KOM Flash Report for 8/03/2019

KOM League

Flash Report

For

August 3, 2019

 

The Flash Report is posted on Flickr at: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/48153832902/ Going to that site will leave you with a “fawn” memory.

 

Note: Due to technical difficulties with Google three previous attempts at transmitting this report using “bcc” have failed. This transmission is being sent using “cc.” I trust this will not be an inconvenience to anyone. Hopefully, this problem won’t be of a lasting nature.

 

Second note: Great angst is being experienced in getting this report delivered. Try this link again and if the report is still not available, let me know. www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/48153832902/

 

At precisely 1:11 p.m. Central Daylight Savings Time on August 2, 2019 I sat down at my computer having done nothing during the week to include in a report. So, this will be a report without form and void.

 

If this forum was for late breaking news it could be reported that in the early morning hours the news of the death of Harley Race came over the radio. Less than 2% of the readership would even recognize that name but he was known as “Handsome” Harley Race when he was on the professional wrestling cards around the Midwest.

 

Never was I a “wrasslin” fan but I had heard Race’s name mentioned a few times and during my last years in the “rat race” of working for a living, many a day was spent at Eldon, Missouri. Lunch options in Eldon (aka Petticoat Junction) were sparse and many a meal was a tenderloin sandwich was served to me by none other than “Handsome Harley” and his much more attractive wife, Beverley. To show I have so little baseball news to share you might want to learn about or take a refresher course on the deceased. search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=avast&hsimp=yhs-se...

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Number of known living former KOM Leaguers drops to 224 with the death of Robert E. Lee

 

Robert "Bob" E. Lee, 93, loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather passed away on July 22, 2019. He was born on January 29, 1926 in Topeka, the son of Willis H. and Rill Eva Lee. He was educated in Topeka, attending Roosevelt Junior High and graduating from Topeka High School in 1944. In April of 1944 he joined the United States Marine Corps where he served until April of 1946. He served in the South Pacific on the Marshall Islands, Carolina Islands, and Ryukyu Islands in Okinawa, Japan.

 

In 1946, Bob enrolled at Washburn University where he was on the football team and track teams. In 1947, he started a professional baseball career with the Joplin Minors in the Western Association League. He played professional baseball in the minor leagues through the 1951 season with the Topeka Owls.

 

Bob was very active at Washburn University, serving as their baseball coach in 1960. He also served on the Washburn Board of Regents, Ichabod Board, Alumni Association, Lincoln Society, Washburn University Foundation, and he and his wife, Sallee, started the Robert E. and Sallee Lee Athletic Scholarship. In 1984, the basketball arena at Washburn was named after them, and Bob was also given the President's "W" Award.

 

Professionally, Bob was realtor, developer, appraiser, starting Lee Realtors in 1955, and later Lee and Bueltel Realtors and Lee and Bueltel Construction Company. He also served as president of the Topeka Board of Realtors, Topeka Multiple Listing Exchange, Society of Real Estate Appraisers and American Society of Appraisers, and he was the first Kansan to receive the CAE (certified assessment evaluator) certification.

 

In 1971, he was a partner in Cablevision of Topeka, the company that first brought cable TV to Topeka.

 

Throughout his professional life, Bob had a slogan on his desk that read "Luck is the crossroads of where planning and opportunity meet."

 

Bob also served on multiple boards in Topeka including the YMCA, American Red Cross, St. Francis Hospital foundation, Urban Renewal Advisory Board, Family Guidance Center, Rotary Club, Topeka Capitals, Topeka Recreation Commission, Human Relations Commission, and served as the president of the 20-30 Club and Cosmopolitan Club.

 

Bob was an avid sports fan enjoying baseball, softball, golf and tennis. He managed and sponsored multiple baseball and slow pitch softball teams, his 1982 Lee and Bueltel softball team won the USSSA Kansas State Championship and finished 9th in the ASA Major Men's Nationals in Parma, Ohio.

 

Mr. Lee is survived by his wife, Sallee, and their three children, Gregory A. Lee (Jenny), Topeka, Dr. David Lee, Houston, TX, and Debbie Florence (Stacy), Topeka; four grandchildren, Emily Dore, (Jim) Overland Park, Amy Nohl, (Brent) Prairie Village, Bobby Florence, (Jazmin) Lawrence, LeKeevis Lee (preceded him in death) and six great grandchildren.

 

Memorial contributions can be made to Washburn University Athletics Fund, 1700 SW College, Topeka, KS, 66604 or Prince of Peace Church, 3625 SW Wanamaker, Topeka, KS, 66614.

 

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, August 2, 2019 at Faith Lutheran Church, 1716 SW Gage Blvd, Topeka.

 

To leave a message for the family online, please visit www.PenwellGabelTopeka.com Robert E. Lee.

 

Ed comment:

 

At some juncture, over the past 25 years, Robert Lee attended a KOM league event basically for the sole purpose of visiting with some former buddies of his, from Topeka. Although Lee played for the 1946 Bartlesville Oilers he didn’t want to admit it. For whatever reason he had for not wanting to confess being a former KOM leaguer, he was.

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Wife of former Pittsburg Brown, Ray Lindquist, passes

 

Mary Virginia (nee Pangborn) Lindquist passed away on January 4, 2019, surrounded by family. She was 87 years old. A breast cancer survivor, twice, Mary spent the last fifteen years battling Parkinson's disease. Born in Detroit, Mary was the granddaughter of a Michigan senator, Samuel H. Pangborn and Michigan District Court Judge Xenophon A. Boomhower, both of Bad Axe, Michigan, and the daughter of Willard and Florence Pangborn. Mary graduated from Cleveland Heights High School, in Ohio, and Michigan State University, and was the second generation to pledge Delta Delta Delta. After graduation, she taught elementary education within the Cleveland Heights district and married Dartmouth graduate and professional baseball player, Raymond Lindquist.

 

They, and their growing family eventually settled in South Euclid, Ohio, where Mary served as a president of Adrien Elementary PTA and taught Sunday school at the former First Presbyterian Church of East Cleveland. She was a den mother for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and a 'baseball mom' for her sons' Little League teams. After the family moved to Buffalo, New York, Mary became the president of the Eden Garden Club and won awards for her floral arrangements. She played golf, tennis, and bridge.

 

She was also an avid knitter, passing on the tradition started by her aunt, Leta Pangborn Shere, by creating over one hundred blue-ribbon Christmas stockings for extended family and friends. She and Ray retired to Gulf Harbor, in Fort Myers, Florida, where Mary continued to be an active golfer and Tri Delta member. She and Raymond traveled often, enjoying trips to Europe, Asia, and New Zealand. Mary is survived by her sister, Mrs. Barbara Doren of La Jolla, California and Dr. Willard Pangborn of Long Beach, California, as well as her son, Robert, a businessman and graduate of West Point Academy, Eric, a graduate of Tufts University and Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, Catherine, a graduate of SUNY Buffalo's John Lord O'Brian School of Law, and William, a graduate of Trinity College and Michigan Ross, the University of Michigan's business school. Mary will remain beloved by each of her grandchildren—Raymond, Matthias, Paige, Anna, Erin, Haley, Kyle, Ryan, and Sydney, their spouses, and her friends. A memorial service will be held Aug. 3, 11 a.m., at Colfax Cemetery, 598 N. Barrie Road, Bad Axe, Michigan, 48413.

Published in Huron Daily Tribune on July 30, 20

 

Ed comment:

 

2009 was the last time I spoke with Ray Lindquist. I recall, vividly, him talking about the political pedigree of his wife’s family and the place in Michigan from which they came. Bad Axe would have to be one of my favorite names for a town. Ray will celebrate his 90th birthday on Sept. 30. Ray was born in Cleveland, attended Dartmouth College and is still living in Ft. Myers.

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Alex Muirhead, Elvis and Reagan

 

Last week the readers were promised a few paragraphs regarding a former Ponca City Dodger shortstop by the name of Alex Muirhead. He was born in Libertyville, Ill. in 1927 and had played in the Piedmont league in 1945 with the Roanoke, Red Sox. He was there a month and was drafted into the Army.

 

He joined the Ponca City Dodgers for the 1948 season and spent one year there and retired from baseball at the age of 21 and that is when his life began. He worked four years with the California Department of Justice and then began his 30-year career with the California Highway Patrol. He attained the rank of captain and served as an area commander for 11 of those 30 years.

 

Like most law enforcement officers he came across many situations but two stood out as we sat on my back deck one afternoon and relived some of his life’s highlights. During the stage in the life of Elvis Presley when he was interested into martial arts and guns, his contingent pulled into the parking lot of the patrol office and asked to speak with the captain in charge.

 

Muirhead recalled that Presley seemed to be genuinely interested in law enforcement and paid rapt attention as he was told how the patrol operated. When he arrived Presley was carrying two pearl handle revolvers which he displayed for Muirhead. After Presley and the Memphis Mafia

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFwRiPj_pLw departed one of the members of Muirhead’s staff entered his office and said that Elvis had given him the pearl handled revolvers. Muirhead explained that it was not legal to accept gifts and that he’d have to return them the next time Presley was in the area. (The URL mentioned in this paragraph will provide many hours of gtrsy viewing if you are interested in the security that surrounded Presley.)

 

When Presley next appeared in the area the deputy made a trip to see him to return the gift. Muirhead said that in thinking back that move was risky. He said his deputy asked for a meeting with Elvis without telling his bodyguards the nature of the visit and he was carrying those two weapons, concealed. Muirhead mused that carrying those guns to meet with one of the best guarded men in America wasn’t a very smart thing to do.

 

While serving as the area commander for the California Highway Patrol at Sacramento, Muirhead was surprised when the governor’s limousine pulled up to the station and out came Ronald Reagan. He recalled the governor was in some distress and asked “May I use your restroom.” After doing his “business” Reagan came out and posed for a photo with Capt. Muirhead which never got much attention until it was published in my of my non-bestselling books. If you have the second edition of Majoring in The Minors you’ll find it on page 133.

 

That and more regarding the life and times of Alex Muirhead is in that book and a story about how he suffered his most serious injury in his law enforcement career. It was meted out by a Chihuahua/ Toy Fox mixture. If the stories about Presley and Reagan didn’t live up to the hype maybe you’d like to hear the dog story, next time.

 

There were a lot of other items I wanted to share regarding Muirhead so maybe that will happen at another time.

 

For those wishing to see a photo of Reagan and Muirhead it was posted in this forum in 2015 and it can be viewed by clicking here: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/20581119710/

 

Another link shows Muirhead’s billfold that was a gift from the 1948 team. He gave me the billfold sans any money. www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/20581106198/

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Two paths crossed in Wichita and Ponca City

 

In 1952 the Ponca City Dodgers had two players who were natives of Wichita, Kansas. Elbert Jarvis played first base for that club and Clyde Girrens did the catching. Three years later Jarvis was married and Girrens was an usher at that event.

 

Just three short years later, tragedy struck and this time Girrens was attending the funeral of his friend.

 

Elbert Jarvis Ponca City, 1952- www.findagrave.com/memorial/93405814/elbert-dean-jarvis

 

Wichita Eagle, Saturday, May 31, 1958

 

Ex-Wichita Ball Player Drowns--Fishing in Pond Near Ponca City

 

A former Wichitan, Elbert D. (Dean) Jarvis, 27, (Ed note: He was 25) Ponca City, Okla., drowned Friday afternoon in a private pond five miles northeast of Ponca City.

 

He was the son of Mrs. Esta Pearl Jarvis, 1221 Larimer. He graduated from North High School and attended the University of Wichita.

 

He and his wife, Jackie, and his mother-in-law, Mrs. William L. Troup, Ponca City, were fishing in the pond on the M. M. Acton farm about 1:30 p.m.

 

After stripping off his shirt and pants, he dived into the water after something, possibly his hat which had blown off.

 

A man who resides at the farm, Charles Johnson, heard the women screaming and called the Ponca City fire department. The fire department manned four boats at the scene.

 

The police department and Kay County, Okla., Sheriff Forrest Walker and Undersheriff Norman Coffelt also helped to search the water for an hour.

 

The body was found about 20 feet from shore in about 20 feet of water. Mr. Jarvis apparently had cramped. Firemen worked a resuscitator, but without success.

 

A Ponca City physician was treating Mrs. Jarvis for shock when the body was pulled out. The body was taken to Miles Funeral Home, Ponca City.

 

Mr. Jarvis played baseball with the Newport News, Va. Farm Club of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and later was first baseman for the Ponca City Cubs, a class D farm club of the Chicago Cubs.

 

Wichita Eagle, Sunday, June 1, 1958

 

ELBERT D. JARVIS

 

A resident of Ponca City, Okla. he commuted to Oklahoma State University at Stillwater, Okla. He was born June 4, 1932, in Wichita.

 

He graduated from North High School in 1950. He was a letterman in football, basketball and baseball. He had played on a farm club for the Brooklyn Dodgers, for the Shawnee, Okla., Hawks, and for the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Three I league.

 

Mr. Jarvis drowned while on a picnic with his wife and her parents. He and his wife had begun to fish some distance from where her parents had just finished eating.

 

He dived from the shore after his hat which had blown off. He retrieved the hat and was swimming back pushing the hat in front of him when his wife heard him call for help.

 

Survivors, besides his mother and his. wife, Sarah Ann (Jackie), include two brothers, Kile, Tucson, Ariz., and Gerald, 1444 S. Hydraulic; and two sisters, Mrs. C. O. Avery, 1319 N. Main, and Mrs. H. J. Valko, 1661 Jeanette.

 

Trout Funeral Home, Ponca City, is in charge of arrangements.

 

Fifty eight years later this story appeared regarding Clyde Girrens

 

North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging--July 25, 2016 ·

www.facebook.com/ncfhaaa/posts/clyde-girrens-86-of-wichit... A photo of Clyde Girrens at age 86 in a Kansas City Royals hat is on this link.

 

Clyde Girrens, 86, of Wichita, Kansas will be honored as Keeping Seniors in the Game! First Pitcher on Saturday, July 30, 2016 at the 7 p.m. feature game of the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series.

 

Clyde grew up in St. Marks, Kansas and has lived in Wichita since 1982. He and his wife Patricia have three children -- Clyde Jr., Phil, and Tom.

 

From a very young age Clyde loved baseball. At 15, he was a catcher on the St. Marks team. When his team played in the 1945 Kansas State NBC Tournament, he was the youngest player in that tournament. In 1949 he played in the NBC World Series with the Cessna Bobcats and the Bobcats won the national championship that year. In 1950, Clyde signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Everyone knew that when Clyde was the catcher, if someone was starting to steal second, the pitcher needed to get out of the way because Clyde had a great arm. He played for the Dodgers five years and then was drafted in the Army and served in Korea.

 

After Korea, he returned to Wichita and made NBC's All-tournament team a record four times playing for the Wichita Weller Indians, Service Auto Glass and Bob Moore Oldsmobile. He earned MVP honors in 1959 and in 1963. His favorite baseball memory happened in l963 when The Rapid Transit Dreamliners won NBC's National Championship after defeating the Ponchatoula, Louisiana Athletics. He played with the Dreamliners for 17 years--until 1987.

 

In 1980 he was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. These days Clyde enjoys spending quality time with Patricia and gardening.

 

Clyde was nominated for the Keeping Seniors in the Game SM honor by the Central Plains Area Agency on Aging. This group serves seniors and caregivers in Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties.

 

"We are delighted to work with the NBC to recognize the contributions that Clyde Girrens and other older Kansans make to our country, our hometowns and our communities," said Julie Govert Walter, Executive Director of the North Central-Flint Hills Area Agency on Aging who leads the Keeping Seniors In The Game!SM initiative.

 

Ed comment:

 

According to the late Bob Dellinger who was the Ponca City Dodger sportswriter for most of its time in the KOM league, he cited Clyde Girrens as being the best catching prospect to ever wear Dodger blue in that town.

 

One regret I have is not being able to spend more time conversing with Girrens but fate has dealt that a cruel blow. In 1994 I met Girrens at a reunion of former Ponca City Angels, Dodgers and Cubs. Without any exaggeration he was the guy most sought out by the attendees for the purpose of engaging in conversation.

 

Girrens had a long career in Wichita amateur baseball after five years in the Brooklyn Dodger organization beginning in 1950. There have been 80 ballplayers named as the MVP of the National Baseball Congress (NBC) Tournament in Wichita. Some of those names are Satchel Paige, Ellis “Cot” Deal, Chris Chambliss, Daryl Spencer and Lance Berkman who all played major league baseball. Of course, Girrens is one of 80 players to win that honor. He did it the year his team only advanced as far as the quarterfinals of the tournament.

 

A Hall of Fame for the NBC tournament exists that includes nearly 110 names. Included in that group are: Bob Boone, Joe Carter, Ron Guidry, Whitey Herzog, Ralph Houk, Billy Martin, Rick Monday, Satchel Paige, Allie Reynolds, Tom Seaver, Ozzie Smith, Roger Clemens, Daryl Spencer, Harry “The Hat” Walker, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Tony Gwynn, Kirk Gibson, Dave Kingman and of course, Clyde Girrens.

 

Clyde’s brother, John, pitched for the Bartlesville, Oklahoma Pirates in 1948.

 

Girrens played professional baseball from 1950, sans 1951, through 1955 and then decided upon a life making more money playing for industry teams in Wichita. However, the Los Angeles Angels coaxed him out of retirement, in 1964 and as a 34-year old catcher he was sent to the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast league. Following that stint in Hawaii he continued to play semi-pro ball for another 23 years making him 57 years of age when he finally hung up his spikes.

 

Why I came upon the names of Jarvis and Girrens for this report baffles me, it wasn’t planned. It is a story about how things work out. Jarvis left this world at age 25 and Girrens is still going at age 89. But, it is great that both are being remembered. I’m sure one reader of this report will recall Jarvis. He was a young, good looking member of the Ponca City Dodgers and the less than 10-year daughter of the team’s manager had a crush on him.

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Leftover from last week

 

Last time around there was a listing of former players never located or fate determined.

 

Steve Smith has researched ballplayers who were with Keokuk, Iowa for many years. When he notices Keokuk or other Central Association players who had experience in the KOM league he gets interested. He had a photo from the April 24, 1948 edition of the Moline, Ill. Dispatch. In that photo was a played listed as John Moore.

 

He commented “As always your reports are interesting. I looked at your list and of course the ever elusive John Moore is on it. I have found a picture of Mr. Moore which is attached. You may already have it. Moore was from Philly. I have tried to find his high school career but so far no luck. There were too many John Moore’s in Philly.”

 

With the foregoing input from Mr. Smith these were my observations. “Here is something to consider. There is a U. S. Baseball Questionnaire that a John Moore filled out for Bill Weiss in 1950. Here are the comments Moore made. Born June 28, 1928 in Philadelphia. Lived at 1803 67th Ave. in Philly in 1950. Nickname was Jackie. Was 5' 10" and weighed 170. Threw and batted right handed. Graduated from North East High in Philly in 1945. Played at Welch, WVA in 1947 and Portsmouth, Ohio in 1948 and played in some town in North Carolina in 1949. Maybe he felt his time in the KOM and wasn't significant enough to mention or his time in Moline, same thing. Of course, this might not be our guy.”

 

He claimed to have served one year in the Marine Corps by 1950. He stated in his questionnaire that he loved to play golf.. This same John Moore attended LaSalle Univ. from 1947-49 and was a member of the golf team. His name appears in the LaSalle yearbook. I can't find any information where this person has passed on. Just some things to mull over.

 

Another former player never found—William Ruel Waggener

 

This fellow was signed by the St. Louis Browns and sent to Pittsburg, Kansas in 1946. He was soon on his way to Bartlesville. During the off-season he attended Kansas State Teachers College in Pittsburg. He was back with Bartlesville to start the 1947 season but maintained his home in Pittsburg during the winter where he continued to attend classes in pursuing his major in civil engineering.

 

On Dec. 31, 1947 he and his wife welcomed a son they named Michael Stephen. Many references are made to Waggener in the Jacksonville, Ill. Daily Journal and they usually centered on the news he was visiting his parents at Christmas time. The last such reference was from 1972 and by that time he was living in Peoria. I believe he now resides in a nursing home in Peoria.

 

As you have probably guessed I’ll keep looking for any word on this man.

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Well, I’m done. Seventeen hours ago this report was started. Things went just fine for about two of them and then I shut down for the day. After what passes as a night of sleeping like a baby I arose and remembered there was a Flash Report still in the oven. I pulled it out to check how done it was and figured it was time to slice and serve it.

 

Hopefully, your piece of the report was done satisfactorily. If not, return the unconsumed portion for a full refund of its listed price on the menu.

 

 

Done