1951 Ponca City Dodgers

The KOM League

Flash Report

for

September 6, 2019

 

 

This report is posted at: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/48685004558/ The identification of those in this photo is contained in the body of this report.

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Notes from the last issue of the Flash Report

 

Wow John, thanks so much, as always, for sharing that column. After all these great years of reading your ramblings since that fateful Saturday afternoon at the Red Bridge Library in KC Mo, I feel like I actually knew so many of the guys like Dick Getter and that is second best to the real thing. I have probably read a hundred missives about Mr. Getter, edited and written by the incomparable John Hall. Oh, what an honor and a privilege and I mean that very sincerely John. Casey Casebolt—Overland Park, KS

 

Ed comment:

 

Well, that leaves me speechless so I guess I'll have to stick to the written word. Hope all is well with you and the family.

 

That Red Bridge Library appearance has nearly been a quarter century ago.

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Note from Mazi Hamric—A true optimist

 

John, do you have Joan's (Getter) mailing address ? -- I cannot locate it. I sent her a book when she was told of her cancer. I wish I could remember what it was -- I know that it was just what she needed and she was so grateful. I will try to recall if possible but might just send a note this time if I can come up with her address.

 

I have been blessed in so many ways -- on May 13th I had a mini stroke and happened to be in the parking lot beside the hospital -- I recovered very quickly and was out of the hospital in 4 days with no lingering problems. I think it was a warning and we are taking lots of precautions now. Also, on Wed. this week I was starting out of the grocery store pushing my basket when the lady who had just checked out before me came running back in and said she was loading her groceries into her car when a man ran up, grabbed her purse out of the basket, jumped in his car and sped off. That could have been me if the timing was a little off. My mother always sang me a song "God Will Take Care of You" and He certainly has. I will be 93 in December and got my drivers license renewed yesterday for another 2 years. Everything is good. Bob had a stroke in 2011 and is pretty much reliant on me for most things. He can still walk with the use of a rollater but has trouble with his speech. But we are still able to live at home. Thanks. Mazi

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Obituary for Gilbert F Flauto—Iola Indian 1st baseman 1948-49

www.townleywheelerfh.com/memorials/gilbert-flauto/3947187...

 

Gilbert Flauto, 93, a longtime resident of Ballston Lake, New York passed away August 29, 2019 at the Home of the Good Shepherd with two daughters at his side. Born on May 15, 1926 in Mattawan, New Jersey, he lived a long, happy life.

 

One of six sons of Mary (Josie) Desimone and Edmund Flauto of Richmond Hill, NY, he was married to his childhood sweetheart Gloria (Burkhart) Flauto for 65 years until she passed in 2013. They lived and raised their 3 daughters on Long Island, NY before moving to upstate New York in 1986. They enjoyed their summers playing golf and cards and entertaining family and friends at their lake house on the Great Sacandaga Lake and their winters in their home in North Fort Myers, Florida, doing the same, until moving permanently to the northeast in 2002.

 

Retired from Charles Pfizer in Brooklyn as a maintenance engineer, Gil’s long career there began as a result of his love of baseball and the company’s desire to field a good team. While still in his last year of high school, he was drafted by the NY (Ed note: Brooklyn) Dodgers, but his dream was short-lived when he was also drafted by the US Army. He served in WWII during the Battle of the Bulge, but by the time the war and his service had ended, he had lost his edge and formative years in baseball. He played for the Cleveland Indians B team (Ed note: Class D) in Kansas and Oklahoma before moving back to New York in 1949 to join the workforce.

 

He loved the competition of games and sports, and he played golf, baseball, and card games until he was no longer able to do so. He was a huge fan of the Yankees. Welcoming visits from family, he especially enjoyed playing games of strategy, skill, and chance with his daughters his last few years.

 

Seen proudly sporting his US Army Vet cap around town for the last several years of his life, Gil was a friend to all and well loved by many.

 

He is survived by his 3 daughters, Nancy (Glenn) Auspelmyer, Janice Flauto-Hayes, and Deb Stacey, 8 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

 

A private celebration of life will be held for family members on a date to be determined. Donations can be made in his name to the American Heart Association.

 

Ed comment:

 

Shortly after learning of the passing of Dick Getter my attention was turned toward the remaining roster members of the 1949 Iola Indians. At that moment it was suspected that Gilbert Flauto and William D. Anderson were probably alive and the fate of Edward Clifton Scott was unknown.

 

First order of business was to send condolences to the members of the Flauto family. Dick Getter continually inquired as to the health of Flauto and had great memories of him. He once told me that Flauto was a math genius and would know his batting average every time he went to bat and what it was immediately after that plate appearance. I think Getter commented that “Flauto knew his average before reaching first base.”

 

Flauto is a former KOM leaguer I never met but the memories of him are etched in my mind by photographs. In 1948 he spent time on the disabled list after he was hit in the right jaw by one of Don Hall’s fast balls. Hall was a pitcher from Iowa, like Bob Feller, and could throw as hard. The difference was Feller could get his pitches over the plate, consistently. On page 145 of the second edition of “Majoring in The Minors” that photo is featured. If you have that book compare the photo with the one of the deceased on the link to his obituary. Don Hall’s photo is on the same page with the one of Flauto in the book just cited.

 

When starting this article I thought there was a photo of Flauto and his bride Gloria in one of the books published about the KOM league. But, there wasn’t. They were a great looking couple and the cake they were cutting was pretty impressive, as well. I thought about linking that photo to this report but learned long ago that nobody avails themselves of clicking on an URL. Just take my word for the fact it was a great picture.

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Edward Clifton Scott.—Iola Indian first baseman 1949-50

 

Since the inception of documenting the history of the KOM league a search has been ongoing. It was known that Edward Clifton Scott was born on November 27, 1929 in Southwest City, Missouri. (An Ancestry.com site has his birth date listed as December 11, 1929 but I believe that to be in error. Since my birthdate is the same as the one initially cited for Scott, I’m sticking with it.) He was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in early 1949, by Runt Marr, and was slated to play for the Springfield, Mo. Cardinals. However, that didn’t pan out and he wound up with the Bartlesville, Okla. Pirates.

 

After a “short stop” with Bartlesville he was released and made his way to Iola, Kansas where he finished out the 1949 season and returned for the 1950 campaign. While playing in the KOM league during the summer he spent the remaining time being educated at the University of Missouri. His notice of graduation was found in the Kansas City Star in 1956. He wasn’t a slow learner, rather his education had to be put on hold while he served Uncle Sam during the Korean War.

 

The next item that provided any information on Scott was the notice of his marriage in Imperial, California on April 16, 1965. The bride was Wanda Ruth Griffin who was born on September 19, 1933 in Bethel, Oklahoma which was part of the Apukshunubbee district of the Choctaw Nation. I just wanted to throw in the name of that district since I have heretofore been unable to work that 13 letter word into these reports.

 

Wanda Scott passed away January 3, 1997 in Orland, California. There is no indication that the Scott family had any children. They were married when she was 31 and her husband 35.

 

For quite some time it has been assumed that there would never be a real clue as to the fate of Edward Clifton Scott until his passing. However, there was no obituary found but an Ancestry.com family site listed his death as June 6, 2019 in California it’s my belief he passed away in Orland. If anyone finds evidence to the contrary it wouldn’t take long to change the database information in this regard.

 

My guess is that the person with the most interest in the late Mr. Scott is Robert Schwartz. When Scott left the 1950 Iola club a bit early to resume his scholastic endeavors at the University of Missouri Schwartz replaced him. Schwartz was a native of Boston, Mass. but I find it ironic that he now lives in Clifton Park, New York. Do you think he might have chosen that place to honor the guy he replaced at Iola—Edward Clifton Scott? If so, “Great Scott” that would be a great story.

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Stanley Ira Santo—1951 Ponca City Dodgers

 

When last I sauntered up to the old computer, to churn out a KOM league report there wasn’t much butter produced. However, I do recall mentioning that Stanley Ira Santo, the first baseman for the 1951 Ponca City Dodgers passed away February 8 of this year. In that report it was noted that there wasn’t much of anything found on the Internet regarding his death.

 

As intimated in the last report Stan’s son got in touch and promised to get back with me concerning any questions I might have. The son is named Mark and he got back with me following his last days in the world of work. He retired recently after a career as an attorney. Thus, I have to be very careful about what I claim in this segment or I might be in deep stuff.

 

Clement Joseph “Jack” Santo was born in New York City in 1910 the 4th of nine children. His wife was Selma Lubitz whose was the daughter of immigrant Russian parents. In 1930, just two days after his 20th birthday Jack married Selma who was barely 16- years old. Selma’s mother didn’t care for young Jack tried to keep them apart. As a result, Jack sued his mother-in-law for alienation of affections.

 

Young Jack took an interest in boxing and adopted the ring name of Jack Lane. Mark, in providing this information had no idea as to why his grandfather chose that name. Following our conversation a check was made on the name of Jack Lane and one was found of a bantam weight boxer, from New York, who made his debut in the ring at Passaic, New Jersey in 1916. At that time Jack Santo would have been a very young boy but that was probably his inspiration for changing his name, for boxing purposes.

 

With a mother-in-law not happy with her new son-in-law, Jack headed to California where he got a job as a bartender in Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter Selma and her young son, Stan, headed to Los Angeles from Brooklyn, New York. How they made the trip is the interesting aspect of the venture. They boarded the USS California on May 19, 1934 and arrived in Los Angeles on June 2, 1934. That historical document shows that Stan was not quite three years old before making the long time down the Atlantic through the Panama Canal and up the Pacific to the City of Angels.

 

In any regard the Santo family settled into the everyday life of Southern California. Stan started out at Beverly Hills High and then transferred to Fairfax High, in 1947, where he was an outstanding athlete. He was a left-handed quarterback and an all-city performer along with his halfback, Chuck Essegian. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Essegian

The Los Angeles Times sports pages were full of the exploits of that dynamic due. In their October 9, 1948 edition it was reported that Stan Santo connected with Chuck Essegian on a 57 yard pass play to beat the Los Angeles High Romans before a crowd of 8,500.

 

By June 16, 1949 the Times was featuring a story on the All-City baseball team which included Norm Sherry, Chuck Essegian, Pete Nitrini and Stan Santo all who played for Fairfax. Also on that All-City selection was Paul Pettit of Narbonne High School who was selected for that honor for the 3rd consecutive time. For those of you who weren’t born in the “dark ages,” Pettit was the first player ever given a $100,000 signing contract, by a professional baseball team. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Pettit

 

Obviously, the Brooklyn Dodger scouts were working the metropolitan Los Angeles area and they signed Roland Alexander and John Franchi who were second team All-City that year. Both of those guys wound up at Ponca City. Pete Nitrini was signed by the Chicago Cubs and Yours truly saw him in a Janesville, Wisc. Cub uniform during spring training at Carthage, Mo. in 1950.

 

Signing after graduating from high school, in 1950, Santo was sent to Great Falls, Montana in the Pioneer league. Shortly into that season he was released to Marysville in the Far West league. By 1951 he was ready for the “Big Show,” Ponca City, Oklahoma.

 

Santo played in all 124 games of the 1951 season. When the first contact was made with him, about 23 years ago, his first question was “Did I lead the KOM league in RBI’s that year?” The answer then was yes as it is now. He had 87 of them and did so while batting .237 and hitting but one home run. He did walk 101 times

 

At the close of the 1951 season Santo was named the league’s all-star first baseman. He beat out Bill Schrier of Iola for the honor. As mentioned he did so even though Schrier hit .304 to his .237.

 

On March 19, 1952 the Spokane, Washington review carried the story of the Great Falls Electrics being in spring training at Vero Beach, Florida and that manager Lou Rochelli had among others hopefuls, former Ponca City Dodgers; Don Smith, Ralph Vold and Robert Carlson. That story stated Stan Santo had voluntarily retired and Connie Swensson and Leo Kedzierski couldn’t report until after their college terms ended. Both Swensson and Kedzierski had KOM league ties.

 

In discussing Santo’s career with his son Mark the impression left with Mark that his dad was hurt that he didn’t have a longer tenure with the Dodgers. However, he missed the 1952 season as he was called to his draft board along with high school teammate and friend, Norm Sherry. Mark said that both sat in a room and the announcement came that Sherry would be going to the Army and his dad to the Marine Corps.

 

Santo went to Camp Pendleton in California for basic training and then was stationed at Camp McNair in Japan. Mark said his dad always talked about how he was always cold while in the Land of the Rising Sun.

 

By March 27, 1954 the Great Falls, Montana Tribune reported that Stan Santo and Jack Wolfe, just out of the service had returned unsigned contracts to the team. Santo and Wolfe were teammates with the 1951 Ponca City Dodgers. In relating this information of Mark he was surprised his dad would have turned down a contract to play. He surmised that maybe his dad was tired of traveling and wanted to settle down. Settle down, he did, for in 1955 Mark was born.

 

With a family to raise and baseball now in Santo’s rear view mirror he got a job selling shoes for Harry Karl. Mark asked if the name Karl rang a bell and I confessed it sounded familiar. Stan’s brother Fred had worked for Karl and suggested he work for him. Mark stated that Karl was the guy who married Debbie Reynolds and gambled all her money away. dailyentertainmentnews.com/breaking-news/harry-karl-debbi...

 

As the shoes just didn’t fit Santo all that well he went to work in the aero-space industry as a parts salesman. He sold parts to Boeing that wound up in the Gemini and Apollo space capsules. Mark, in telling the details of those years said that his father gave him a three ring binder of the parts that went into the dashboard of the space vehicles and bemoaned the fact that over the years he lost it.

 

Living in the Los Angeles area, going to Dodger games and knowing famous people were common things for Mark when he was growing up. He recalled that his dad had season tickets to all Dodger games which were in the second deck, third row down the third base line. There he saw Larry, brother of his high school teammate, Norm Sherry, pitch for the Dodgers and of course Norm was behind the plate for the Dodgers for part of his career. When Norm caught Sandy Koufax it was the first Jewish battery in major league history. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_Sherry

 

None of the group that included Santo ever thought Larry would make it in baseball, let alone the big leagues. When Larry passed away Santo was invited by the Dodgers to the special service honoring their former star. www.legacy.com/ns/larry-sherry-obituary/20353869

 

Stan Santo’s younger brother, Fred, became the owner of two night clubs in the L.A. area. One was the Gilded Cage in Monrovia and later he established the Gilded Cage West in San Gabriel, both near the Santa Anita racetrack. Fred was an accomplished pianist and in high school played with a trumpet player who went on to become quite well known; Herb Alpert. Even though I never visited Loa Angeles I recall the guy who led the “Tijuana Brass” and who was the "A" in "A & M Records." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Alpert

 

Mark loved the Gilded Cage menu for he always ordered lobster tails when dining there. He related that to his uncle Fred many years later to which Fred replied “That is why I didn’t make any money.”

 

Well, the Santo family came a long way from descendants of a poor Italian family who arrived in Staten Island in 1905 with $7 in their pocket and four mouths to feed. Also, the Russian/Jewish mother-in-law of Clement Joseph “Jack” Santo finally forgave him for marrying her daughter and moved to California. Not only did she move there but lived across the street from Jack and Selma.

 

As you might guess there are many more items discussed with Mark about his family and more specifically, his father. When inquiring as to what led to his father’s death he replied “Lung cancer.” Quickly, he added that his father never smoked and wouldn’t even allow it in his home.

 

If this tribute to Stanley Ira Santo left out anything for which you might have a question, let me know. One question you need not ask. No, he was no kin to Chicago Cub third baseman, Ron of the same last name. The question was put to Mark Santo about how many times he has been asked about that and he replied “Mostly by people from Chicago.”

 

The official team photo for the 1951 Ponca City Dodgers is the Flickr photo for this edition. These are those depicted in that photo

 

Front Row: Pat Walker-Batboy, George Singer-(P), Bob Dolan-(SS), Morris Mack-(3B), and Wayne Wiley-(2B S).

 

Middle Row: Ralph Cascella-(P), Don Smith-(P), Lloyd Brazda-(P), Don Stewart-(OF), Stan Santo-(1B), and Jack Denison-(OF).

 

Back Row: Paul Vickery-Business Manager. Eldon DeRoin-(P), Jack Wolfe-(C), Joe Stanka-(P), Cliff Ohr-(P), Dedrich Wiegand-(P), George Scherger-Manager and Ted Parkinson President.

 

Gene Hines-(P), and Dale Hooper not pictured. This photo was taken by Gareth Mossman Ponca City photographer. Surviving members from that photo are; George Singer, Don Stewart, Jack Wolfe, Morris Mack and Wayne Wiley. Singer is in Massachusetts, Stewart in Western Canada, Wolfe in Fullerton, California, Mack in South Dakota and Wiley in Oklahoma.

 

Special note:

 

Wikipedia URLs were used extensively in this article since they are shorter in length. If you wish to know more about anyone mentioned I’m sure you will have enough clues that the Wikipedia references provide.

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*****

Richard Theodore Getter.

 

GETTER, Richard (Dick) T. Oct. 28, 1928 - Aug. 24, 2019 Richard (Dick) T. Getter passed away from natural causes on August 24, 2019. He was 90 years young.

 

Dick is survived by his wife of 70 years, Joan, three children, five grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. Dick grew up in Bethlehem, PA, where he left home at 18, signing a professional baseball contract with the New York Giants. Dick played pro baseball for 14 seasons. He fortunately landed in Dallas in 1955 where he played for the Dallas Eagles and Dallas Rangers until 1959 at Burnett Field, just south of downtown.

 

During his career he was named to several All-Star teams, played in Cuba before the revolution, and is the only man ever to strike out Mickey Mantle and hit a double off Satchel Paige. Dick played for the Giants, Indians, Yankees, and Cubs organizations. In 1958 he was voted by the Dallas fans as the Most Popular Player. For this honor he was awarded a shotgun and $25 to Big Dave's Pawn Shop. Dick's greatest accomplishment was marrying, Joan Haney of Iola, Kansas. They were married at home plate in Zanesville, Ohio in 1950.

 

Upon retirement from baseball, he remained involved with various Dallas youth baseball leagues. Dick coached most of his sons' baseball teams, destroying virtually all comers. He founded the "Showcase" for high school players in association with the Texas Rangers. Several participants received college scholarships and some went on to professional careers. In 1983, Dick was an early inductee into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame with Rogers Hornsby, Hank Greenberg, and Bobby Brown. Following his retirement from baseball, Dick started a recycling business in Dallas long before recycling was "cool." He sold his business in 1991 and retired. He continued his involvement in recycling as a director and founding shareholder of Balcones Resources.

 

Dick and Joan traveled the country in their palatial RV, often in caravans of 80 or more, and we apologize for their incursions into your state. Dick was an avid golfer and played with a group of grumpy old men at Brookhaven Country Club. He drank Natural Light Beer. Dick and his wife Joan never missed a televised Rangers game and have been profoundly disappointed with the club since Nolan Ryan's departure from the front office. Dick wrote several (as yet unanswered) letters to Josh Hamilton during one of his many slumps in an attempt to fix his swing and mental approach. Dick was a member of Northwest Bible Church and loved his family and worked tirelessly for their benefit. In lieu of flowers or other acknowledgements, please consider a donation to RBI Austin at www.rbiaustin.org/give. Please state "In Memory of Richard Getter." RBI is a non-profit organization providing baseball and softball leagues, clinics, and faith-based mentoring to underserved youth and communities. There will be a celebration of Dick's life announced by his family at a later date.

Published in Dallas Morning News on Sept. 5, 2019

 

Ed comments:

 

In the previous edition of this often ignored publication it was mentioned that Joan Getter had called to pass along the news of the death of her husband.

 

That telephone conversation evoked many memories. Joan and Dick attended all of the KOM league reunions coming to each event in their motor home with a car following behind. The first time I ever saw them was at the 1998 reunion in Carthage. After one of the banquets, late one night, I went along when they visited a drive-in restaurant for a bedtime nightcap—a cup of decaffeinated coffee. When we got back in the old car it didn’t want to go. Dick to me all that it needed was a push. And thus two guys much too old to be pushing much of anything, let alone a car were pushing the stubborn car down Baker Blvd., the last north/south road from the ball park. While pushing that car I looked over at Dick and asked “What are we doing?

 

Back then I didn’t think much of our activity but over the intervening couple of decades we were cementing a new friendship. Each year of a reunion the Getter’s would usually be the first to arrive and they would call me and I would meet there wherever they found a place to park their motor home. Each time they brought along something different from Dick’s playing career. The scrapbooks Joan kept were priceless and one photo blew me away. It was a photo of the Sioux City Soo’s of the Western league. In that photo with all the Soo players were Dizzy Dean and Joe DiMaggio. To top it off DiMaggio was wearing a St. Louis Cardinal uniform.

 

Many items caught my eye and one of the most intriguing was a scorecard of an Independence Yankee/Iola Indians game when Dick went in as a relief pitcher for the Indians and quelled a rally and in the process struck out the Yankee shortstop, Mickey Mantle. I was given that scorecard by Dick, for a short while. I took it to a professional printer and had copies made to be used later as handouts at a future KOM league reunion. There were a number of them made so if anyone ever tries to sell you the “original” scorecard where Dick struck out Mantle you can tell them you can get one just like it for being nice to the editor of this Flash Report.

 

When Boyd and Aletha Bartley celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, in Richmond Hills, Texas I was invited to attend. While in the Dallas area I received an invitation to visit in the Getter home and Dick took me to see the recycling firm he had established with a staff of one, himself, and a pick-up truck. That company is mentioned in his obituary and it is the largest of its kind in the state of Texas. If you ever see the name “Balcones” in the Lone Star State just think of “Getter.” I believe he also had another facility, later on, in Little Rock, Arkansas.

 

There are so many memories of the Getters than I hardly know where to start and stop. At the last KOM league reunion held in Columbia, Mo. Joan was very sick. She asked if we could have one the following year. I thought about what would be an appropriate site and as fate would have it, it was held in Iola, Kansas where Dick Getter and Joan Getter met and fell in love.

 

Iola had been a Chicago farm team in 1946 and 1947 and by 1948 it had become a Cleveland Indian outpost on the plains of Kansas. Early in 1948, Earl Sifers who owned the ball club needed housing for the 18 or so young men who would be on the Iola roster. He called Mr. Haney, Joan’s father, because he knew most of the Haney children had married and left home. Sifers asked if the Haney’s would take on the task of looking after some late teen boys for the summer. Mr. Haney agreed and from that time until his death he was regarded by some of the players as the father they wished they had.

 

Joan Haney-Getter recalls that Al Dunterman, a catcher, arrived in 1948 and would have lived with her folks forever, it that had been possible. He was a 19-year old from Chicago. Joan claims that prior to arriving in Iola he had never seen a cow. Mr. Haney introduced Dunterman to hunting and fishing and when each KOM league season concluded he would stay in town and attend the local junior college. Of course he lived rent free at his adopted home. Only the Korean War pried the young Chicago catcher out of the Haney home.

 

Young married couples on the Iola roster had an added benefit as the Haney family babysat their toddlers. For those who want to understand “bush league baseball” things like that is what endeared them to the townsfolks in the cities where they played. Most every former KOM leaguer with whom I have conversed claims that the happiest year of their career was their first year which was usually in a Class D league.

 

As it turned out, the final KOM league reunion was held in Iola, Kansas. One of the highlights was the visit to the Haney estate. It was replete with everything from an ostrich farm to one of the largest collections of rare antiques these old eyes ever witnessed. The vintage cars, of which there were many, were in pristine condition.

 

Leaving that reunion a special attempt was made to tell each of the attendee’s goodbye. I knew I would never see very many, if any, of those people again. And, I was correct. In the past ten years I have never seen a single person who attended that farewell reunion but I have stayed in touch with many of them. However, some have passed into the realm where that is not possible. But someday that will change. Anyway that fits my belief system and I don’t plan on changing it. When I see Dick Getter again he will say in his inimitable manner “John, how are you doing?” Then he’ll say “Pull up a chair and look at this scrapbook.”

 

One more thing. After Getter’s memorial service I will share, hopefully, the details of where it was held and why. I know right now where and why but better not reveal that information since it will be by invitation only. It might be sort of like the mention of a Dallas “celebrity” named Candy Barr who was referenced in the Dallas Morning News article, regarding Getter, shared in this report last week. You might wish to check out Candy Barr and to learn about her boyfriend who shot Lee Harvey Oswald. www.nytimes.com/2006/01/04/arts/candy-barr-70-stripper-an...

Kill the Umpire

 

The headline was a movie from 1950 starring William Bendix. A list of supporting characters contained those of many big and minor leaguers. Of the minor leaguers there were three who played for the Ponca City Dodgers. They were Theodore Dean, Jim Baxes and Philip Adams. Of course, Baxes had Hollywood connections as one of his wives had a daughter who was once married to Dean Martin.

 

Rather than list all the names of the supporting cast of that movie the following link is provided for your leisure time. www.imdb.com/title/tt0042641/

 

In thinking about former KOM leaguers who played in at least one movie my mind can pull up at least 11 names. That is a story for another time should there be one.

 

Done