KOM League Flash Report for week of 7/23/2017 Edward Fowler with pistol

The KOM League

Flash Report

For

Week July 23, 2017

 

This report is on Flickr at this site: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/35876146902/ There are two more photos of the guy in this photo in the report to which you can link.

 

More regarding Clifford Fowler

 

Last week the obituary for Clifford Fowler, of the 1946 Pittsburg Browns, was shared. Also, the team photo in which he appeared was the “Photo of the Week” on the Flickr site that also carried the Flash Report.

 

This past week I got to know the late Mr. Fowler a lot better. I delved into his life history, on Ancestry, and located some photos of him from the time he was around two years old until the latter years of his life. He served his country and was storming the beaches of Normandy during the invasion of Europe. Since I never located Fowler, in my attempt to track down every former KOM leaguer prior to their passing, I’m attaching two photos which can be viewed at the following sites: Take the time to look at them.

Fowler as catcher: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/36047175075/

Fowler with brother: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/35913032281/

 

You might wish to compare these photos with the one in last week’s report to see how he did or didn’t change, in appearance. www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/35514299040/

 

Many former KOM leaguers weren’t in a team photo and there wasn’t any way I could ever locate others. Therefore, I have long wondered what some of the guys looked like. There is a way to find photos of some of the former players if you get shut inside due to the weather or health reasons. One way to find former players is to get into genealogy files where the person maintaining a family site includes photos. From there the method of capturing them isn’t too tough to discern. If you have a digital camera the battle is won.

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Death of 1949 Pittsburg Brown

 

Obituary

 

Eugene W. "Gene" Puetz, 86, of Hoffman Estates (Ill.), formerly of Huntley passed away on Monday evening, June 13, 2016 at Brookdale in Hoffman Estates.

 

Arrangements are pending with the James A. O'Connor Funeral Home in Huntley

Published in the Northwest Herald on June 15, 2016.

Eugene was born on March 23, 1930 (in Chicago) and passed away on Monday, June 13, 2016.

 

Eugene was a resident of Huntley, Illinois at the time of passing. Eugene was formerly from Chicago, Illinois. Eugene was married to Ruth.

 

Funeral Service will be held on Monday June 20 2016 at 12 Noon at Trinity Lutheran Church 11008 N Church St Huntley with Rev. Robert Hoffman officiating. A Private Burial will be at Mt. Emblem Cemetery in Elmhurst. Visitation will be prior to services from 10 to 12 pm. at the church.

 

Memorials in his name may be directed to St. Jude Children's Hospital at http:www.stjudes.org.

 

Ed comment:

 

The deceased was one of the 48 roster members of the 1949 Pittsburg, Kansas Browns where he played third base.

 

Puetz’s son, Garry, played on the 1983 Super Bowl champion Washington Redskin team. www.google.com/search?q=garry+puetz+football+coach&oq... Eugene was very proud of his son and in the early days of writing about the KOM league he shared a lot of stories with me about him. Due to the lack of communication I didn’t learn of his passing until 13 months after the fact.

 

Puetz was one of many guys who weren’t connected to the Internet and after I quit sending out the printed newsletter our communication came to an end.

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Gordyn Samuel “Buddy” Kirschner, 86, of Santa Fe, Texas, passed away Monday, May 15, 2017.

Obituary

www.crowderfuneralhome.com/obituaries/gordyn-samuel-buddy...

 

Buddy was born October 8, 1930, in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Ball High School, Galveston, Texas in 1949, and pitched for two farm clubs associated with the Chicago Cubs, the Sioux Falls Canaries and the Carthage Cubs, before becoming a pipe fitter at Monsanto. He married his high school sweetheart, Pat Kirschner, in 1974, and remained devoted to her until her death in 2006.

 

In addition to working as a pipefitter, Buddy also enjoyed playing golf and officiating high school football games. He officiated many Ball High School games during the years he spent as an active participant of a well respected officiate team.

 

In his retirement, he became an expert at growing roses. People often stopped in front of his house to take pictures of his spectacular flowers and ask him for tips on how to produce such beautiful rose gardens.

 

He was also a devoted father and grandfather. He frequently opened his home to his various friends, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren as host to various birthday parties and fishing expeditions. His open-hearted hospitality and well-stocked pond provided many people with hours of entertainment.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Patricia G. Kirschner, son Gordyn Samuel “Bubba” Kirschner Jr., and James L. Gibbins, son-in-law.

 

Survivors include daughters Trish Gibbins and Valerie Simmons; sons Gary Wayne Kirschner and wife Sandy; Mike Martin and wife Gage; grandchildren: Stephanie Klein and family, Courtney Best, Gordyn Wayne Kirschner and family, Jennifer Kirschner, Zettie Kirschner, Zachary Kirschner, Blair Martin, Walton-Gray Martin, Daniel James Martin, Laura Simmons; great-grandchildren: Matthew Klein, Andrew Klein, Lindsey Cole, Macey Evans, Taylor McLin, Madison Mills, Brittany Kirschner, and Sebastian Kirschner; and great-great grandchild Hayes James Cole.

 

To all who knew him, Buddy represented a generosity of heart and spirit to which we all aspire and for which we are all forever grateful.

 

A Memorial Service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 19, 2017, at Crowder Funeral Home in Dickinson, Texas.

 

Ed comment:

 

In the December 4, 2016 of the Flash Report the finding of Robert Anson Grove was cited. He had been a member of the 1949 Ponca City Dodgers and he mentioned some of the fellows with whom he played baseball with, in 1948, at Galveston’s Ball High School. One of those named was Gordyn Kirschner. These are a few paragraphs from that report. Grove said that after the 1949 season he went back home and played some amateur baseball in his adopted hometown for a number of years. I had remembered, from earlier in the conversation of him mentioning playing on a “hot” Ball High School team in 1948. For the sake of conversation I asked if he remembered all of the fellows. The first he mentioned was Russell Rac. www.guidrynews.com/story.aspx?id=1000038254 That name jumped out at me for it seemed like he played big league ball for the Cardinals since I heard his name on Cardinal spring training broadcasts during a number of my formative years.

 

However, as the attached URL states Rac didn’t make it—but he should have. Here is another URL for Rac. bill37mccurdy.com/2011/11/15/ex-buff-russell-rac-dead-at-81/

 

Going on with his memories Grove recalled one of the pitchers he caught during his high school years was Gordyn Kirschner. If any of you don’t know who Kirschner is/was, you didn’t read or don’t recall last week’s Flash Report. He was the young man who is listed among the 36-man roster of the 1949 Carthage Cubs. At this juncture in the conversation I had now identified Grove, Rac and Kirschner as members of that 1948 high school team. At that point it was time to do some independent research and very quickly I found the name of James Harvey “Chick” Plowman who also played at Ball High School at that time. He signed with the St. Louis Browns and caught at Pittsburg, Kansas during the 1950 season. There is no way to check anything with Plowman for he died on February, 25, 2009 in Hitchcock, Texas. As with most conversations with former players their children are mentioned. Grove said that he and his daughter were very gifted at tennis and won many doubles tournaments. He said that lasted until someone came along and told her that she had a great voice. That she did. Never have I been able to share anything on the subject of opera but Grove’s daughter Jill, is one of the top performers in her craft.

jillgrovemezzo.com/reviews.html

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Edwin Elwin Blow

 

May 25, 1950—Iola Register

Earl Sifers, president also announced newly added to the Indian roster is Edwin Blow, a 20 -year-old, 6-foot4-inch righthanded pitcher from Manchester, Conn. He was recommended by an Indian contact in the East

 

Blow pitched against Carthage May 28, 1950. First inning struck out one, gave up three bases on balls, hit Duane Zimmer with a pitch and gave up two hits and five runs. He faced two batters in the second inning before being taken from the game. That is the only appearance I found on him. On May 31, the roster was cut and he wasn’t even on with the team, at that point. I did locate him back in 2012 living in The Villages, Florida and learned he was born November 17, 1929 in Barre, Vermont. He beat me into this world by 10 years and 10 days. Gotta’ keep up with the guys that close to my age.

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Son remembers his dad

 

John, on the anniversary of my father’s 94th birthday, I got to thinking. Here’s what came out. Do with it as you feel fit. Bruce May—Parma, Ohio

 

I grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Parma back in the 50’s and 60’s. It was a two bedroom bungalow that looked pretty much like every other house bought on a GI Loan. A quarter acre lot consisting of house, driveway, three feet of grass, repeat, repeat, repeat. Every house on the street looked like every other house on the street, indeed every other house in town.

 

But it was the strip of driveway and grass that advanced my baseball career. I would get a rubber ball and bounce it off the side of our house. Line drives hit the house a little lower, high pops hit near the top of the second floor. For hours I would play catch with the house.

 

Soon enough I imagined great victories for the Cleveland Indians as Al Kaline’s drives just made it to the warning track, while Leon “Daddy Wags” Wagner hit home run after home run. The problem arose from the neighbor’s house intercepting the ball before I did. Especially their two basement windows facing our house.

 

So of course, during one particularly difficult World Series 7th game, I missed the catch and broke the neighbor’s window. They, Russian immigrants, were way more benevolent than I would have imagined. Perhaps having stared down German machine gun fire puts a certain perspective on a broken window.

 

My father was less conciliatory when he arrived home from work, but in a less strident mood when he realized dinner could be had before setting out to fix the window. After dinner we walked to the local hardware store and bought a pane of glass. Thus began my first lesson in repairing a broken window.

 

Next season though, another broken window, another walk to the store, and one more lesson in window repair. After yet one more broken window, my father got wily and bought six panes of glass that he kept stored in the garage. The next broken window, a grand slam by Woody Held, I went and fixed the window myself. I’m not sure the neighbors even knew it had been broken. I know my father didn’t.

But over the years cars and girls, not necessarily in that order, started to slice into my driveway ball playing and I never broke another window again. Years later when my parents were getting ready to move into a senior apartment, I was helping clean out the garage, and there were four perfectly shaped pieces of glass just waiting for another ball to break the neighbor’s window. The Russian couple long gone and my old house soon to have new occupants, I wasn’t sure what to do with the panes. I took them to the new neighbors and hoped they would be as understanding with any new little boys moving in next door to them. I had long ago learned one lesson on repairing windows, but I had also learned a lesson about little boys and what’s really important. Bruce May, son of Wilbert May, 1946 KOM Veteran.:

Ed comment:

 

Wilbert Roy May was born May 11, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio and joined the Carthage Cardinals at the close of WW II, for the 1946 season He was a good left handed pitcher who posted a 4-2 record before a sore arm ended his career. He passed away November 4, 2001 in Medina, Ohio. A few years ago his son, Bruce, was located and has been reading and sharing these Flash Reports with members of his family, scattered hither and yon. He claims they enjoy reading them.

Thanks go out to Bruce who has gotten into the spirit of helping this time-worn internet report by submitting a great memory about his youth.

**

Actually, I really liked the rundown of the 1946 Pittsburgh Browns. It was informative and entertaining to me. Jerry Hogan. Fayetteville, AR

 

Ed reply:

 

You liked it because of Jerry Baker. Baker had a brother at U of A at that time. The family moved from Cassville, MO to Fayetteville when the boys went to college. I didn’t mention it in last week’s report but Baker also attended college, for a short time, at Pittsburg, Kansas. That school had more former KOM league members attend it than any other institution of higher learning.

**

From the widow of the late Conrad Swensson

 

As I have likely told you before, those baseball memories stayed with Connie longer than almost everything else. Only a couple of months before he died, he was demonstrating to me how to hold the ball to throw a curve. Although he always recognized me and even called my name on his way into that hip replacement surgery, he should have known that I would not be a good pitching student. If you have trouble locating the article—and if you are interested in reading it—let me know so I can send you a copy. Jackie E. Swensson

 

Ed comment:

 

Conrad Swensson was one of the top pitchers in KOM history and set the record for the lowest earned run average, in 1949. Jackie had gotten in touch due to a story appearing in the Denver Post on July 16th. She volunteered to send the article if I couldn’t access it through the Internet. Thanks to the miracle of that media I was able to get hold of it. However, I appreciate being alerted to such things by the readership. If you want to view some of the images from that newspaper go to: www.denverpost.com/2017/07/14/trinidad-triggers-baseball-...

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Help from a real writer

 

One of the best newspapers of the KOM era was the Iola Register. I still check that source in the old newspaper files that are contained on-line. Shortly, after the KOM league folded Bob Johnson left Pittsburg State University and headed north to begin his career in the newspaper business. Today, he is the Editor of the Iola Register and takes time out of his busy week to read the KOM Flash Reports.

 

It is my belief he has a sense of pity on those who have to endure the KOM reports and decided to help the old batboy come up with a better product. When it was stated in last week’s report that the story on the 1946 Pittsburg Browns was probably overkill he responded with “No overkill in my opinion. I enjoy all of what you write, but then I'm from that era and find myself often living there more than I do in the present.” So, here is his contribution to this week’s report.

 

My view: ‘For love of the game’—Bob Johnson-Iola Register

When I first became interested in baseball, along about the time the Philadelphia Athletics became the Kansas City A’s in 1955, if you were a serious fan you didn’t need a scorecard to know who played for whom.

 

Every kid who followed baseball could rattle for the lineups of most American League teams — man NL, too — and knew KC bench players and pitchers as well as they knew their own name.

 

Stalwarts of the game — Mantle, Williams, Aaron, Mays, et al — were untouchable in the trade market, and seldom did many other players change teams. They were bound, right or wrong, in a sort of involuntary servitude. The teams owned them, body and soul.

 

That changed in 1969 when the Cardinals’ Curt Flood challenged the reserve clause, which prevented players from switching teams at their behest. His claim, which won court support, was the reserve clause violated antitrust laws and the 13th Amendment, which did away with slavery.

 

That opened the gate to free agency and, with certain concessions to teams for having signed and developed players, soon had many moving to the highest bidder.

No one with a wit of fairness in their system would question an employee’s right to accept the highest bid for their services.

 

The second thing that has occurred over the years that wasn’t true when I spent night after night glued to a tiny transistor radio listening to the Athletics lose yet another game is the influx of Latin players.

 

That has been good for the game. No one would disagree Salvy Perez is at the top of the class in K.C. Not only is he a fan favorite, he also is talented almost beyond belief.

But, here’s the problem in modern-day baseball. No longer do I know from one season to season, often one month to next, who the Royals or another team will field for a given game. It drives me nuts trying to keep track who is playing where. This sure isn’t meant to be a racist comment, but Latin names also sometimes leave me bewildered. Perez and Martinez is easy, but how in the world do you pronounce Rougned Odor, of Ranger fame.

 

I suspect most fans don’t get as deep into the game as I do, and with the financial aspects, as well as drug-enhanced performances that hit the news a few years ago, I find it harder just to enjoy the great American game. Same is true, by the way, of Jayhawk basketball. I just get to know (by way of TV coverage) the players, when they jump ship for the NBA. I suppose, as James Carville would say, it’s about the money, stupid. For a kid of the ’50s that’s too bad.

 

Ed comment:

 

Readers can go to this site on Saturday morning July 22 and read this same article on-line. www.iolaregister.com/

After reading it you can send an e-mail to Mr. Johnson. Do it and let him know the breadth or lack of circulation of this Flash Report.

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Universal issue

 

Long ago I learned not to accept obituaries as the “last word” regarding the life of the deceased. Many times I’ve read the chronicles of the life of a recently departed only to find some items were fiction and not much of a resemblance to any fact.

This past week my attention was directed toward an obituary of a person with whom I was acquainted as a youth. Another friend, still vertical, pointed out that the fellow had claimed to have played in a rather popular country/western band during his life. The instrument on which he allegedly played, for the famous band, was also the same one my vertical friend played all throughout his youth, and very well, I might add.

 

Some research was done to validate the claims of the dearly departed and there was no way in a million years did he play for that famous band that backed the late Buck Owens-- The Buckaroos. www.google.com/webhp?authuser=1#safe=active&authuser=...

 

In fact, the instrument that the deceased claimed to have played with the Buckaroos was played by a guy who used to attend KOM baseball games, at Carthage, with his father and three brothers. The musical family, to whom I refer is/was Albert E. Brumley and his sons; Bob, Al Jr. and Tom. www.google.com/webhp?authuser=1#safe=active&authuser=... Al and Bob are the survivors of that extremely talented family and they both have had access to the KOM publications/news for many years. Al Jr. even played some of his father’s songs at a KOM reunion in Bartlesville, OK, in 2002, and also did some pickin’ and singin’ at the event where Your’s truly was honored, in 1999, with a plaque on the entrance to the Carthage stadium.

 

Do people make claims to great feats of the past out of wishing they were so or do they tell the story so many times they tend to think it is true? It is also possible that when people get to be a certain age they assume they can say anything and get by with it for no one else is around to dispute what they have to say. Maybe that is the position this editor is in at his advanced stage of inhaling/exhaling. That is why each reader should look closely at each report and let me know when I mess up. Can anyone say “Gilbert Flauto?”

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That’s it for now. Let me know what you know so that more people will know what you know.

 

Done