through the air over Metcalf Avenue, that’s Ben. It will be symbolic. The real Ben is in every nook and cranny of the community he has spent his lifetime serving.

 

Steve Rose, longtime Johnson County columnist: srose@kc.rr.com

 

The Epilogue:

 

After reading Mr. Rose’s great article I shared these comments with him. “A Kansas City reader sent me your excellent article on Ben Craig. As a historian of amateur and professional baseball in Southeast Kansas, Northwest Oklahoma and Southwest Missouri I got to know Ben Craig quite well over the past two decades.

 

When Ben Craig and Mickey Mantle were teammates they played for Barney Barnett of Baxter Springs, Kansas. Barnett would gather the best athletes from the area each summer. From 1944--1951 Barney managed the team he called ‘The Whiz Kids.’ I've always said that the Whiz Kids turned out to be great successes in their fields of endeavor. Craig was one of the more outstanding in my opinion.

 

I don't wish to bore you but I witnessed Craig's dealing with a very ill wife and how he fulfilled ‘Till Death Do Us Part’ to the extreme.

 

One of the stories that stands out in my mind, concerning Craig, was a Baxter Springs game in 1948 with their main rival, the Alba, Missouri Aces. The Aces were blessed by having all the Boyer brothers on the team at one time or another. In 1948 Kenny was on the team and he faced Craig. Craig could throw a ball through a brick wall. In a game Craig threw one so hard Kenny couldn't get out of the way. It hit him upside the temple and he fell like he had been shot. Kenny laid on the ground for quite some time. Craig once told me that he thought he had killed him.

 

Kenny got over the blow to the head and before the season was over Craig was pitching against Alba once more. When it was Kenny's time to bat he stood so far away from the plate he couldn't hit anything. He just wanted to get his times at bat behind him. Craig said he always felt bad about that incident since he hadn't hit his opponent on purpose. The next year Kenny Boyer signed with the St. Louis Cardinals

 

Ben Craig had played part one year of professional baseball in the Sooner State league, in 1947. He then returned home and played for the Whiz Kids when Mantle joined them. At that time Ben Craig was the big strapping member of the team and Mantle was one of the runts of the outfit.”

 

Mr. Rose answered my e-mail and said he would print my comments and take them to Ben Craig since he doesn’t have e-mail. On the other hand, the author of the Craig article does have an e-mail. I ask readers to communicate with an author when they write a story that is even tangentially associated with the KOM league. In this case the author can be contacted at srose@kc.rr.com

 

Ben Craig had a great deal of influence and contact with future big league stars such as Mickey Mantle and Kenny Boyer but he also had a lot to do with the KOM League Remembered newsletter being funded and going to better homes and gardens for sixteen years. Without people like Ben Craig the KOM communication lines would have faded long before the start of the 21st century.

______________________________________________________________________________

Newbill influence continues

 

My cousin's little grandson who is 12 is in Cooperstown playing in a tournament. His team is now out but Caden hit a home run in one game and played well so he is pretty happy with his performance. Plus, he is really a basketball player. He wanted me to send him some photos of his great uncle playing ball so I did. He wanted to show all his teammates. Then today they went to the museum and went to the records department and had them pull this up. Caden wants to play catch with him and wants to know if you can play catch in heaven. I assured him that you can.

 

Sometimes unexpected sweet moments sneak into your day! Cindy Newbill—Kansas

 

Ed comment:

 

Caden’s great uncle is the late, great Bobby Gene Newbill who played for the 1949 Independence Yankees among other places. It must have been a huge surprise for Caden’s friends to learn his great uncle played on the same team with Mickey Mantle.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Nothing of insignificance appears in these reports

 

John: I read all of your interesting reports although I know of very few of the players mentioned, having spent only a few days with Iola in 1950. You mentioned Rich Eichhorst in your latest report who was the only Southeast Missouri State basketball player to have ever played in the NBA. He led the league in scoring his senior season, 1956 I believe. I was a Senior at SEMO State at the same time and knew who he was although I never met him. I was a few years older than him, having been in the Marine Corps and playing parts of 3 years of baseball and then going to SEMO State on the GI Bill.

 

He, Carl (Pete) Ritter, Ray Ripplemeyer and Elmer Balzer were outstanding players for SEMO State in the early to mid-1950s. I knew Balzer as he had played some pro baseball and I believe Ripplemeyer had done so also, although I never really met him. I know Pete Ritter very well, having gone to the same high school, Advance, although I was several years older than him. Pete was probably the best basketball player to ever come out of SE Missouri with the possible exception of Win Wilfong of the Puxico HS, his small town HS having won 2 straight state championships in the days before the so called “Final four”. Wilfong played a few years in the NBA, scoring about 2000 points. He played a little baseball when he was a high schooler and was a little on the profane side. I pitched a game against the Puxico town team; we were winning, and the Puxico manager asked Wilfong if he would pinch hit. He responded “hell no, if that son of a ----- hit you, he’d kill you”, (the SOB being me). I could throw quite hard at that time and was pretty wild.

 

Ritter is the all-time leading basketball scorer for SEMO State and to my knowledge the only SEMO player to have had his number retired. He, like Wilfong, was only 6 ft. 2 inches but this didn’t prevent them from being great college scorers. Ritter was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks but injured his knee severely and was never able to play in the NBA. He is now the Mayor of the town of Advance.

 

Bill Ashcraft

Overland Park, Ks.

 

Ed comment:

 

One of the great joys in researching and looking for former KOM league came when I first located Bill Ashcraft. It turned out that he worked with the Drug Enforcement Agency with his former Iola teammate from 1950, Bernard Leroy Coulter. What turned out to come as a greater surprise was that both Coulter and Ashcraft worked for my first cousin, Ernest Hall, who was head of that agency in Kansas City. Over the years Ashcraft shared photos taken at Drug Enforcement conferences and one included that of a very young Joe Arpaio who now is a well-known sheriff in Arizona.

___________________________________________________________________________

A trivia contestant:

 

The answer is three young men in the stands with the lone adult... and, I see the name Del Webb, possibly who these retirement communities are named after. I will check it out. Thanks, John.

Cindy Lange—Palatine, Ill.

 

Ed comment:

 

No one reported seeing more than three young boys in the grandstand behind the photo of the 1947 Bartlesville Oilers. There were four. I’ll explain. In the center of the Bartlesville dugout was a post supported by two beams that were in a “V” configuration. A little boy is in the photo just above that “V.” If you have deleted that photo here is the access to it. www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/27511893266/

___________________________________________________________________________

Comments about last report:

 

JOHN, WHAT A NICE FEELING E-MAIL. I REALLY ENJOYED READING IT. WALT Babcock—A resident of Cape Cod, Mass.

 

Another good one John –Jim Skog in Davenport, Iowa

 

Ed comment:

 

It was a bit ironic that those were the only two “atta-boys” received regarding the last report and they came within five minutes of the other. To top that Babcock is the person who introduced Skog to the existence of the Flash Reports. Skog is a former military pilot who spent his post military days flying the big birds for United Airlines. Babcock has also spent many days pretty high up himself. He doesn’t fly an airplane, drink or take drugs but he still gets pretty high once in a while over certain antics of our elected and non-elected leaders. I know that he does for I hear from him a “few” times a week.

___________________________________________________________________________

A Flash Report extra—a pigs ear

 

Things go on around my home other than writing Flash Reports. Early this past week I went big game hunting or better stated, the big game came to me. I awoke the morning after setting a trap the previous evening and came face-to-face with a very unhappy raccoon. That fellow is on my Flickr site but most of you wouldn’t go there to see it even if I provided the correct URL. However, my photo recipients had a lot of interest in it for they also have raccoon stories to tell. Here is where they viewed it. www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/26996981274/

 

I surmised that instead of a trap I should get me a coon dog and a former Tennessee resident who has migrated to Florida sent this tale. “Your neighbors will love a coon dog. I had one that tracked our hogs that swam across the Tennessee River when the water was low and dams had not been built. He would track them and hold them by the ear until I came after hearing the pig squeal.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Clips from a May 27, 1947 Iola Register sports page

 

It isn’t feasible to share entire pages of old newspapers but sometimes I find things that are unique or I learn something I didn’t know about members of the KOM league. I’m including four clips from a late May edition of the Iola Register. Of all the stories I don’t know which one surprised me the most. It comes down to the articles about Jim Hansen and Boyd Bartley. I suppose I spoke as much with Jim Hansen, until the time of his death, as anyone. I knew he played as a fullback for both Nebraska and Iowa during WW II but never did he tell me he played for the Chicago Bears. It would make sense for Ray “Fido” Murphy, Topeka Owls owner, was a scout of the Bears and even had Scooter McLean on his Topeka club in 1946. Murphy signed Hansen to a Topeka contract in 1946. My search of every Chicago Bear roster shows no trace of Hansen having played in a NFL game for them. McLean used to urge his baseball teammates to join the Bears for they could double in one NFL game what they could earn in a month playing Class D or C baseball. For those of you unfamiliar with salaries of the 1946 era the Class D players made between $90 and $125 a month. I have the contracts to prove it. So, playing for the Bears a guy might make as much as $250 a week.

 

Another surprise was that it took Boyd Bartley until late May of 1947 to get tossed from his first game as a collegiate or professional and when he did he talked his way back into the contest. Read it in this set of clips for these are all quotes from the newspaper. And, newspapers are always correct, right?

•

Time Hangs Heavy for Nick Najjar

 

Time—7:45.

Place—Cubs' dugout.

Nick Najjar —"Rabbit, what time is it?'

Lloyd Ayers — "Quarter of eight."

Najjar —"Tell me when it's eight, will you?"

Ayers—"Yeah."

Five minutes later: Najjar—"Rabbit, what time is it?"'

Ayers—"Ten minutes of."

Najjar—"Thanks."

Najjar to Buck Walz- “We’ll start warming up at eight.

Buck. Walz -"Okay."

At. 7:53: Najjar—"Is it eight' yet, Rabbit?"'

Ayers—"No; seven till."

Najjar—"Thanks."

At- 7:55: Najjar--"Come on Buck, let's warm up.

•

Chanute Owls of 1946 became Miami “Wise Birds” of 1947

 

Miami is scheduled to arrive in town today for its first invasion of the Cub den at Riverside Park. The Oklahoma ball team will appear with only one of its 1946 performers—Outfielder Loren Packard but carries a fair resemblance to the 1946 Chanute Owls, having appropriated Chanurc's sponsor, the Topeka Owls, the Chanute nickname, and two players, Jim Hansen, catcher, and Marty Debish, outfielder. And, incidentally, the Owls come to town from Chanute, where they have just accomplished a feat that may never have been performed in the KOM before—a clean sweep of Chanute at Chanute. They captured a doubleheader there Sunday and added a 12-7 victory last night. Jim "No Hit" Morris, is another individual lending distinction to the Owls.

 

Garnett, Kansas fans will be here tomorrow night to celebrate the no- hit game pitched by that city's contribution to KOM ball. Morris blanked Carthage 12-0 on opening day of the season. He is tentatively scheduled as the Miami pitcher tomorrow. Miami is the third place team in the KOM, 4 games back of the Cubs. Bill Davis, pitcher with the Topeka Owls last season is the Miami manager. Big Loren Packard, the Owls' clean-up hitter, was the KOM's second heaviest hitter when the latest averages were figured, having hit .379. (Ed note: The photo taken after Morris tossed the non-hitter is the only KOM league photo to ever appear in the Associated Press. Long story, I’ve shared it previously. If curious let me know and I’ll share it with you.)

 

•

Former Iowa and Nebraska fullback had signed with the Chicago Bears

 

Jim Hansen, the Chicago Bears professional football player, is the catcher who was sidelined at Chanute last fall in favor of Dave Dennis, action that caused an explosion in the Chanute- lola Shaughnessy play-off. He is currently batting .359. John Barley, business manager of the Cubs; said at noon today that tonight's game is definitely "on," unless more rain falls. (Ed note: Barley replaced Lloyd “Rabbit” Ayers as business manager, in 1947, and died the next year.)

 

Players are coming and going fast In the KOM league now. Independence has received three new outfielders and two pitchers. All clubs, must trim down to 15 by Friday.

•

Kicked out of game and talked his way back in

 

Boyd Bartley, the studious and gentlemanly young man managing the Ponca City Dodgers, has never been expelled from a ball game by an umpire, according to the Ponca City News. His career covers, the University oi Illinois, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the Montreal Royals. He: was a near victim of Umpire (Seward) Rice of the KOM on a recent night, however, getting a pink slip but having it withdrawn when he convinced Rice there was nobody else to play his second base position. He must have studied law when a student at Illinois.

_____________________________________________________________________________

I quit

 

There were a number of more stories to relate and comments to share regarding previous reports but they will have to wait for another time.

 

As is frequently stated, “If you receive these reports and wish you didn’t, let me know.” That is one of the few things in life over which I have complete control. I make the foregoing statement for I can’t determine who is or isn’t reading the reports from the feedback, or lack of it.

 

Done