It is summer again, a wonderful time of the year and we all were looking forward to the upcoming baseball season. We had now all moved on from Babe Ruth baseball and were now going to be playing American Legion baseball.
In those years high school baseball was not as prevalent as it is today so we were sponsored by the Ray Murphy American Legion Post Unit 114 in Fonda. We were also allowed to go out and recruit players from other communities as well to play for us and we did usually have two to three good players from outside of Fonda who would play for us. Playing baseball at this level now was much more competitive and obviously those who may not have had enough talent to play alot, usually didn't come out for the team.
Our team this year consisted of: Mike Potter, Pat Murphy, John Sebben, Doug Evans, Gary Fulcher, Bob Longnecker, Dennis McManus, Terry Potter, Don Thompson, Larry Sauter, Ed Fitzgerald and Terry Cole. We were coached by Bill Evans and Gene Kilbride.
Doug Evans and I did most of the pitching that year with Doug having a very good year. I pitched well, however, didn't win a game. Seems we always hit and fielded the ball well when Doug pitched and I would get beat 5 to 4. Was a frustrating year for me, yet I hit well and played shortstop. I always felt we were better defensively when I played shortstop and Doug pitched and I think the results support my thoughts.
We ended up the year winning the district title game. We beat our arch rival Esterville 6 to 3 in 12 innings. I pitched the first 7 innings and allowed 3 runs and then was relieved by Jim Junkman from Manson who joined the team late in the season for some more pitching help. I got a triple in the top of the 12th inning to drive in two runs and then Pat Murphy got a single to drive me in. It was 3 to 1 going into the 9th inning and Mike Potter got a triple to drive in 2 runs to tie the score. It was a very intense pressure packed game for all of us and to win like we did said something about our team and how we never quit or gave up.
In the semi-final game we went to Aurelia to play Larchwood. We were beaten 2 to 1 in 1o innings. I scored our only run. Doug Evans pitched a great game for us, however we left 10 runners on base against the Larchwood pitcher Scholton who was an outstanding pitcher as well as he struck out 15 of us. I remember the very first inning we left the bases loaded. Terry Sauter hit a long drive to deep center field that was very close to being a home run, however was caught. As Terry ran off the field he said to Scholton that we would be getting alot of runs tonight. Must have made him mad, we sure didn't.
At the end of the season we had a banquet at the country club that was attended by 150 people. Doug Evans was named the " Most Valuable Player" and I got the "Leadership" award.
I played in the Fonda Amateur golf tournament that year and made the championship round. The tournment was won by Bill Halligan from Ft. Dodge who shot 102 for 27 holes. Dean Prince from Sioux City was second at 107. Bill Evans had the best score for the members as he shot 112. I shot 119. I played horribly in the last round. It was my first time playing in the championship round and I almost missed the ball on my drive on the first hole. I can only imagine what the pressure would be to play in the Ryder Cup or US Open. Bill Evans also won the club championship that year shooting 72 to beat Mark Kelley in a playoff. I finished 8th shooting a 79.
The summer of 1966 was great. Good music, go to the Cobblestone on Sunday nights for the dances. See the Rumbles, The Fabulous Flippers all of the good groups who would play music. Soon it will be time to get back to school.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Labor Day 2010
I was home this weekend cleaning up my mom's place. Mom passed away June 6th of this year and so we go up periodically to help clean and get the house ready to be occupied by my brother Richard. We have had a terrible summer with all of the rains and we have had alot of water in the basement and additional expense to clean and replace damage to the furnace, sump pump and dehumidifier.
While coming thru Fonda on Saturday morning September 4th, Fonda was getting ready for it's annual Labor Day Celebration. As we pulled into town they were getting ready for the parade to start, not very many cars on main street yet not too bad. There were the horses, the flags, the fire engine all that makes small town Americana special, yet, something was missing. Things are just not the same as 40 years ago and I think that is part of the problem we are having today in this country. We have lost small town America and all if it's goodness and virtues. We have lost the small schools who now are consolidated to make it more efficient our politicians and experts tell us, yet, that is not so. We are so over regulated, so manipulated by our government and our leaders and we have been dumbed down so much, who do you believe anymore. The beautiful school buildings in Fonda that we have spent literally hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to maintain are now sitting empty. Kids now get bussed to school and spend hours on the bus. If you want to attend the games or the functions you have to go to Newell to watch. This is efficient, not to me.
Our school administrators are hamstrung by the federal and state governments on what they can teach, how they can teach it. " No Child Left Behind" is a joke. Why do we allow the Iowa High School Athletic Association to set up the districts for football and who you are going to play. Shenandoah High School will travel 176 miles one way to play Prairie City/Monroe in a game this year..Why? They say it is all in the name of fairness and making sure all schools have the opportunity to get into the state playoff system...Hooey..I think the Athletic Directors of these schools didn't think this through when they gave the IHSAA the authority to set up the schedules. I think instead of individual schools being placed in a class you should class the conference instead and let the chips fall where they may.
If I was king for awhile, I would insist that we try to rebuild small town America. Give tax credits to companies who come to the small towns and build infrastructre, plants, manufacturing facilities and have people move to the smaller communities as that is where the jobs are. Good idea, however we would have to bring alot of jobs back from India, China, Mexico etc. so people could have a good job. How stupid we have become. I think those jobs should come back. God forbid that we would have to pay a little more at Walmart to purchase a product made in the USA by Americans not by the Chinese. The enemy is us, we have lost our minds.
I think there would be a mass exodus out of the cities as people are tired of the higher taxes, the gangs, the poorly run school systems. Ok,,,sorry for the rant today. Just hate what has become of a good way of life...
While coming thru Fonda on Saturday morning September 4th, Fonda was getting ready for it's annual Labor Day Celebration. As we pulled into town they were getting ready for the parade to start, not very many cars on main street yet not too bad. There were the horses, the flags, the fire engine all that makes small town Americana special, yet, something was missing. Things are just not the same as 40 years ago and I think that is part of the problem we are having today in this country. We have lost small town America and all if it's goodness and virtues. We have lost the small schools who now are consolidated to make it more efficient our politicians and experts tell us, yet, that is not so. We are so over regulated, so manipulated by our government and our leaders and we have been dumbed down so much, who do you believe anymore. The beautiful school buildings in Fonda that we have spent literally hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to maintain are now sitting empty. Kids now get bussed to school and spend hours on the bus. If you want to attend the games or the functions you have to go to Newell to watch. This is efficient, not to me.
Our school administrators are hamstrung by the federal and state governments on what they can teach, how they can teach it. " No Child Left Behind" is a joke. Why do we allow the Iowa High School Athletic Association to set up the districts for football and who you are going to play. Shenandoah High School will travel 176 miles one way to play Prairie City/Monroe in a game this year..Why? They say it is all in the name of fairness and making sure all schools have the opportunity to get into the state playoff system...Hooey..I think the Athletic Directors of these schools didn't think this through when they gave the IHSAA the authority to set up the schedules. I think instead of individual schools being placed in a class you should class the conference instead and let the chips fall where they may.
If I was king for awhile, I would insist that we try to rebuild small town America. Give tax credits to companies who come to the small towns and build infrastructre, plants, manufacturing facilities and have people move to the smaller communities as that is where the jobs are. Good idea, however we would have to bring alot of jobs back from India, China, Mexico etc. so people could have a good job. How stupid we have become. I think those jobs should come back. God forbid that we would have to pay a little more at Walmart to purchase a product made in the USA by Americans not by the Chinese. The enemy is us, we have lost our minds.
I think there would be a mass exodus out of the cities as people are tired of the higher taxes, the gangs, the poorly run school systems. Ok,,,sorry for the rant today. Just hate what has become of a good way of life...
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