KOM League Flash Report November 14, 2019-----------Photo of Jerry Dahms five years before joining the KOM league

The KOM League

Flash Report

For

November 14, 2019

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This report features a former Bartlesville Pirate who died earlier this year.

 

Photo of a San Diego High School football player taken five years prior to his becoming a KOM league catcher.

www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/49065122887/ This is the link to read the entire report.

 

KOM league catcher a quarter century after leaving the league and becoming head coach of his alma mater.

www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/49064393413/

 

It was not planned but this report morphed into talking about ballplayers from the West Coast.

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A long sought “Mystery player” of the KOM league identified.

 

On the KOM league data base is a member of the 1952 Blackwell Broncos by the name of Bryan. For 25 years every attempt was made to find a first name for that fellow and more about his life. There have been times that it was tempting to “cheat” and delete the name. After all, who would know or even care?

 

Well, the guy keeping score on all the former KOM leaguers would know and that was enough of a conscience issue to keep his name on the list.

 

In recent days a trip through the old Baseball Questionnaires was undertaken and there was an Edwin Charles Bryan Jr. who entered this world on Christmas day of 1929 in Sacramento, California. His grandparents were natives of Switzerland. They arrived in the United States late in the 19th century and settled in southwest Illinois, around Belleville.

 

Edwin Charles Bryan Sr. was born at Belleville, Illinois in 1899. A couple of decades later he had signed a professional baseball contract and played sixteen years in leagues such as the Texas-Oklahoma, Texas and East Texas league. He spent parts or all of 11 seasons in the Pacific Coast league with team at Vernon, Mission, Sacramento and San Francisco from 1924-1935. The 1920 season was a very good one for him as he won 20 games for Sacramento while losing 12. He also had a big win on Christmas Day as he and his wife welcomed Bryan Jr. into this world. That birthday boy showed up for at least one game with Al Reitz’s Blackwell Broncos in 1952.

 

Following his long career in the PCL, Bryan Sr. moved back to Belleville, Ill. and went to work for the Griesedieck Brothers Brewing Company. The Brewery sponsored the St. Louis Cardinal radio broadcasts for many years.

 

Career of Edwin Charles Bryan Sr. www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=bryan-...

That site lists his place of death as Millstadt, Illinois. That was where he resided at the time but on the day of his death, January 3, 1978 he was in Walker, Michigan. There is an obituary in the Grand Rapids, Michigan newspaper on January 6. A copy of that isn’t available to me at present. Here is the link where Walker, Michigan was cited as his place of death. search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=3171&h=10848... For those readers without Ancestry.com you’ll have to take my word on this. His wife, Jacobene, died eight years later in Grand Rapids which is near Walker, Michigan.

 

Bryan Sr. is buried at Walnut Hill Cemetery in Millstadt. Here is the link: www.findagrave.com/memorial/160059363/ If you are curious click on the names of famous people who are buried there. There are some old-time baseball players in there but Bryan is not listed in that category. However, he was probably more talented than some of them and had a much longer career.

 

Edwin Charles Bryan Jr.--Blackwell Bronco for a day or so

 

While the elder Bryan was brewing beer his son was attending Freeburg, Illinois Community High School where he excelled in basketball as well as baseball. He graduated from high school in 1948 and enrolled at Southern Illinois University where he lettered for two years in both basketball and baseball. While in college he spent at least one summer, 1949, playing in the North Central Kansas Amateur Baseball League of America for the Manhattan Travelers.

 

During his time in the ABLA it was a league comprised of teams from Abilene, Clay Center, Junction City, Beloit and Manhattan. There he was honing his skills playing against many good players such as Bill Virdon who was with Clay Center. The ABLA was formed by citizens in those five Kansas towns after they got fed up with Ban Johnson Baseball.

 

While playing with Manhattan many major league scouts and bird dogs were inspecting the talent. Joe Becker of Joplin, Mo. who had played the game, umpired many years and served as an official of the Joplin Miners Baseball club also had another claim to the game. He was a scout for many years with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Red Sox. Becker’s last job in baseball was that of supervisor of umpires for the KOM league.

 

Barney Barnett who founded the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids and Becker were close friends. Becker was around the Whiz Kids so much he even appeared in some of the team photos. Of course, Mickey Mantle was a Whiz Kid when Becker pleaded with the Boston Red Sox to take his word and sign the kid. The Red Sox weren’t interested.

 

However, the Red Sox did listen to Becker and Bryan was assigned to Marion, Ohio of the Ohio-Indiana league for the 1950 season. Bryan was impressed that he had been invited to spring training camp that year with Birmingham, Alabama of the Southern Association.

 

Like his father, Bryan Jr. was a left-handed hitter and a right-handed thrower and was a big rookie at 6’ 4” and weighing 180. The top hitters on the pennant winning 1950 Marion team were Tom Umphlett who later replaced Dom DiMaggio in centerfield for the Boston Red Sox and Bryan Bryan hit .301 and Umphlett .321.

 

In 1951 Bryan split his time between Roanoke, VA of the Piedmont and Oneonta of the Canadian American leagues. Uncle Sam was looking for a few good men and after a very short stint with the 1952 Blackwell Broncos he was in the U. S. Army, in 1952-53, as a field artilleryman.

 

Upon his return from the Korean War, Bryan was signed by Bluefield of the Appalachian league for the 1954 season. His baseball talents had not diminished too much for he hit .003 short of .300 that year. One thing going against him was that by the time he returned from the Korean War he was a quarter century old and there wasn’t much chance any major league team was going to promote a player in that circumstance.

 

In 1955 Bryan was shuttled between Greensboro, North Carolina and Yuma, Arizona. In 78 games at Yuma he hit .344 but the curtain was coming down on his career. In 1956 he started with Yuma and wound up with San Jose in the California league. Between those two teams he hit .306 and ended his career with a .292 batting average.

 

It is possible that Bryan could have been a star in the KOM and other leagues had it not been for the Korean War. It is obvious that he had the family background for baseball and was taking advantage of it.

 

Well, that’s it for this subject. The week started with scant knowledge of Bryan Sr. and Jr. It concludes with not knowing what happened to Bryan Jr. but I have an idea where he might reside and I have a telephone number that I plan calling before too long. I trust Bryan will recall his baseball days and if he doesn’t it may be that someone where he lives can help with the details. The last place Bryan lived, that I can document is Seattle, Wash. in 1956.

 

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Former San Diego High athlete/coach Jerry Dahms dies

www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/high-school-preps/sto...

By DON NORCROSS--APRIL 16, 2019 7:19 PM

 

Jerry Dahms, a standout baseball and football player at San Diego High in the 1940s who went on to coach at the school, died this month. He was 89.

 

Dahms, who lived in Point Loma, was a power-hitting catcher and versatile quarterback for the Cavers. He went on to play minor league baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

 

In football, Dahms was so strong and versatile that when he wasn’t directing the Cavers offense at quarterback he played offensive tackle but still called the plays.

 

But it was in baseball where he most excelled. He was an MCRD teammate with San Diegan Bob Skinner, a La Jolla High graduate. Skinner played 13 seasons in the major leagues, was a three-time All-Star and played on two World Series championship teams.

 

“He was a good catcher,” said Skinner. “He was a big guy, and he blocked the plate well. And he had power. He was a man’s man. He stood up to whatever came down the road regarding problems. He handled them. He was just a good person.”

 

Dahms was the varsity baseball coach at San Diego from 1959 through ’63. The Cavers were 71-26 under Dahms and played for the CIF Southern Section championship his first season, losing to Whittier.

 

Bob Cluck, a major league pitching coach for 11 seasons, pitched for Dahms at San Diego High.

 

“It was just a huge advantage (pitching for Dahms),” said Cluck. “He’d tell us how to pitch the best guys in town. We had terrific success against the best hitters. He was a real players coach.

 

“He had a knack, knowing when to discipline, when to encourage. He understood how players thought. In my career I recognized instantly when I played for a guy who played the game and understood how we thought.

 

“I just loved him as a man and as a coach.”

 

Dahms was one of five brothers who played at San Diego High. His brother Tom was an offensive lineman on the Los Angeles Rams’ 1951 NFL championship team.

 

Ed comments:

 

One of the most physically impressive guys ever to play in the KOM league was Jerry Dahms. He looked like a catcher, which he was. He was 6’ 4” and nearly 200 pounds when I first saw in in a Bartlesville Pirate road gray uniform. When Ronnie Kline joined the club, in 1950, they were the largest a pitcher/catcher combination the league ever witnessed.

 

In a team photo of the 1950 Bartlesville club, Kline and Dahms are seated beside each other. Although Kline was a big guy he looked much smaller than his counterpart. Photos of Dahms are to be found on pages 67, 83 and 96 of the book, “The KOM League Remembered.” That book was put together by the same, but much younger person, who is attempting to pen this story.

 

There was some hope the photos of Dahms could be shared as a link to this report but permission couldn’t be obtained from the author. In a conversation with him he commented “Ownership has certain rights.” He said the owners of that book should go to the pages cited in the previous paragraph. In further discussion with the author he stated that even if those photos were attached to this report very few readers would click on them.

 

So, on with the Dahms saga. The editor of this publication apologizes that it took seven months to become aware of the passing of the most prolific home run hitter, among the catchers, in KOM league history. He hit 11 in 1950. That season’s performance spiked the interest of the St. Louis Cardinals and they drafted him for the 1951 campaign. He spent that season with Cardinal teams at Fresno in the California league and Johnson City, Tenn. of the Appalachian league.

 

Dahms had started his baseball career with the Modesto, California Reds, in 1949, and then sent to Bartlesville in the latter part of that season.

 

Uncle Sam gave him a call in 1952 and he was stationed at San Diego where he play with the Marine team called “The Devil Dogs.” That team won the All-Marine championship in 1952 and included a former KOM leaguer pitcher by the name of Charlie Closs. Another member of that team was Bob Skinner who made it to the major league and who was a close friend of Dahms.

 

Dahms was released from his military duty in time to play the 1954 season with Winnipeg, Manitoba in the Northern league and back with Fresno to close out his baseball career. He then went into high school coaching where he became a legend, in San Diego.

 

Football may well have been the sport of choice in the Dahms family. As the obituary states, Jerry’s older brother had a great career in both the college and pro-football ranks. Here is a link to Tom Dahms. www.google.com/search?q=Tom+Dahms+football&oq=Tom+Dah... For those readers who ignore most of what is contained in the Flash Reports it is suggested you read many of the items on the link provided.

 

There is a rather long article regarding Dahms written by Dana Haddad in the Oct. 10, 1991 of the Los Angeles Times. It is quite lengthy and is not printed here. However you might be able to access it on the Internet. When I went to retrieve it the Times wanted me to pay for it. I refused but by having great hand/eye coordination it was possible to capture it before it got blacked out. I will share a copy of that for those who are interested.

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Still going

 

A member of the 1946 Carthage, Missouri Cardinals was William Henry Eckensberger of Cementon, Penn. Many years later he was located and I put him in touch with shortstop Bob Passarella of the 1949 Carthage Cubs.

 

The aforementioned duo got together a few years ago and came up with a gift to this aged writer who was not so old at the time. By that time Eckensberger was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Passarella was living in Scranton, Penn. and decided to come up with a nomination to a local hall of fame. After that nomination was approved it was sent to Eckensberger who issued a proclamation, during one of his six terms in the Pennsylvania House.

 

That item hangs on a wall in my basement and is special since it represents something that came from members of both the Cardinal and Cub affiliated teams in Carthage. No much was said about it at the time and not much will be said now. If anyone wants to see it they can drop by the KOM league Hall of Fame that resides mostly in my mind.

 

Link to William Eckensberger follows. This is his latest literary effort.

www.amazon.com/Murder-California-Zephyr-William-Eckensber...

 

If you care to know more about the former Carthage Cardinal right fielder, second baseman, shortstop and third baseman, here is a great cross-section of his life: www.google.com/search?q=william+eckensberger+jr.&oq=W...

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This report is now about over. It was mentioned last time that if the same level of interest continued, regarding these reports, they would come to an end. I think I see the terminus of the tunnel coming closer.

 

This report, with regard to Jerry Dahms, proves I haven’t kept up very well with the former players. That alone is the basis for being replaced with a more “on the ball” editor. Also, the material in recent reports hasn’t had as many readers as there are candidates for the 2020 presidential primary.

 

In previous issues, as far back as a decade ago, the talk of shutting down this project has arisen. Many of the times it has been over the frustration with Google. That outfit sometimes allows my messages to the masses to go through and at other times, not so much.

 

So, if time passes and you don’t get these reports you can go to this site: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/ If there is a report to be shared it will be found there. It will be under the first photo you see.

 

Now, I’m done. I was going to tell the tale of Calvin Pool who caught for the 1951 Bartlesville Pirates. I discovered, recently, that his father, Hanlin, had a long career in the Pacific Coast league and a not so long a tenure with the Cincinnati Reds back in the days of Harry Craft and Johnny Vander Meer. Maybe I’ll get around to sharing that story, sometime.

 

Done