KOM League Flash Report for June 1, 2020

The KOM League

Flash Report

for

June 1, 2020

(And beyond)

 

This report is posted on the Flickr site at: www.flickr.com/photos/60428361@N07/49952674701/

 

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When last we gathered around the old campfire the fate of Lawrence Pearson of the 1949 Ponca City Dodgers was shared. The names of the surviving members of that club were mentioned for the benefit of Richard McCoy. There were six names shared in the report. Shortly after sending out that missive a quick check was made on the list of survivors. It came as a surprise when I learned of the death of one of those I assumed was still living. Over the years contact had been made with that person and I even wrote a story about him in 2014. So for those who didn’t see or don’t recall the story about Paul Oakes his obituary follows.

 

www.kpcnews.com/obituaries/article_829b7d25-0ebf-5208-905...

 

SAGINAW, Mich. — Paul R. (Ronald). Oakes, age 90, of Saginaw, Michigan, formerly of Angola and Indianapolis, Indiana, passed away surrounded by his family on Monday, Oct. 7, 2019, following a valiant 10-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.

 

The son of Charles and Louise (Fisher) Oakes, Paul was born Aug. 12, 1929, in Anderson, Indiana. He married Mary Lou Wells on Dec. 23, 1951.

 

Paul started playing baseball at the age of 9, and by age 12 was the team pitcher and manager. He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers out of high school and pitched in their minor league system until injuring his pitching arm.

 

After being released by the Dodgers, he attended Ball State College where he met Mary Lou.

 

He was drafted into the army and spent a year in Korea as a field telephone wireman. After his discharge, he joined Indiana Bell Telephone Company where he worked his way from digging and climbing poles into sales and sales management.

 

Paul changed careers and joined the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1960, as an agent. He later became superintendent of agencies in Hartford, Connecticut, and moved back to Indianapolis to become a general agent in 1972. Paul was nominated as a candidate for the United States Congress and also served as Richard Lugar’s campaign manager during his successful campaigns for the U.S. Senate in 1976 and 1982.

 

Paul had a lifelong love of fishing that started at a very young age while fishing with his parents. He hosted TV fishing and outdoors shows in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, as well as a call-in radio fishing show, and wrote a newspaper column for the Angola paper. He made 33 trips to fish with 49 different partners on his beloved Crow Duck Lake in Manitoba, Canada, and was proud of having fished in 43 states, four Canadian provinces, and Mexico. He also taught a fishing class at Tri-State University at the age of 77, and published a book on fishing. He was an avid runner and tennis player in younger years.

 

For many years, Paul worked to bring professional sports to Indianapolis. He founded the Indianapolis Professional Sports Association and was appointed stadium commission chairman in 1977. He arranged the meeting with Robert Irsay, owner of the Baltimore Colts, that ultimately led to the Colts’ move to Indianapolis. He was a proud season ticket holder for the first 10 years, and almost never missed a televised game after that.

 

Paul served as lay chairman of Carmel United Methodist, Westview and Crestview Christian churches, and president of the central Indiana Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was the chairman of the Indiana Citizens Against Legalized Gambling and past distinguished president of Westside Indianapolis Optimist Club.

 

Paul and Mary Lou retired to Ball Lake in Hamilton, Indiana, in 1992, where he served as president of the Lake Association. He served on the Steuben County Lakes Council Board of Directors as a member of the Governor’s Lakes Work Committee. He actively promoted and pursued the Center Lake Project, even after leaving Angola for Saginaw.

 

Above all else, Paul was a devoted family man.

 

He is survived by his loving wife of almost 68 years, Mary Lou; children, Jeff Oakes, of Westfield, Indiana, Jayne Bauer and her husband Mike, of New Braunfels, Texas, and Karen Smith of Saginaw, Michigan; five grandchildren, Nick Oakes, Katie Bauer, Alex Bauer, Taylor Wrubel and her husband Sean, and Dylan Smith; brother, Jerry and his wife, DeVere; and numerous nieces and nephews.

 

He was preceded in death by daughter, Marsha; his parents; and his sister, Barbara Collier.

 

A Memorial Service/Celebration of Life will be held at 3 p.m., on Nov. 9, 2019, at Angola United Methodist Church in Angola, Indiana.

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Lawrence Alvin Pearson update

 

In last week’s edition an obituary for Mr. Pearson was shared. However, it was not very extensive so a search was undertaken to locate another one. The following is what was located and shared with the Necrology group with the Society of American Baseball Research.

 

www.newtoncountyfuneralhome.com/obituary/2339166

 

Funeral services for Larry Pearson will be 6:30 P.M. , on Tuesday, December 3, 2013 at Newton County Funeral Home - South Chapel in Newton with Pastor Tim Lott and Bro. Ron Gilstrap officiating. Burial will be in Newton County Memorial Gardens.

 

Visitation will be from 5:30 P.M. until 6:15 P.M. at the funeral home on Tuesday.

 

Mr. Pearson, 82 of Newton, died Monday, December 2, 2013 at Pioneer Community Hospital in Newton.

 

Larry was born in Cleveland, Ohio and then moved and spent most of his childhood and youth years in Colorado. He served 4 years in the U.S. Navy and played semi-pro baseball as a pitcher for the Dodgers. He began his lifelong career with the Veterans Administration upon returning home to Colorado. He served in a variety of positions with the Veteran Administration and ended up in Jackson, Mississippi as Medical Administrator where he met and married Cherry Lay. During their marriage they served the VA in various locations from Washington, D.C. to The Manila Philippines. Larry retired in 1992 and he and Cherry relocated to Leesburg, Florida and had 15 wonderful years residing at Hawthorne Retirement Community where they were involved in many events. Moving back to Mississippi in 2007, they made Newton their home. They celebrated 32 years of marriage prior to his wife’s death in 2009. Larry loved people and loved to share stories and tell jokes. He loved to play golf, travel, loved to bird watch and had a green thumb.

 

He is survived by a daughter: Kathy Stephens and her husband Dennis of Newton; two grandsons: Colby Jolley, and wife Erica of Brandon and Chris Stephens, and wife Amber of Clinton; six great-grandchildren; and one son-in-law: Thurman Alley of Brandon.

 

He was preceded in death by: his wife: Cherry Lay Pearson; a daughter: Nancy Lay Alley; and his

parents: Harry and Francis Morgan Pearson.

 

He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

 

Newton County Funeral Home, 100 Old Hwy. 15 Loop, Newton is in charge of arrangements. 601-683-2152.

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John “Jack” Clark Nixon

 

Two other former members of the 1949 Ponca City Dodgers are mentioned. They receive recognition for still be around. About the only mention being made are links that are found on their Sporting News Card and Ancestry.com file. Many of you will not be able to access that site since you are not subscribers.

 

During the off-season and for most of his working career Ted Dean was employed in the movie industry. He even played on the baseball team for Paramount Pictures for a while.

 

Baseball Questionnaire: search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=6159...

 

TSN Card digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll3/id/158292...

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Theodore James Dean

 

digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll3/id/56709/... TSN card does not show him at Ponca City in 1949 he was there.

 

www.ancestry.com/interactive/61599/48096_555717_d1-00031?... The U. S. Baseball Questionnaire Dean filled out in May 1953 shows his claiming to have played in Ponca City in 1949.

 

On August 12, 1949 Dean filled out this U. S. Baseball Questionnaire www.ancestry.com/interactive/61599/48096_555700_d-00034?p... On this one he didn’t mention Ponca City for as yet he had not arrived in Oklahoma He did state he was a year younger than he was by listing his DOB as 1929

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Time marches on—eight years ago

 

Once in a while someone rattles my cage and I arise from my semi-comatose state to look up an item that is encased in the past. One such item fitting that description was located this week.

www.kansascity.com/living/star-magazine/article302954/Joh...

 

It came as a surprise that an eight year old article that appeared in the Kansas City Star has been “audiolized.” I know there isn’t such a word but there should be. You can click on the play button if curious how that sounds

 

In all this I wondered what became of that writer. The person of whom he wrote got much older and fell apart. So, a bit of research was done for the author and this was the pleasant result. “

I remember you and that story well. That was one of the first big feature stories I ever wrote, and I'll never forget how patient and gracious you were with your time. I didn't realize the KC Star had put that story up in audio form. Thanks for sharing.

 

A lot's happened in the last eight years. I went to work at a newspaper in Lubbock, Texas, and then moved to work at the Omaha World-Herald in Nebraska. I left the World-Herald last year to come to work at Creighton University, where I write stories for the alumni magazine and other publications. It's a little slower pace than newspapers, but I enjoy it.

 

Hope you're doing well. I still get your flash reports and photos, and I'm constantly impressed with your output. Take care, Blake.

 

When Blake first posted that story he had a number of comments from readers. All the former players he interviewed for that article have now passed away. Three months after he penned that story for the Kansas City Star my mother passed away. In some ways that seems like a lifetime ago and it has only been 80% of a decade.

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1952 Ponca City Dodger—Whitey Vold

 

In 1994 it was my good fortune to meet Ralph Nassen “Whitey: Vold of Panoka, Alberta, Canada. It was at a gathering of former Ponca City players from 1934 through 1956. There was a break in baseball in Ponca City due to World War II.

 

All the years the KOM League Newsletter was published and mailed around the North American Continent, Vold subscribed. Once the report went electronic the link was broken. So, in looking through some Internet material, recently, I was happy to learn the old Dodger pitcher from Ponca City and other Dodger outposts is still going. The first item is an interview with Vold and the second link is a potpourri of links that show what he has accomplished in cattle raising, the rodeo business and auctioneering. Very interesting stuff. I hope some of you will pull this up on your computer.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZEiVE9-4WE

 

www.google.com/search?q=Ralph+N.+Vold+Panoka&oq=Ralph...

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Richard E. Monaco—Chanute Athletic for a couple of days

 

Finding the name of Richard Monaco as a potential participate in a KOM league game is about as exciting as anything I come across anymore. Many ballplayers names showed up on Sporting News Cards but they never appeared, physically, with a given team.

 

After considerable research on professional baseball players, with the last name of Monaco, it is my belief Richard Monaco wasn’t any kin to the six other guys who played the game. One of those players with the first name of Blas even played a few games in the big leagues. That former player was from San Antonio, Texas.

 

It is most likely Richard E. “Dick” Monaco was from Chicago, Illinois and made the trek to Chanute, Kansas for the primary purpose of entering Chanute Junior College to play football for the Panthers. He was listed as a fullback for the 1949 and 1950 seasons.

 

On August 16, 1949 Monaco signed a contract with the Chanute Athletics, who were a non-affiliated ball club. Thus, no major league organization would have been sending players to that club. It isn’t known if Monaco signed to play in the absence of a player or if the ball club fully intended to use him for the rest of the season. It is doubtful that the Chanute baseball club would have expected to have his services after school commenced in early September for he was there to play football and possibly to get an education.

 

So, I know that Monaco was on the Athletics club and if he played it would have either been on August 16th or 17th for he was gone after that. On the 16th Chanute was on the road where they lost a doubleheader to the Independence Yankees by identical 3-2 scores. The box scores for the Independence Reporter would reveal if Monaco appeared in a game. The only problem with that is I don’t have access to that newspaper. On the night of Thursday August 17, the Chanute club played host to the Pittsburg, Kansas Browns and won 4-1. The box score for that game would have appeared in the August 18th edition of the Chanute paper. If I ever cross the Kansas State line and wind up in Topeka I’ll have to make a point to check out those two items at the historical society. The chances of that occurring are twin brothers “Slim and None”

 

However, Monaco had one claim in life and that was in his two days in a KOM league uniform he sat in the dugout on one side of the field and the opposition including the likes of; Harry Craft, Lou Skizas, Bob Wiesler, Steve Kraly and Mickey Mantle.

 

For sure there is a savvy reader who picked up on a guy signing a professional baseball contract and then going to college to play amateur sports. A few weeks ago a long story was carried about Joe Gilbert getting his Iola Indian contract torn up when he learned he couldn’t play at Northeastern State College if he had signed a professional contract. The difference in the case with Monaco was that the same prohibition didn’t exist with playing in junior college after playing pro ball.

 

In perusing the photos of the football and basketball players at Chanute Juco in 1950 the names of two other young men caught my eye. One was Harold Swigart who played for the Chanute Athletics in 1950 and Jim Kenaga. Anyone reading most any article this source has written about Mickey Mantle and the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids will recognize the name of Kenaga. He was a very good ballplayer and multi-year performer with the Whiz Kids. Upon graduating from Baxter Springs High School he attended Chanute Juco where he played quarterback.

 

Without rehearsing the antics of Kenaga in this forum it can be summarized that he was a character and kept manager Barney Barnett always on the alert. Each year Barnett took the Whiz Kids to St. Louis when their baseball season concluded. They made a trip to St. Louis in 1948 to see the Brooklyn Dodgers take on the Cardinals. The team stayed at the YMCA just over the centerfield wall at Sportsman’s Park. One morning Barnett rounded up the team. When he couldn’t find Kenaga some of his buddies pointed upward where Barnett spied the young man claiming to be “Spider Man” as he scaled the front of the YMCA structure without a rope or safety net. A number of stories about Kenaga are in the book “Mickey Mantle Before the Glory.” When Mantle was playing in the major leagues his buddy was plying his talents in the Sooner State League among others.

 

Kenaga’s career baseball record is found on this Sporting News card: digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll3/id/109974... If that card, which lists his birthplace as Michigan, puzzles you either send me a “need to know” request or look it up in the book—Mickey Mantle Before the Glory.

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Nothing goes undetected

 

Undoubtedly, readers scratch their collective heads wondering how or why some items appear in this publication. A case was made, last time around, for mentioning the late Harold Reid of the Statler Brothers. I wonder if anyone clicked on that link last time other than a reader in New York by the name of Bruce? So as to not embarrass him his last name is withheld. However, he shared this information.. “Hi John: Just read your post. I think it a good thing you re-read your book (referring to the one on Mickey Mantle.). You mentioned JMB (Johnny Mack Brown) high-school. That reminded me of something. I was for a few years interested in Cowboy Fast Draw and made gun-rigs for it to use. My mentor for making them is Jim Lockwood of Prescott Arizona. He told me that Johnny Mack Brown, among others, was in the gun-spinners HOF which I did not know existed. I always liked his manner and speech in his movies.

 

Now the question. How many readers are young enough not to remember Johnny Mack Brown?

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James W. Byrd

 

This report is about done. However, I just wanted to share with the readers the name of a person that has stumped the old batboy among all the others ever affiliated with the KOM league. It is my belief James Byrd, who played for the Iola, Kansas Cubs to start the 1946 season, was born in 1923 and I have a strong inkling he may have been from an Oklahoma town that was once in the Western Association. But, in order not to influence my objectivity in research I’m staying away from that lead at the present time. There were a couple of things about the person by that name, who is my number one “suspect,” that is a bit troubling.

 

digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll3/id/139621/

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Mercifully, another report concludes

 

As a grade school attendee our classes received a publication each week, coincidentally called “The Weekly Reader.” It would be possible to name this publication by the same name but it doesn’t get prepared that often any more. Probably entitling this report as “The Weakly Reader” would be more appropriate. Be that as it may it would sure be nice to hear from a reader once in a while with a message to share with this readership. It would sure be an improvement of the vain repetition emanating from this source since the dawn of civilization

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Done