KOM League Flash Report for 4/5/2019------------Fern and Dick Heitholt

The KOM League

Flash Report

For

April 5, 2019

 

 

This report is on the Flickr site at: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/46811691244/

 

In this edition you will find all sides of the spectrum of human nature, even murder. If you don’t open the URLs cited in this report you might as well delete it at this juncture.

 

The cream can story continues

 

In putting the final touches on last week’s report I was struck by the name of one of the two fellows, in the photo, who were gathered around the cream can that was used as the drinking source. However, the photo was only used to relate the tale of that same cream can and my dealing with it in 1951.

 

Looking at that photo I wondered if I could make a story out of the two fellows depicted. Well, I got as far as the left-hander on the left. Anyone would figure out he was a lefty by casual observation, upon first glance. Another thing that struck me was his last name. I haven’t come across it that many times in my life…Heitholt

 

Back in the late 1990’s a fellow by that name called me, from the Columbia, Mo. Tribune, and said he was writing an article about minor league baseball and remarked that he had heard I might have some insights into it. In the course of our conversation he mentioned that he had an uncle who played minor league baseball back in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. At the time I didn’t pursue who the uncle was for the caller had told me his uncle played Class C baseball. He did mention that he would be in touch with me from time to time if he had any questions along the lines of my field of interest.

 

Well, that time never arrived. In the wee hours of Oct. 31—Nov. 1, 2001 the sports writer who had called me was finishing another long night at the office when tragedy befell him. The incident captured media attention around this country and the outgrowth of that event made it into many crime documentaries such as “48-Hours.” This is briefly a link to what happened that made it impossible for Kent Heitholt to remain in contact with me and others. krcgtv.com/sports/content/remembering-murder-victim-kent-...

 

MEMORIAL

www.findagrave.com/memorial/13389092/kent-william-heitholt

 

From 1996 until his death Kent Heitholt was the sports editor for the Tribune newspaper in Columbia, MO. Prior to working there he had been sports editor for nine years at The Times in Shreveport, Louisiana. He had worked for about two years at the Nashville Banner (now defunct) prior to Shreveport.

 

On the night of Oct 31-Nov 1, 2001 Kent had worked at the Columbia paper late, into the wee hours. Upon logging off his computer and going to the parking lot, he was attacked, robbed, bludgeoned and strangled with his own belt by the attackers. Two janitors in the newspaper building saw two men near Kent's car but could not identify them. The murder was unsolved until March 10, 2004 when a tip was phoned to Columbia police that someone had been talking about having murdered Heitholt. Police quickly brought in the suspect for questioning and got a confession, albeit a somewhat bizarre and incoherent one. The suspect indicated that it had been a friend and accomplice of his who had actually thought of the idea of finding someone to rob and kill and that it was this accomplice who had actually strangled Kent. The accused accomplice was arrested and charged with the murder.

 

The first of the two boys, Chuck Erickson, got a 25 year prison sentence for testifying against the second, Ryan Ferguson, who went to trial in October 2005 and was found guilty of 2nd degree murder and robbery. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison but has appealed, continuing to deny his involvement. The case has been featured on 48 Hours Mystery and there remain many unanswered questions.

 

Kent Heitholt graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia in 1975. He married Deborah Evangelista in Springhill, TN on Dec. 21, 1981; they had 2 children, a son Vincent and daughter Kali Rose.

 

Kent was a kind man, a friend to all who knew him, and an animal lover known for keeping cat food in his car to feed a stray cat that lived around the newspaper offices. He touched many lives during his life and career and is missed by many.

 

Ed note: This story has been in the limelight since 2001 and the ramifications of the trial and appeals have continued to this day. There is no way to tell this story in a short space such as this report. What remains a fact is that Kent Heitholt was murdered. Various theories exist as to “Who dunnit.”

 

Starting the research on the Heitholt name.

 

Upon identifying the man at the cream can, in 1950, at Carthage, I had a feeling he was the uncle of the sportswriter who was proud to have told me about his career. The first obstacle to overcome was to put Kent’s birthplace in perspective. The obituary stated he was born in Lawrence, Kansas in 1953. From that point a search began for a Heitholt adult from that town. Quickly, I found an Arthur William Heitholt who was born in Falls Creek, Illinois in 1933 and was by that time a student at the University of Kansas.

 

With the information that Arthur William was from Illinois a search began to see if any of the Illinois Heitholt’s were still around. After a brief search I discovered the obituary of Robert Heitholt who died in Georgia and his obituary mentioned he had a nephew, Kent, who last lived in Columbia, Missouri. The next step was to see if Robert had any brothers other than Arthur William. As I suspected he had an older brother by the name of Charles Richard who was born in Fall Creek in 1927. Here are the brothers Heitholt around 1934 with their dog, “Forty.” www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/33658668368/

 

At that moment I knew that I had identified the young man in the Flickr photo for last week’s Flash Report. Within a few minutes I knew that the former Sioux Falls, SD Canary first baseman was still with us and living in Yorkville, Illinois. Also I knew his telephone number and pondered whether I should bother a man about a photo taken 69 years earlier.

 

For the hundreds of old ball players I’ve “bothered” over the years it didn’t take long to make the decision to bother another one. When the party answered it was Dick’s wife of 72 years, Karen. I inquired if he was home and she put him on the phone. All I did was state my name and ask “Do you know where you were 69 years ago today?” Without hesitation Dick replied “Well, it’s the first of April so I must have been in Carthage, Mo.” With that brief bit of chatter Dick said “My Gosh, how nice of you to call.”

 

For most of the next hour we covered about every subject in the sports realm from that era that you can imagine. Some of us think we go a long way back in listening to St. Louis Cardinal baseball with the likes of Harry Caray and Gabby Street. However, Dick goes back to France Laux who was the pioneer voice of the Cardinals. www.stlmediahistory.com/index.php/Radio/RadioHOFDetail/la...

 

 

I’m not going to jail, or pay a fine for copyright infringement, but I can direct the readers to a link where a dapper France Laux is in the dugout flanked by Lou Gehrig on his right and Babe Ruth on the left. You may have to click through a half dozen photos to see the one of the first St. Louis Cardinal announcer.

www.google.com/search?q=France+Laux&safe=active&t...:

 

 

One topic I steered clear of talking about with Dick was that of his nephew, Kent. I did know his dad was a student at Kansas University from 1950-54 but didn’t know he was the same Bill Heitholt who spent four seasons on the Jayhawk basketball team, three of which he was a teammate of the legendary, Clyde Lovellette.

www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/sports/basketball/clyde-lovell...

 

At this time of year I guess it is appropriate to talk about the NCAA basketball tournament. In 1952 the Kansas Jayhawks won that title and Bill was, of course, a member of that squad. The following link has some footage of that championship game between KU and St. John’s and other photos that show reunion photos of that 1952 team with Heitholt in them. You KU fans can revel in this link, since 2018-19 was not a year you could do so. Keep in mind in that era athletes went to college and graduated unlike the “One and Done” characters of this era. www.nytimes.com/2016/03/11/sports/basketball/clyde-lovell...

 

With the Olympics being held in Helsinki, Finland the U. S. Olympic committee took, primarily, the best players from the national champion college team, Kansas, and the top players from the AAU championship team, the Peoria Caterpillars. That squad was finally composed of seven players from the University of Kansas, five from the Peoria Caterpillars and two from the Bartlesville, Okla. Phillips 66 Oilers. In that era the best basketball players were playing for teams like the Peoria Caterpillars, Bartlesville Oilers, Akron Flyers, and Denver Truckers etc. The National Basketball Association was playing second fiddle to those industrial teams.

 

As our far flung conversation progressed the topic of spring training for 1950 continued. Heitholt recalled making a road trip to Miami, Oklahoma for two exhibition games. In reading about those encounters it would better have been called “Batting practice.” Sioux Falls won both games by wide margins. The first was 17-1 and the second was 20-0. The Sioux Falls Argus noted that playing in Springfield was difficult due to the field conditions. Without bringing up that subject to Heitholt he stated that the infield at the Springfield facility was nothing but small rocks.

 

When Sioux Falls broke camp, at Carthage, and headed home, they had made their decision Heitholt would play first base, once more, as he had done in 1949. Bob Speake and Heitholt fought it out for the first base job in 1949 but the “fight” lasted 18 days and Speake was sent to Carthage to play first base. There he doubled the number of home runs Mickey Mantle hit for Independence that year.

 

Heitholt reminded me he got the nod for the Sioux Falls first base job for two years explaining that “I hit enough homers to keep them (the Cubs) interested.” He admitted that he knew he wasn’t going past Class C and his mind turned toward an education.

 

When speaking with someone it is nice to know the community in which they grew up and later worked and even later lived during retirement. Some of the fellows with Quincy, Ill. connections were; Jim Finigan, Tommy Gott, and the Tappe twins; Elvin and Melvin. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_United_States_men%27s_Olympic_...

 

Some of those names appear in this report as Heitholt was recalling them in his e-mails shared this week. Rather than give the back and forth between Heitholt and myself an attempt is being made to share mostly his comments. I will say that I’m enjoying communicating with a newly-found old baseball player. He played basketball and baseball at Quincy College and is in their Hall of Fame. He later attended the University of Illinois where he earned his Master’s Degree.

 

 

1.

 

Dick Fern Heitholt

Sun, Mar 31, 10:51

 

Hi John, I was overwhelmed to have the nice phone conversation today and will look forward to more contacts. I refereed a couple games at Hannibal LaGrange when Cotton (Fitzsimmons) and Ray (Schumann) played. I also knew Cotton’s brother, Orlen, who coached at Clopton High School (Clarksville). I am surprised to know that Mickey Mantle attended games at Moberly and that his brother was there. (Note: Larry “Butch” Mantle played for Cotton Fitzsimmons basketball team at Moberly, Mo. in the 1960’s)

 

I started coaching and teaching in 1950 at West Pike (across river from Hannibal). I became Principal of my alma mater, Quincy Senior High School, in 1967 for 18 years.

 

While I was there Tom Gott was dean at Junior High and later was District Business Manager. He married a Quincy girl he had met while playing with Quincy Gems. So we have had plenty of time together.

 

Jim Finigan was a year behind me in school. He attended Notre Dame High School. I played many games with him and his brother, Jack. Jim was good at all sports. Many don’t know what a great softball pitcher he was, but, of course, he limited that when baseball offers loomed.

 

I am fortunate that my wife is still at my side (married 72 years in June). We were married at 20 and 19. We live in our daughter’s home (she was at Sioux Falls as a baby). We have our own two rooms and bath.

 

One of my lifelong friends from Sioux Falls team was Bob Hoerner of Dubuque, IA. His brother, Joe, pitched for Cardinals in the Brock, Gibson, Torre, Cepeda era of 60s so we met many Cardinals. Joe, who suffered diabetes, was killed near Herman, Mo when he had an attack while driving tractor. Looking forward to future contact, John. I certainly appreciate your effort to locate me. I look forward to the cream can water picture.

 

 

2.

 

Thanks for info. on Boyers. I remember that Cletis Boyer hit a homer off Joe (Hoerner) in World Series. Joe Hoerner always brought some of the Cardinals pheasant hunting in Iowa and I was usually invited. (Steve) Carlton, (Mike) Shannon, and two brothers, pitchers, (name escapes me) were regulars. I don’t know how Shannon keeps from swear words on broadcasts. I like his announcing better than the TV announcers. (Ed note: I believe the pitching brothers who went on those hunting trips were Larry and Don Jaster.)

 

I grew up listening to France Laux announce Cardinals when the lineup was Medwick, Moore and Rothrock in outfield, Kurowski, Marion, Pepper Martin and Johnny Mize, infield. Mickey Owen catching. Pitchers were Dean Brothers, Wild Bill Hallahan, Fiddler Bill McGee and later, Howard Pollett, Murray Dickson, Harvey Haddix and Harry Brecheen. Musial came on the scene when I was in high school.

 

It is great to have you remember me when at Carthage. I look forward to future contact.

 

I played basketball and baseball with the Tappe twins in my class. El caught some with Cubs and was a favorite of (P.K.) Wrigley. Both El and Mel died early with pancreatic cancer. They had a Sporting Goods store in Quincy. Dick Heitholt

 

3.

 

Did you know Carl Hubbell? Noted he was from Carthage

 

Ed note: I answered this question by pointing out Hubbell left Southwest Missouri in 1903 and shared with Dick the columns I’ve written about how Hubbell was not a Carthaginian although I wish he had have been.

 

4.

 

Pure delight to read your great stories. You may be surprised that I replaced Bob Speake at Sioux Falls in 1949. He wasn’t off to a good start there. You mentioned Harry Bright who was our 3B until he was called up during mid-season. I learned not to be his partner in pinochle as he was a wild bidder. (Note: Harry Bright was “called out west” after 18 games at Sioux Falls. He went to Clovis, NM where he led the league in hitting, in 1950 with a .413 mark. Due to his time at Sioux Falls his total batting average for 1950 was a “mere” .397).

 

Other players on ‘50 team: Howie Bowles (he was sure he would win a watch for first home run, but, luckily, I hit one in first game); Bollinger and Handley in OF; Ted Sterger, Dick Loyd and I, infield; with Eilbracht sharing catching with Rube Walker (who was one of Cub’s managers when they spread the job around. (I) Already mentioned El Tappe one of them. Best pitcher was Bob Hartig.

 

Do you recall names, Jim Belz and Ralph Lageman? They went to AAA with Cards and played with me at Quincy College. I also wonder if you heard of Ray DeGreef, my college coach (baseball and basketball). Great career at St. Francis Borgia in Washington, Mo.

 

Ed note: I informed Heitholt that I didn’t recall the names of Belz, Lageman and DeGreef. I did some research on DeGreef to satisfy my curiosity and found that he coached here in Columbia, Mo. for a local high school. That precipitated the following comment in #5.

 

5.

 

I thought I knew all about DeGreef, but didn’t know he was at Columbia Hickman. He went to Culver- Stockton and was a disciple of Bill Harrington, basketball coach. We ran set plays. DeGreef best baseball manager I ran into.

 

Do you live in Columbia? Joe Hoerner’s daughter lives there.

 

That concludes this week’s edition of the “cream can at Carthage.” I had intended to include some material regarding Lee Eilbracht who was the other guy in the “cream can” photo. However, his life story is pretty amazing in its own right and will have to await a future edition to be told.

______________________________________________________________________________

An Episode from 9 years ago comes to conclusion

 

Hello John --I had contacted you a number of years ago regarding my father, Don Dagenais. You were extremely kind in researching newspaper articles for him. I just wanted to let you know that my father passed away on Tuesday, April 2nd. Thank you again for researching those articles for him - he really enjoyed reading them, and I know it brought back a lot of memories for him.

 

Regards, Glenn Dagenais—in Illinois

 

This is the original contact with the Dagenais family. “On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 12:18 PM, Glenn Dagenais wrote: “ John - My name is Glenn Dagenais and I am the son of Don Dagenais. Last month you sent newspaper articles to a friend of my dad, Ray Nemec. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to do so - my dad has thoroughly enjoyed reading the articles from back in his playing days.

 

I have a question for you. I do genealogy work and am wondering if you could tell me the exact name of the newspaper(s) that these articles came from. You had previously sent some articles from 1947, and the most recent articles you sent were from 1948. Please let me know also if

both years of articles were from the same newspaper.

 

On Mon, 12/27/10, John Hall wrote:

 

It is now called the Reflector-Chronicle but I'm sure that wasn't its title in 1948. I thought a search of the Internet would provide that name but it didn't. I think on the top of one or two of those sheets I sent your dad is the title of the newspaper.

 

Those were from the Abilene, Kansas newspaper. I believe in 1947-48 era it was called the Register. To get a real glimpse of the league in which your dad played the Junction

City, Clay Center, Manhattan, Belleville and Concordia newspapers would give the information on games they played with Abilene.

 

There were quite a number of guys on those teams who played in the major leagues and many more who played professional baseball after leaving that league. Those guys came from around the country to play there in the summer. A lot of college players from Kansas, Kansas

State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma A & M, now Okla. State Univ. played there. There were many boys out of Chicago on those teams. I think most of them were later signed by the Cubs. I know one real well who fit that mold. Paul Hoffmeister lives in Arlington Heights and after two years at Concordia he wound up in my hometown pitching for the Class D Chicago Cub affiliate. He later played as high up as the Pacific Coast league. He's still in Arlington

Heights and is a CPA.

 

Tell your dad I'm glad he enjoyed those old clippings. I've attended the funeral of three of his Abilene teammates who later wound up in the KOM league. Those three fellows were Ed Wilson, Harland Coffman and Earl Hays.

 

Ed note: Many gallons of water have rolled beneath the bridge in the past nine years and Paul Hoffmeister is no longer with us. The research for the Dagenais family was in regard to Don Dagenais playing for the Abilene, Kansas Ikes in the North Central Kansas Amateur Baseball League of America in the mid-1940s.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Musial video went well

 

The link to a Stan Musial video went over well. At least six people opened it and I heard from them. Also, heard from Stan’s daughter, Janet, who thanked me for sharing it and for admitting to be prejudiced about believing her father was the greatest of them all. It takes more than being able to hit a round object with a round war club but when that can be accomplished as well as being a wonderful person, then that is true greatness.

 

Then, from someone who has known me about as long as I’ve been exhaling carbon dioxide came this note. “Johnny: Thank you. I got the Vecsey book for my birthday and enjoyed it enormously. Especially your contribution. We had a great hero, Johnny, when we were kids. Thanks, again. -- Corky Simpson—Tucson, Arizona.

 

Ed comment:

 

My name appears on the cover of three books as the author and on thousands of pages of other material. However, I consider being the co- subject of Chapter 6 of the George Vecsey book, on Stan Musial, as being at the top of the batting order. The book’s title is “Stan Musial An American Life.”

 

 

Done