Field of Dreams

[realmofotalk]

on June 19, 2015 the two had resolved a custody dispute.

By her killing him two days later after he returned their son to her home?

[Tobywan]

Boo hiss, mofo.

That is the question, I suppose, but the answer as to why she did it, we may never know. It's been mentioned that there "might" have been a suicide note, but who knows if it will be released, though I was a bit surprised that the 911 call transcript was released so soon, given the investigation is still technically active.

I mentioned in the piece that Hamilton's lawyer didn't seem to think there was any sign of discontent on her part about the final outcome of custody when leaving court. Was she bitter and hid it? Was there a fight before she pulled the gun, was he not this great easy going guy with her as he is portrayed by everybody else? Was she seething and working herself up all weekend and laid in wait knowing he was bringing the baby back? Was she suffering from extreme postpartum or is she just crazy anytime a relationship goes wrong? After all, it appears she tried to set her ex on fire, but he wouldn't stay still long enough for her to get the gasoline on him, how uncooperative of him!


Not that there aren't plenty of women that kill their domestic partners themselves, manipulate someone else to do it, commit murder for hire or these murder-suicides, but compared to the amount perpetrated by men it's significantly less. What is it that pushes that person to go completely cuckcoo for those few moments instead of walking away? She had just enough restraint not to take the little one with them, it just boggles the mind.

[Tobywan]

Mahlon Duckett



Mahlon Newton Duckett was born on December 20, 1922 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and started playing ball when he was 10 years old. He didn't play on his high school team, but he was track star. While playing baseball in the summer for the Wayne Hawks of the Main Line League, his manager suggested he try out for the Newark Eagles. They were in town to face the Philadelphia Stars, but the game got rained out. The Stars manager approached him to try out for his club and in 1940 he joined the Negro National League team, he was 17. He played third base in his rookie season batting .250 and was voted the Negro National League "Rookie of the Year". He moved to shortstop the following season, but struggled batting just .128 in 1941 and .161 in 1942. In 1944 he elevated his BA to .225 splitting time between SS and second and topped out at .284 in 1945.

He began the 1949 season with the Stars who were now with the Negro American League after the demise of the National League the previous season but soon joined the Homestead Grays. They became an independent club after 1948, but folded in 1950 and he retired. He played against Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Jackie Robinson.

After baseball he worked as a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service in Philadelphia, he retired in 1988. He was inducted into the Overbrook High School Hall of Fame and was a regular speaker to students at his Alma mater. He traveled around the country speaking of his experiences in baseball free of charge. he wanted to encourage more kids to play the game and was a frequent fan in the stands for local youth teams. He was also a member of the board of the Negro League Baseball Players Association as the Secretary and Treasurer.


Duckett was the last surviving member of the Philadelphia Stars Negro League Baseball team. The team disbanded after the 1952 season.


He passed away peacefully of heart failure at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia surrounded by family on July 12, 2015, he was 92. He is survived by his daughters Mahlene, Janice, Shirley, Beverly, Crystal and one son, Ronald.



Duckett, was at the June 4,2015 opening of the Phillies Urban Youth Academy baseball field.

[Tobywan]

Buddy Lively


Everett Adrian Lively was born on February 14, 1925 in Birmingham, Alabama to former Major League Baseball player Jack Lively and his wife Minerva (nee Jeffers), but raised in the rural area of Gardendale. His dad pitched for the Detroit Tigers in 1911 and was the roommate of Ty Cobb, Buddy grew up learning the game from Jack. He got his nickname from his older brother Frank who often referred to him as "My little buddy". Buddy often wondered why his brother was never jealous of their father singling him out as his baseball pupil while Frank did the bulk of the chores.

Lively signed with the Birmingham Barons (Cincinnati Reds minor club) in September 1941. Barons coaches were impressed with the young right handed pitcher in the 1942 spring training session and sent him to the Montgomery Rebels in the Southeastern League then Salem-Roanoke Friends in the Virginia League to get a little more experience, he went 15-11 with a 3.56 ERA. He was then promoted to the Barons in the Southern Association in 1943.


His baseball career got put on hold when entered military service with the Army at the beginning of 1944, but he did pitch the opening day game for the Barons. After basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas he was transported on the Queen Mary where he landed in Glasgow, Scotland on December 17, 1944. As part of the 597th Anti-Aircraft (Automatic Weapons) Battalion US Army he crossed the English Channel to France and traveled with General Patton's Third Army through France, Belgium and Holland. He was then assigned to the British 2nd Army to help protect engineers repairing bridges crossing the Rhyne River at Wesel, Germany. Due to this move he missed the Battle of the Bulge. By war's end he was in Munich, then assigned to the small town of Tiesendorf during the reconstruction period. He was called to go to Berchtesgaden, the site of Hitler's "Eagles Nest" fortress in the Bavarian Alps to play baseball for a team the US Military command were putting together. He turned the offer down twice, but went on the third request and felt like an idiot for turning it town the first couple times. He enjoyed a resort class hotel, with clean sheets, maid service, excellent food and a spectacular view of the mountains.

He returned home in June 1946 and found he had no team, the Reds had sold the Barons, however, they retained three players contracts and Lively was one of them, he even got a bump in pay to $5,000. He got to face the great Ted Williams that season in spring training, since they were in different leagues there should have been only two possible ways for them to meet again in an All-Star game or a World Series, which Lively felt was impossible. Just before the end of spring a bunch of exhibitions were planned along the travel root back to the teams home cities. One was scheduled for Birmingham, the team gave him the mound that day, the opposing team were the Boston Red Sox. As the teams were practicing, Williams walked by the then 22 year old and asked 'Hey Lively, how's that fastball?', he was stunned that Williams remembered him. He walked the Splendid Splinter three times that day. Lively had invited his father to the game, but Jack said he couldn't make it, then in the third inning Bud spotted Jack in the stands. He later confessed to the fib stating he thought if Bud knew he was there it would make him nervous.

He made his MLB debut on April 17, 1947 for the Cincinnati Reds against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Two of Lively's teammates on the 1947 Cincinnati Reds team were pitchers Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell and Johnny Vander Meer, who in 1938 had become the only pitcher in Major League Baseball history to throw back-to-back no-hitters. He was present June 22nd when Blackwell was on the verge of matching Vander Meer, he had no-hit the Boston Braves just four days earlier, with one out in the ninth he gave up a single to Eddie Stanky.

Lively's rookie season was also the year that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. He was outspoken that the depiction of all the protesters were players and owners from south was unfair. He would mention that there were just as many players, owners and fans across the country opposed to it. Prior to opening day, 15 of the 16 major league teams did, in fact, vote not to integrate. He admits he was among those that opposed it at the time, but expressed regret in later years especially for how badly Robinson was treated. He never personally knew Robinson but played opposite him for four seasons and grew to respect him even though he was infuriated when Robinson stole home on him during a game in Brooklyn.


On July 14th starting against Robinson and his Dodgers at Ebbets Field, he retired the first five batters he faced. Pee Wee Reese then drew a walk and Spider Jorgensen doubled to score Reese. Lively retired the next 22 batters in a row, and the Reds won 9-1. Lively even got a hit during the game and scored two runs. Might be surprising that it is not his favorite career moment, but it was the first time he walked onto a major league field in a major league uniform. He went 4-7 with a 4.68 ERA for the season. In 1948, he made 10 appearances with a 2.38 ERA for the Reds. In 1949, he made 31 mound appearances and posted a 4-6 won-loss record with a 3.92 ERA.

Another memorable moment for Lively was during a game at Forbes Field against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was in the dugout, but there was a heated exchange going between some of his teammates and the home plate umpire Jocko Conlan, though Lively was silent. Conlan couldn't really tell who was saying what but saw Lively at the end of the dugout and tossed him. The only way to exit the field from the visiting dugout was to cross behind home plate and out the end of the Pirates' bench into the visiting clubhouse. Honus Wagner was acting as honorary coach that day for the Pirates, he was seated right where Lively had to walk to exit so he stopped to shake his hand and compliment him as the greatest shortstop to ever play the game.


While at spring training in Tampa, Florida in 1948, there was a very special attendee at Plant Field during one of the Reds exhibition games, Babe Ruth was seated behind home plate, now ravaged with the throat cancer found in 1946. Lively noted that he was thin and his skin yellowed, but all the players gathered at the screen to say hello to him, Ruth passed away that summer on August 16th just a two months after his jersey was retired by the NY Yankees. That season he made 10 appearances for the Reds, he had a 2.38 ERA when he was sent to Double-A Tulsa Oilers, he spent the rest of the season there going 15-4. While pitching a night game against Houston, they were ahead 2-1, bottom of the ninth with two outs and no one on, Solly Hemus the future St. Louis Cardinal second baseman and manager came to the plate. He popped up in the infield what should have been an easy out to end the game. At that very second every light in the park went out, Hemus claimed he had run around the bases and scored. The umpires ruled he had to continue the at bat and was retired.


In spring of 1949, he seemed to have lost some velocity in his pitches, but he wasn't feeling any pain. He went 4-6 with the Reds in 31 appearances with a 3.92 ERA. He began to feel a bit of discomfort after the season and found to have bone spurs. During surgery on January 15, 1950 a very large undetected calcium deposit was found in his shoulder and had to be removed. He lost the entire season.



He spent the 1951 spring with the Oilers, but was released just after the season started. He then signed with the Sherman-Denison Twins in the Big State League then with Shreveport Sports in the Texas League in 1952 and part of 1953, he spent the second half of '53 with the Jacksonville Braves (Milwaukee Brewers) of the South Atlantic League when a young skinny guy caught his attention, the future home run king Hank Aaron. Hank never forgot Buddy and was even his guest for a game in Atlanta years later.

He began 1949 in Jacksonville and was also with Augusta Rams of the same league that year. Lively finished his career with Columbus Jets (KC Athletics) in the International League in 1955 before retiring at the age of 30. He spent nine seasons in the minors and parts if three seasons in the majors. He went 8-13 with a 4.16 ERA, 94 strikeouts in 249 innings pitched.

He never returned to the major leagues and his last MLB appearance September 25, 1949 for the Cincinnati Reds.


Lively went to work for the Army at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama in January of 1956. It was here he met Mary Primich, she had been a Chicago Cubs fan and realized she likely booed him at times at Wrigley Field they married in 1959. In 1960, he transferred to the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA) in 1960 and worked in the procurement office, he retired in 1984.


Bud Lively was inducted into the Madison County Sports Hall of Fame on April 8, 2002. Starting in 2002, he wrote a sports column for Yesterday's Memories magazine based in Arab, Alabama. He showed up for many local events with youth sports and never turned down an autograph request.



He passed away on July 12, 2015 in Huntsville, Alabama, he was 90. He was preceded in death by his wife Mary (52 years) and brother John Henry. He is survived by his brother Frank, many nieces and nephews and their children.

[Tobywan]

Marilyn C. "Jonesy" Jones



Marilyn Charlotte (nee Jones) Doxey was born on April 5, 1927 in Providence, Rhode Island. She began playing softball at age 12, she began working at the Monowatt Electric Company when she was 16 and played for their industrial league softball team. She then played for an independent softball team named the Riverside Townies, it was there the catcher was seen by an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League scout. She had a try out in New Jersey and was sent to assist at a spring training camp in Opa-locka, Florida.

She signed with the Kenosha Comets of the AAGBPL in 1948 as a back up catcher for Dorothy Naum. She was a light hitter managing just two hits in 50 at-bats in 25 games. The next season she was sent to a development team the Chicago Colleens and then finished the season with the Fort Wayne Daisies. She was sent to the Rockford Peaches in 1950, near the end of the season the regular catcher Ruth Richard broke her leg during a collision at the plate. The team made it to the play-offs and Jones became the primary catcher, they defeated Kenosha in the first round 3-1. They beat the her former team the Fort Wayne Daises 4-3 to take the championship.

In 1952 she was traded in mid-season to the Battle Creek Belles, when they lost two pitchers to injury she was asked to pitch. Her second game was against her former team the Daisies on July 10th, she pitched a 1-0 no-hitter. She went 9-7 with a 1.69 ERA in 17 games, finishing third in the league in ERA. The Belles moved to Muskegon in 1953, she went 14-11 with a 2.56 in 30 games, but the team finished in last place going just 39-70. She had 22 complete games (6th), 86 strikeouts (7th) and was ranked eighth in wins. The Belles folded before the 1954 season, she went back to the Fort Wayne Daisies going 8-8 as they won the regular season pennant, but were eliminated in the post season.

The league disbanded in 1954, Jones posted a career 31–26 record with a 2.31 earned run average and a minuscule 0.98 WHIP in 69 appearances.


After baseball Marilyn worked for the Michigan Bell Telephone Company and settled in Kalamazoo and played basketball for the Kalamazoo Lassies. In 1969 she married Bud Doxey, a softball umpire and former player, and helped raise his two sons. She retired in 1983 and in 1988 became part of Women in Baseball, a permanent display based at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, which was unveiled to honor the entire All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. It was not a well visited area until the release of "A League of Their Own" in 1992, bringing the defunct league to celebrity status.


She and Bud moved to Bradenton, Florida, where she passed away on July 22, 2015 at the age of 88. She was preceded in death by her husband Bud (1999), her brothers Robert and Norman and her sister Beverly. She is survived by her stepsons, Ross and Paul, two nephews and a niece. She was cremated and her wishes were to have her ashes spread in Lake Michigan.

[Tobywan]

Billy Pierce



Walter William Pierce was born on April 2, 1927 in Detroit, Michigan growing up in Highland Park. He got interested in baseball when his parents bribed into having his tonsils removed with a MLB baseball and a high quality glove. He didn't start playing organized baseball until he was 15. He attended Highland Park Community High School, one of his teammates was future major league pitcher Ted Gray.

He started as a first baseman but switched to pitching wanting to be like his favorite Tiger, Tommy Bridges and also because one of their starters left to play for another team. He pitched six shutouts in his junior year giving him the moniker Mr. Zero. He was the starting pitcher (got the win 8-0 and MVP) during the East-West All-American Boys' Game held at the Polo Grounds in New York on August 7, 1944, his East team was managed by Connie Mack. The opposing catcher was the future Hall of Fame center fielder Richie Ashburn who went hitless in two at bats against Pierce. There was quite a bit of fanfare associated with the event, it was to benefit World War II community memorials and prior to the game the players were guests of Babe Ruth on his weekly radio show. Pierce was voted the game's outstanding player, and the prize was a four-year scholarship to the college of his choice. he was interested in studying medicine at the University of Michigan, but after deliberation decided to sign with his hometown Tigers for a bonus of $15,000 a year before he was to graduate high school.

He attended the 1945 spring training camp with the Tigers in 1945 and made the team, he was in the middle of senior year and hadn't played in the minors. He rode the bench before making his debut on June 1, 1945 as a member of his beloved Detroit Tigers, two months after his 18th birthday. He came into a game against the Boston Red Sox in relief of Walter Wilson, the Tigers were already behind 6-4, Billy let up only one hit, two walks, no runs while striking out four, but the game was already decided. He was considered very small, 5'10" and never weighed more than 160 lbs, but he had a lot of speed in his throw.


He made three relief appearances in June, then spent July and August with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League. He was back in September making two more appearances and was with the team through their World Series Championship run, but played no games, but he was eligible and got a ring. He posted a 1.80 ERA in those five regular season games. He had such an unassuming presence that one of his own teammates, catcher Paul Richards didn't recognize him as the regular clerk at his local drugstore, Pierce's family own the business. He continued to work at the pharmacy in the off season through most of his career.

He spent the 1946 season back in Buffalo, with the veterans back from the war, but suffered from a back injury for most of the year, he spent 1947 there with Richards as his manager. He was back with the Tigers in 1948 as a member of the bull pen. He made his first start which was also his first victory on August 8th against the Washington Senators, he went 7.2 innings, struck out six in 6-5 win, he also tripled and scored a run. He made five starts going 3-0, but an elevated ERA of 6.34 while issuing 51 walks in 55.1 IP. He was traded on November 10 to the Chicago White Sox for catcher Aaron Robinson and $10,000. At the time it has been viewed by many to be one of the most one-sided trades in baseball history. The original trade talk was for Ted Gray, but then switched to Pierce, reportedly the Tigers tried to call off the deal the next day even offering Chicago 50, 000 to get Pierce back, but new GM Frank Lane refused, it was the first of many controversial trades for the White Sox GM.

In 1951, he was reunited with Paul Richards when he became the new White Sox manager. Pierce credits him with making him a very good pitcher, urging him to add a slider to his curve and fastball and teaching him control. On September 21, 1952 he broke Doc White's 1907 club record of 141 strikeouts by a left-hander, ending the season with 144.

He started the 1953 All-Star Game , first White Sox pitcher to be given the honor (he also started in 1955 and '56), and in three innings he let up one hit, a single to Stan Musial. He finished that season with 18 wins, and for the first time he led a category in the American League, strikeouts, with 186.


In 1955, he led the league with a 1.97 ERA and was the only ERA title qualifier from 1947 to 1962 to post an ERA lower than 2.00. In 1957, he led the league with 20 wins and was named AL Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News. Beginning with 1956, he led the American League in complete games for three straight seasons.


While facing the Washington Senators at Comiskey Park on June 27, 1958, he was one out away from a perfect game when the reserve catcher, Ed Fitz Gerald, as a pinch-hitter, double down the right-field line. The Senators manager Cookie Lavagetto made the call to put Fitz Gerald in during the 9th, Lavagetto, famously broke up a World Series no-hitter in 1947 as a pinch hitter. Pierce settled for a 3-0 victory, his third consecutive shutout. He wasn't nearly as effective in 1959, going 14-15 with a 3.62 ERA. During the pennant race in September the White Sox were invited to a luncheon with then Vice President Richard Nixon who address Pierce personally.


The White Sox won the AL pennant for the first time since the infamous Black Sox scandal of 1919. He was hampered by a hip injury late in the season.
Though he had made 33 starts during regular play, he was disappointed that manager Al Lopez didn't give him a start when the team got into the World Series. He did pitch four scoreless innings in relief, but they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.

He was traded to the SF Giants on November 30, 1961 along with Don Larson for pitchers Eddie Fisher and Dom Zanni and outfielder Bob Farley. He fit in well with the National League going 16-6 and earned a save in the ’62 Giants’s three-game playoff victory over the Dodgers. He started twice in the World Series, with a 1-1 record, as San Francisco lost to the Yankees in seven games.

He was still hobbling with the hip and sore shoulder but got a spot in the 1962 rotation, he was 8-0 through the end of May, but started slipping and got injured, then finished strong. Since starters Jack Sanford and Juan Marichal had pitched in a double header it was up to Pierce to face Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers to begin the play-off for the NL pennant. Koufax missed the final two months with a hand injury, Pierce pitched a three-hit shut out. The Dodgers took game two forcing another game, Marichal started going seven innings, Larsen pitched the 8th, though Pierce had pitched a complete game just two days prior manager Alvin Dark picked him to pitch the ninth. With a 6-4 lead, he retired the Dodgers in order to win the pennant. In the World Series against the Yankees he pitched six shut out innings in Game 3 and a a three-hit complete Game 6 with a 5-2 win, but they lost Game 7.

He pitched the Giants 1963 home opener and brought his winning streak at Candlestick to 14 straight (including the World Series), but it ended four days later with a loss to the Chicago Cubs. In 1963 he posted a 3-11 record with a 4.27 ERA, he was waived in December. He still went to camp with the Giants and earned a spot and new contract, he ended up going to the bullpen.

On September 10th he started for the first time in over a year, he beat the Dodgers with 7.2 innings, he got three strikeouts. He would need three more to reach the 2,000 milestone. He only got one more outing, he collected two more strikeouts. He finished his career one short of the mark and 15th place on the all-time list at the time, between Hall of Famers Dazzy Vance and Red Ruffing. On the last day of the season he retired.



He finished his 18-year major league career with a 211-169 record, 3.27 ERA with 1,999 strikeouts. He was a seven time All-Star, 2 time 20-game winner, pitched 4 one-hitters and 7 two-hitters.

After baseball he was a White Sox television color analyst in 1970, briefly a partner in Oldsmobile and Cadillac dealerships, a stockbroker, then worked as a sales and public relations representative for the Continental Envelope company from 1974 until retiring in 1997. He also worked as a White Sox scout, discovering 1983 Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle. His number 19 was retired by the White Sox in 1987 and named to the Chicago White Sox All-Century Team in 2000. He was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. On October 4, 2005, Pierce threw out the first pitch before Game 1 of the AL Division Series against the Red Sox (a 14–2 win), as the White Sox began the postseason which culminated in the 2005 World Series title – their first championship in 88 years. In 2006 he was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. On July 23, 2007, the White Sox unveiled a statue in Pierce's honor in the center field concourse of U.S. Cellular Field, joining those of Charles Comiskey, Minnie Miñoso, Carlton Fisk, Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox. The book "Then Ozzie Said to Harold...": The Best Chicago White Sox Stories Ever Told, coauthored by Pierce, was published in March 2008. He remained a member of the White Sox community relations department into his late 80s, making frequent public appearances in the Chicago area.


He helped raise millions of dollars for Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities, he became involved following the death of his good friend Nellie Fox at the young age of 47. In 1997 he became the president of the non-for-profit. He was a member of the Medinah Shrine (Athletic Committee), Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago and a 33rd Degree Mason of Evergreen Park Lodge. Also in 1997, the Nellie Fox Society (Pierce was a member in good standing) saw its namesake inducted into the Hall


He passed away on July 31, 2015 in Palos Heights, Illinois after battling gall bladder cancer at the age of 88. He is survived by his high school sweetheart and wife of 65 years Gloria (nee McCreadie), children William, Patricia and Robert, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He was buried at the Chapel Hill Gardens South Cemetery in Oak Lawn, IL.







Giants players mob Billy Pierce after the final out in their pennant-winning victory over the Dodgers in 1962.

[Tobywan]

Jack Spring



Jack Russell Spring was born on March 11, 1933 in Spokane, Washington, the youngest of three boys. His mother Marguerite died of tuberculosis on October 9, 1935 when Jack was just 2 1/2 years old. His older brothers Ralph and James stayed with their father Ralph (not a Sr.). Little Jack went to live with his grandparents being raised mostly by his Aunt Liz, until the elder Ralph remarried. He moved the family to Sandpoint, Idaho, when Jack was in the fourth grade his father got divorced and Jack went back to Spokane to live with his grandparents and Aunt Liz.

He didn't begin playing any organized ball until seventh grade when he joined a local park league, he played American Legion ball after his freshman year at Lewis and Clark High School where he was a star left handed pitcher. His second summer season in Legion he threw a no-hitter on July 27, 1949 during the state tournament. Over the next few few seasons he threw four more no-hitters, three in high school and one more in Legion ball. He had tried football in his freshman year because a couple of his baseball teammates were also on the football team, he didn't like it. In his senior year the the football coach tried to lure him back as a wide receiver, but the basket ball coach Elra “Squinty” Hunter convinced him to take on basketball earning All-City honors when they went 18-2. He then began the baseball season with one of his no-hitters that included 19 strikeouts earning him more All-City honors.



He embarked on a collegiate baseball career at both Gonzaga University (Bulldogs) in 1951 and Washington State University (Cougars) in 1952 where he lettered in baseball. He joined the Spokane Indians (Western International League) on June 11, 1952 (his high school teammate Ed Bouchee signed two days earlier), he made $375 a month. Spring worked 90 innings and finished with a 6-5 record and a 3.20 ERA and before the 1953 season the Indians were obtained as an affiliate by the Philadelphia Phillies. While playing Spring went back to attending classes at Gonzaga.


He became very good friends with two of his baseball teammates first baseman Ed Bouchee, and catcher Bill Farr. They were all so close that when Spring met his future wife Vona (nee McLean) when he accidentally hit her in the head with a paddle while boating on a lake. They would eventually match his two best buddies with two of her friends and within a year or two after high school all three couples were married. Jack and Vona were married in July 1952, like Jack she lost a parent when she was very young, her father. They all remained lifelong friends all three marriages survived without divorce.

In 1954 he was sold to the Phillies, they promoted him directly to Triple-A ball with the Syracuse Chiefs of the International League, he struggled that first season going 3-10 despite a 3.13 ERA.


He attended spring camp in 1955 with the Phillies and was named to the opening roster as one of the extra players teams were allowed to carry for the first 30 days of the season. He made his debut on April 16, 1955 in relief. Facing the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, he pitched two hitless innings with two strike outs in an 8-3 loss. On May 3rd he came into a tied game in Cincinnati, there were two men on and two outs when he ended the inning. In the next inning Ted Kluszewski homered and then later he gave up a homer to Chuck Harmon, he took the loss and spent the rest of the season in Syracuse. There he had 19 starts in 30 appearances going 7-8 with a 4.00 ERA in 135 innings.

In 1956, the Phils new Triple-A affiliate was the Miami Marlins, this season Spring was reunited with his old pal Ed Bouchee who had been gone two years serving in the Army and 1955 in Double-A. Jack didn't have a great year among some top prospects and the aging Satchel Paige, he even thought about quitting, but his manager and wife talked him out of it. On December 3, he was taken by the Boston Red Sox in the rule 5 draft. He played just one inning of one game for the Sox in a 7-5 loss, he was optioned to the San Francisco Seals and helped them win the PCL pennant. He was traded a couple more times spending the next two seasons in the minors and battled injuries.

On April 14, 1961 he was obtained by the expansion Los Angeles Angels and split the season between them and the Triple-A Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers. In 1962, the Angels moved in the newly constructed Chavez Ravine as tenants of the Dodgers (Dodger Stadium) and Jack went with them. He made 57 appearances, going 4-2 with a 4.02 ERA with six saves in 65 IP.

He was again on the move in 1964 first traded to the Chicago Cubs just weeks into the season, then in June he was sent along with Lou Brock to the St. Louis Cardinals. When he joined the Cardinals in Houston the game had already started, he was told to go warm up to get into the game. He was met on the mound by catcher Tim McGarver who introduced himself and asked what he throws. The outing against the Colt .45's didn't go well, then in an outing in St. Louis he gave up five unearned runs. They wanted to send him to Jacksonville, he didn't want to go that far from home, refused to report, moved his family back to Spokane and his contract was sold to the Angels. He was sent to their farm team in Hawaii and he finished strong.

The Hawaii team was relocated to Seattle in 1965 and the big club now called the California Angels, but by June he was sold to Cleveland, he got a win on June 27th but after an appearance on August 1st he was sent to their Triple-A team the Portland Beavers of the PCL. He spent the next three seasons in Portland, then in 1968 Cleveland wanted to assign him to the American Association. Jack had been restarted school at Eastern Washington State College and didn't want to go far from home so he quit.

That winter, Tommy Lasorda had been promoted to manage the Spokane team for the Los Angeles Dodgers and asked him to pitch for them for the 1969 season. After 17 years he returned to his first team the Spokane Indians. He put up a 5-6 record with 13 saves among a group of prospects that included Bill Buckner, Bobby Darwin, Von Joshua, Fred Norman, and Bobby Valentine. He had thought about playing the next year but he was about to graduate from college and was required to do student teaching to complete. He spent 1970-71 at East Valley High School, close to the nearby Idaho state line. In the fall he was hired at West Valley, which had just fired the baseball coach.

He never returned to pro ball. He had made his last appearance on August 1, 1965 for the Cleveland Indians. During his major-league career, he put up a 12-5 record with a 4.26 ERA in 155 games. As a young starter for nearly a decade, he won 107 minor-league games with 104 losses and a 3.53 ERA in 570 games. He spent 17 seasons in professional ball.

He coached for 14 seasons, during which he was also the athletic director and remained in that capacity until 1995. As of 2011 Spring’s 1978 club remained the only Spokane area high-school team to win a state baseball championship. During his early years he had brief stints managing in minor league clubs in the Class-A Northwest League. He took the Walla Walla Islanders to the divisional title in 1972 and the Portland Mavericks won in 1976. Both were eliminated during the play-offs. One of his players in Walla Walla was actor Kurt Russell, later Kurt's father Bing had become the owner of Portland and gave Spring the manager position there.

He and his children built a cabin on Lake Pend Oreille in 1989 for fishing, boating and family time.

He is a member of the Washington State Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In 1997 he was voted into the Washington Secondary Schools Athletic Administrators Association’s Hall of Fame. And in 2005, he was inducted into the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame.


In 2008 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease but tried to maintain an active life, in 2014 though he had become confined to a wheelchair. He benefited by a 2011 decision by MLB to give a small pension to former players that didn't qualify by the then 5 year major league service rule. In 2012 he and the family traveled to Fenway Park when the Boston Red Sox invited every living former player to the 100-year celebration of the stadium, even though he only pitched one inning for them.



He had become ill in July and passed away on August 2nd at his home in West Valley, Washington, he was 82. He was preceded in death by all of his immediate family and his friend and former teammate Ed Bouchee (January 2013). He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Vona, his five children, Vicki, Teresa, John, Mike and Chris, seven grandchildren and the last surviving member of the high school trio, Bill Farr.







Jack and Vona during the dedication of the West Valley High School baseball field named for Spring on September 25, 2014.

[Tobywan]

Bud Thomas


John Tillman Thomas was born on March 10, 1929 in Sedalia, Missouri the oldest of two children. He grew up in the depression loving the game of baseball, he also enjoyed hunting and fishing as a food source with money being so tight. He became a star shortstop on his local American Legion baseball team. In 1947 he was selected to play in the East West American Legion Charity Classic held at Yankee Stadium. The celebrity manager of his West team was Ty Cobb, the East would be headed by Babe Ruth. Due to the publicity of the game he got noticed by baseball promoter Bill Veeck. After graduating from Sedalia Smith Cotton High School, he signed to play for the St. Louis Browns. They sent him to the D-Level Belleville Stags of the Illinois State League where he batted .218 in 56 games. The following season he played for both the Elmira Pioneers in the EL and the Globe-Miami Browns of the Arizona-Texas League. He finished the season with a .312 BA, 113 hits and 18 doubles in 102 games, his best minor league season. He spent two seasons with the Marshall Browns in the East Texas League. In 1951 he went to the Central league to play for the Dayton Indians where he batted .288 in 127 games with 151 hits and 41 doubles.



He got a call up after the minor league season making his debut on September 2, 1951 for the St. Louis Browns against the Cleveland Indians as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the 8th but didn't get to bat in the 5-1 loss. One of his teammates was Satchel Paige and on August 19th he was in the infamous game when Eddie Gaedel was used as a a promotion by Veeck against the Detroit Tigers. On September 16th he started the second game of a double header against the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park and hit his one and only big league homer off Alex Kellner in the third inning of a 7-5 loss.


He was back in the minors the next year, but his offense dropped off. When the Browns made the move to Baltimore to become the Orioles, Bud decided to go home and seek another profession.

His last ML appearance was September 29, 1951 for the St. Louis Browns. In 14 games he batted .350 with seven hits, three runs scored and one home run.

He earned Bachelor and Masters degrees from Central Missouri State University. He worked in several high schools as a teacher, counselor, Principal and school administrator, one of his stops was his own former school, Smith Cotton High. He retired from the system in 1986. He began working as an insurance crop adjuster and enjoyed it so much he did it for over 35 years. He was also an avid golfer and a member of the Sedalia Country Club. His woodcarving hobby made him popular at Silver Dollar City and he taught it for a few years at the State Fair Community College in Sedalia. He made and donated a life size carving of Jesus Christ for the chapel at First Christian Church where he had attended services since his early teens. Unlike most former ball players he rarely spoke about his life in baseball and never participated in the game in any formal capacity.


He died on August 15, 2015 at Bothwell Regional Hospital in Sedalia, Missouri, he was 87. He was preceded in death by his parents and by his first wife by Beryl (nee Evans). He is survived by his wife Janet, two sons from first marriage John and Mark, three step-children, his sister Rebecca, ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery St. Louis, MO.

[Tobywan]

Walter E. Schoenfeld




Walter E. Schoenfeld was born on November 6, 1930 in Seattle, Washington to Edna and Max Schoenfeld, a German immigrant who helped found a clothing-manufacturing empire in Seattle specializing in neckwear. He was a Juniors Golf Champion at Garfield High School. He attended USC, but returned to Seattle graduating from the University of Washington in 1952. He went on to serve as an Army lieutenant in the Korean War, upon his return in 1955 he went to work for his father. He soon married and began raising a family.

Even at a young age he got involved in the community, he joined Rotary and became a Seafair Commodore. He took a leadership role in the effort to build and revitalize the swamp area of Seattle, now the Seattle Center, as it became home to the 1962 World's Fair. Walter became Chairman of the Seattle Kidney Foundation in its nascence, and was responsible for raising the money to dramatically expand the availability of dialysis treatment.

Schoenfeld first got into sports ownership in 1967 when he partnered with an ownership group led by Sam Schulman bringing pro basketball to Seattle with the expansion SuperSonics, he became close to Lenny Wilkens, a Hall of Fame NBA player and coach who helped lead the team to the 1978-79 NBA championship.

Walter became president of Schoenfeld Industries in 1968. In 1971, Walter moved his family to London and built a necktie factory in Scotland with much success, while there he took notice of the new fashionable use for denim. He returned to Seattle in 1973 and launched Brittania Sportswear featuring designer jeans as an alternative to Levi’s and other plain brand names. Within a decade his company grew to 400 employees and selling 30 million pairs of jeans annually.

In 1974 he joined a group to bring the North American Soccer League to Seattle with the fist team named the Sounders. In 1977 he was part of a six partner group to bring back Major League Baseball, with the Mariners. He was a huge sports fan and wanted to bring an all around experience for all different sports fans to Seattle. He became very close to many coaches and players through the years.


During the 90's he served as board of directors of Vans, the California-based footwear company, though the market was waning. When he became CEO and president the company focused on the skate boarding craze and with the help of one of his sons, brought the company back. This earned him the nick name the "Grandpa of Grunge." He later sold the company to VF Corp.

He served on many public and private boards including the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center for abused children; participated on a monthly council with President Jimmy Carter (even though he leaned more Republican); attended the signing of the Camp David peace accords in 1978; and co-hosted Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s visit to Seattle in 1979. He was also very close to Senator Scoop Jackson. He also had affiliations with the Sunshine Mining Company, Reading Railroad, The Weitzman Institute for Science in Israel and PONCHO.

His parents both died in 1990, Edna in June at the age of 96 and Max in October at 108.

Walter passed away on August 13th after a 2-year battle with cancer, he was 84. Along with his parents he was preceded in death by his brother Alvin. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Esther (nee Behar) his children, Lea Anne (Ottinger), Jeff and Gary and eight grandchildren, Lauren, Michael and Ryan Ottinger, Kate and Max Schoenfeld, David, Melissa and Jack Schoenfeld. He is buried at Sephardic Brotherhood cemetery in Seattle, WA.






Walter and Chao-Chen YangFund

[Tobywan]

Doc Daugherty



Harold Ray "Doc" Daugherty was born on October 12, 1927 in Paris, Pennsylvania but raised in Weirton, West Virginia. He was a three sport star at Weir High School, in his senior year (1944-45) he was named first-team All-State in football, basketball and baseball. He also earned the 1945 West Virginia Amateur Athlete of the Year by the state's sports writers, he also earned All-OVAC football and basketball honors as a Red Rider senior. He led Weir to a 9-1 football record in 1943, losing only to state champion Parkersburg. As a senior, 1944 he led Weir to a 40-13 victory over Parkersburg and accounted for five touchdowns, a TD run, two TD passes, a 101-yard pass interception return and an 80-yard kickoff return. In basketball, the all-stater helped Weir to a 22-2 record. In baseball, he led the Red Riders to their first ever state championship in 1945. Daugherty’s two-year football career included running and passing for 1,925 yards and 31 touchdowns.


He got a football scholarship to Ohio State University in 1945, the team went 7-2 with him as the starting safety. In April 1946, he was drafted by the United States Army, where he also played baseball, entered World War II and was honorably discharged after a year-and a-half.

He signed as an amateur free agent just before the 1948 season with the Detroit Tigers, beginning the season with the Single-A Williamsport Tigers in the Eastern League where he hit .255 with 9 home runs and 54 RBI. Though he didn't perform as well the next season batting just .203, he was promoted to the Double-A Little Rock Travelers of the Southern Association. The team was terrible going 52-96, but he had a somewhat better season batting .251. He was given the nickname "Doc" during his playing days though even he doesn't know why.

In 1951, he made the team out of spring camp, mostly due to an injury to third baseman and future Hall of Famer George Kell as the Tigers wanted depth in the infield. He rode the bench for a couple weeks before finally getting sent into a game against the Chicago White Sox on April 22. It was cold and snowy that day in Chicago as he pinch hit for reliever Virgil Trucks in the ninth against Billy Pierce and struck out in a 3-2 loss. A few days later when the deadline to trim rosters (at that time teams could carry extra players for the first month of the season) he was sent back to the minors in favor of calling up another pitcher. He ended up splitting the season between the Little Rock Travelers and the Triple-A Toledo Mudhens where he raised his average to .271.

He spent all of 1952 with the Buffalo Bisons (IL) where he batted .225/.288/.339 hitting six homers and driving in 33 runs. While with Buffalo in 1953 his contract was purchased by the Chicago Cubs seeing time with their International League affiliate the Springfield Cubs. He finished out the season as a member of the Charleston Senators in the White Sox organization. He hit a combined .213 with four homers and 49 RBI.After the season he decided to hang up the cleats, so his ML career consisted of the one at bat, a strike out. The original assessment by Tigers manager Red Rolfe that he had good defensive skills predominantly at shortstop but not a lot at the plate shows in his overall minor league stats. In six seasons he was a career .230 hitter.

He went to work as a scout for the Tigers and coaching in some rookie leagues. In 1965, he managed the Short Season-Class A Duluth-Superior Dukes who were affiliated with both Detroit and the Chicago Cubs. In the off seasons he attended school to finish getting a degree, earning his undergraduate degree from Ohio State and his Master's from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.


When a job opened up at his old Weir HS to coach football he took the opportunity. He stayed there as the football and baseball coach for two seasons, the first year wasn't a good football season as they finished 1-9. In 1955 integration came to the school, despite the racial tension he guided his mixed team to an 8-2 record and the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference championship. On of his players was Bob Jeter who went on to play at Iowa and for the Green Bay Packers on their first two Super Bowl championship teams.

He was then offered a job at Bedford High School in Ohio, at the urging of one of his former Ohio State teammates he took the job. He developed a very special working relationship and friendship with Dean Smith of North Carolina when they met at a coaching clinic on the campus of Miami (Ohio) in 1968. Starting with the 1976 Daugherty would make the trip from Northeast Ohio to Chapel Hill each summer to help Smith with new Tarheel recruits, he did this every year until 2000. Smith passed away in February 2015. Over a 30 year career Doc coached football, basketball and baseball.

He retired from teaching in 1983. He spent a couple of years "playing carpenter" in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where two of his three children resided. Daugherty finally decided to really retire, as he and his wife Desiree (Hale), a 1949 graduate of Weir High School, moved to Russell Springs, Kentucky, a town located on Lake Cumberland, a place where his family had often vacationed during summer breaks. He enjoyed golfing and fishing.


He passed away on August 15, 2015 in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, he was 87. he is survived by his wife of 62 years Desiree (nee Hale), children Mike, Mark and Susan (and spouses), seven grandchildren, one great-grand child and his brother Albert. He was cremated.

[Tobywan]

Gene Elston



Robert Gene Elston was born March 26, 1922, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He got his first job as the announcer for a local high school basketball team in 1941, then began calling minor league baseball games in 1946. He got his big break in radio for a major station was calling football games for Cleveland Rams in 1949. He made his ML debut calling Cubs games on WIND from 1953- 1957. He was then hired to work with the Mutual Radio Network’s Game of the Day with Bob Feller for three years.

In 1961, Elston joined veteran radio broadcaster Loel Passe to announce the final season of Houston's minor league franchise, the Houston Buffs. He then landed the job with the new expansion Houston Colt .45s. in 1962 through the name change to the Astros and into the TV broadcasts until 1986. He was fired after the 1986 season by Astros general manager Dick Wagner. One his best highlights came at the end of his time with the Astros when he called the game during Mike Scott’s no-hitter that clinched the National League West title for the Astros in 1986.According to many sources it was that game that led to his firing when owner John McMullen felt Elston wasn't loud enough, he didn't display enough emotion. What he did do by virtue of being on live television was to just let the images tell the story and the excitement of the players on the field, something done very commonly now during no-hitters, pennant wins and the the end of the World Series. On radio Milo Hamilton was going crazy which McMullen preferred. Many consider it the worst move during that era. Gene learned from the best, Vin Scully, who is still going strong with the Dodgers.

Gene worked with some pretty impressive broadcasters including Loel Passe (1962-76), Frick Award winners Harry Kalas (1965-69) and Bob Prince (1976), current Rays announcer Dewayne Staats (1977-84) and former Astros pitcher and manager Larry Dierker (1980-86). Though rarely together in the booth he platooned radio and television appearances with Milo Hamilton in 1985 and 1986.

Elston called 11 no-hitters during his career, though he never held to the superstition of not talking about it, the most memorable for him was Nolan Ryan's fifth no-hitter, also voiced the game when Ryan reached the career strike out record.



After his stint with the Astros was over he joined Tal Smith Enterprises as a consultant and researcher. In 1987 he went back to broadcasting nationally not for any specific team, He did the CBS CBS Radio Game of the Week until 1995 and the postseason NLDS games on CBS Radio in 1995, 1996, and 1997 before retiring for good. He authored three books, That's the Way the Ball Bounces (1971), A Stitch in Time: A Baseball Chronology, 1845-2000 (2001) and The Wild World of Sports: Over A Century of Amusing Stories and Quotes (2005).


He was inducted into the Texas Baseball HOF in 1983. He was the 2006 winner of the Ford Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame for broadcasting contributions, he accepted the award at Cooperstown in person at age 84.

He had been in declining health for several months and passed away on September 5, 2015, he was 93. Could find no information about his wife whether she preceded him in death or survived, he is survived by his children, sons Robert and Kim as well as a daughter Lynn. He was cremated and his ashes interred at the Houston National Cemetery.






Elston and Loel Passe 1962



Larry Dierker, Dewayne Staats and Elston

[Tobywan]

Barney Schultz



George Warren Schultz was born on August 15, 1926 in Beverly, New Jersey. One of four boys, his father was a steelworker and his mother emigrated from Northern Ireland. He grew up in South Jersey playing ball picking up the use of the knuckleball from an older neighborhood kid. It was part of his arsenal as a standout on the Burlington High School team. At a young age one of his uncles gave him the nickname “Barney” it stuck throughout his life.

He was noticed by the Philadelphia Phillies signing with them as an amateur free agent in 1944. He split his first season with the D-level Bradford Blue Wings of the PONY and the B-level Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Interstate League. He spent a few seasons in their minor league system before being acquired by the Detroit Tigers in 1947 and toiled in their system for a couple seasons. He then spent 1949 and 1950 with two teams with no MLB affiliation, the Rock Hill Chiefs and the Macon Peaches. 1950 was the first time in five years he was pain free, he reach a career-high 237 innings in 36 games, as a starter and in relief. He allowed 189 hits, 94 earned runs with a 13-14 record, striking out 168 with 123 walk and a 3.57 ERA.

His contract was purchased by the Chicago Cubs prior to the 1951 season and started the season for the Des Moines Bruins, the mayor of Des Moines threw out the first pitch at their home opener and Barney threw a complete-game 9-1 victory over Sioux City, walking six hitters. He struggled though and by July he was placed on waivers but was claimed by the Boston Braves and finished out the season with the Denver Bears. He improved finishing with a 2.75 ERA the lowest among the Bears starting rotation. He was obtained by the Pittsburgh Pirates when they began a working agreement with the Bears for the 1952 season. He became a starting pitcher for them leading them to their first Western League Pennant since 1913. He started 1953 with the Hollywood Stars in the PCL but finished back in Denver with a 13-7 record, 4.16 ERA in 173 innings..

In 1954 his life began to change, in February he got married to Frances (nee Elder), who was a huge baseball fan. The two made their home in Beverly, Barney's home town. Then, just before the season he was acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals and assigned to the Triple-A Columbus Red Birds, he was now heading into his 10th season in the minors and had never gotten a call up suffering through many injuries and arm problems during the decade. He struggled early that year splitting as a starter and reliever but settled down and helped the Birds reach a play-off berth, he even had a 34 consecutive scoreless innings streak going at one point. In 1955 he impressed the Cardinals enough to earn an opening day roster spot as a relief specialist. On April 12, 1955 he made his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals on Opening Day in Chicago, though it was a 14-4 loss. The Cards starter Brian Lawrence put them behind early 5-1, Barney came in to get Harry Chiti to strike out looking to end the misery. He then pitched part of the second giving up four runs himself before being relieved. He pitched later in their home opener during a 12-11 win over the Cubs, he then struggled and was sent back to the minors in June, to Double-A Houston. With the Cardinals he got into 19 games, compiled a 1-2 record, pitched 29.2 innings and finished with an ERA of 7.89.

Unfortunately, he never made it back to the Cardinals, in mid-1958 he was traded back to the Tigers to pitch for their Triple-A Charleston Senators.He pitched well in relief with them in 1959 and was rewarded with a call-up in June, but once again was shipped back in July. In April 1960 he was sold back to the Chicago Cubs who sent him to the Houston Bluffs. When a former St. Louis business man bought controlling interest in the Bluffs he brought in future Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter to manage, Schultz became one of his favorites and got substantial playing time. In 1961, Barney got 41 games with the Cubs who were going through a strange rotation of managers that changed 8 different times between four men volleying between the Cubs and the minors. For the first time in his 17 year pro career he had spent the majority of the season at the major league level. he finished going 7-6 with a 2.70 ERA (lowest among Cubs relievers) in 66.2 innings. The Cubs stuck with the crazy manager rotation in 1962, the bull pen got plenty of work and at 35 years of age he got the nickname Mr. Old Folks.He got even more appearances and innings, In 1962 he tied Elroy Face’s major-league record for consecutive game appearances with nine.

By 1963 they had a permanent manager , Schultz started the season in the Cubs bull pen, but by June he was waivers, one of his old managers now with the Cardinals urged the team to trade for him, he had a decent rest of the season, but was placed on waivers. No teams came calling so he decided to accept an offer to go to the Cardinals Triple-A Jacksonville affiliate in exchange for a job in the system after retirement. He reported to the Suns in 1964, he started very well not allowing a run in 13 appearances, his streak had extended to 32.2 scoreless innings by mi-June by July he had a minuscule 0.85 ERA in 35 appearances with 74 innings pitched, the team was in first place. Meanwhile the Cardinals were barely hanging on to .500, so he was promoted, heading back to the majors. When he joined the Cardinals on July 31st they sat in sixth place with a 53-49 record, but had just won six of their last seven games, now trailing Philadelphia by seven games. Stan Musial had retired the previous season, new stars were emerging, Tim McCarver, Bob Gibson and had just traded for Lou Brock. Cardinals' utility catcher Bob Uecker was sometimes called upon to catch when Schultz was brought in to pitch. It was from that experience that he drew some of his material when joking about the difficulties of catching the knuckler. Even though they were winning a few games, by August they were 61-54 and 9.5 games out of first, so owner Gussie Busch fired GM Bing Devine. Though everyone was shocked something happened, they won 12 of 15 games the last half of the month. Then by early September they were tied for second place, then went 12-6 on a road trip, Schultz got a lot of work and a lot of saves, in the last week of the season they swept the Phillies and the last three games were against the last place Mets. St. Louis won the first two games the 1964 NL Pennant came down to the last day, the Phillies lost to the Reds and the Cards finished off the Mets with Schultz finishing the game. It was his 30th appearance in the Cardinals’ last 60 games. He appeared in seven of the Cardinals’ last nine games and finished 1964 with one win, 14 saves, and a 1.64 ERA. The Cardinals ended in first place with a 93-69 record. His best season ever, he had earned 19 saves in the parts of five seasons he had played previously. Unfortunately, he didn't pitch well in the World Series, mostly notably in Game 3, in which he gave up a game-winning home run to Mickey Mantle in the nationally-televised Saturday game. The game was tied 1-1 in the 9th at Yankee Stadium, his wife Fran had a camera ready for his pitch in the historic site, but she got distracted when she saw a movie star sitting near her and missed his one and only pitch that was launched by Mantle into right field to win the game. She only got to see him walk on and off the field, he was devastated. Mantle later listed the home run as one of the top five thrills of his baseball career. He had gotten a save in Game 1 but the other two games he gave up 7 runs. However, the Cardinals ultimately won the Series in seven games over the New York Yankees. He spent 1965 with the Cards until August before he was sent to Jacksonville, he rejoined the Cardinals at the end of the season he finished with 34 appearances, pitched 42.1 innings, with a 3.83 ERA. His record was 2-2 with two saves.

True to their word in 1966 the Cardinals began their transformation of Schultz into the next phase of his career in the game, they made him a player-coach with their Triple-A Tulsa Oilers in the PCL. He didn't actually pitch for the team though til the second half, to his surprised he pitched well, they made the play-offs. In 25 appearances he went 2-0 with a 3.24 ERA in 25 IP. At the end of the season he was released, but given a full time job as a minor league instructor for the 1967 season.Barney was just three days shy of the pension requirement so near the end of the season they signed him to a contract so he could finish the season at the ML level as a coach. He was released from that contract at the end of October and resumed his minor league duties through 1970.

His his last ML appearance was on September 6, 1965 for the St. Louis Cardinals, he was 39. In parts of seven seasons he amassed a 20-20 record with an ERA of 3.63 with 35 saves in 227 games.

In 1971 he became the Cardinals pitching coach through the 1975 season. In 1977 he held the same position with the Chicago Cubs and is widely credited with developing Bruce Sutter into a Hall of Fame pitcher. Later, they made him a special assistant coach for a few seasons before finishing his coaching career in Japan with the Osaka Hawks retiring for good in 1982.


He was elected into the South Jersey Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988. He also enjoyed play cards at Atlantic City casinos and golfed in celebrity tournaments until he was in his early 80s. Throughout his career, he and Frances resided in his home town of Beverly/Edgewater Park Township, NJ and raised their family, in the off seasons he would also work as a carpenter and haberdasher. After the children's school year ended they would spend the summer wherever Barney was playing until school was back in session. In 2010, they moved to Mount Laurel in 2010, a couple of years ago they moved in with their eldest son in Cinnaminson. At the end of 2014 Barney and Frances were separated when she was hospitalized and placed into a facility, Barney visited as much as he could, himself confined to a wheelchair. Soon they were reunited at the Mt. Laurel assisted living community.

He passed away on September 6, 2015 at Lourdes Medical Center in Willingboro of complications from a heart attack with his daughter Barbara by his side, he was 89. He was predeceased by his parents as well as both of his brothers, Leo and John. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Frances and their children George Jr., Barbara and Paul, six grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

[Tobywan]

Joaquín Andújar





Joaquín Andújar was born on December 21, 1952 in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. He signed with the Cincinnati Reds on November 14, 1969 as an amateur free agent just a month before he turned 17. He started his pro career pitching with the Gulf Coast League Reds, he spent six seasons working his way up through their minor league system.


On October 24, 1975 he was traded to the Houston Astros for 2 PTBNL, on December 12, Luis Sanchez and Carlos Alfonso were sent to the Reds to complete the trade. He made the 1976 Opening Day Roster and made his MLB debut in the season opener against his former Reds. On April 8th, J.R.Richard was the starting pitcher, he was followed by Jose Sosa and Mike Cosgrove who both allowed runs in the 6th inning putting the game at 8-4 in the Cardinals favor. Andujar was sent in to get the last 2 outs. With two on, Ken Griffey Sr. at third, Joe Morgan on second, he walked Johnny Bench to load the bases, he then walked Tony Perez sending Griffey home. He gave up a single to George Foster which scored Morgan and Bench, he then got Dave Concepcion to ground into a double play to end the inning. He pitched in just the one inning with the Astros losing 11-5. He made two appearances before being moved into the starting rotation. He pitched consecutive 1-0 shutouts on July 11 and 17 against the Expos and Mets finishing the season going 9–10 with a 3.60 ERA.


In 1977, he was 10-5 with a 3.47 ERA at the All-Star break and was to be the sole representative for the team in that year's mid-summer classic, but he injured himself during his final start before the game and wasn't able to pitch. He made his return in September and finished the season with an 11-8 record and a 3.69 ERA. He was used mainly in the bullpen in 1978 earning his first save against the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 25th. In 1979 he began the season as a reliever after going 4-3 with three saves and two blown he was back starting, he pitched four consecutive complete game wins giving up just one earned run in each one. He was named to the NL All-Star team again making the trip to Seattle he relieved starting pitcher Steve Carlton who gave up three runs in the first, Joaquin gave up two runs in two innings before he gave way to Steve Rogers. The NL hung on to win 7-6. On August 14, he pitched a four-hit complete game against the Montreal Expos and hit an inside the park home run scoring both of the runs in 2-1 win.

He split the 1980 season between the rotation and pen as the Astros went down to the end of the season tied for first place with the LA Dodgers at 92-70.A coin flip gave the Dodgers home field advantage. The Astros won the game, 7–1, with starter Joe Niekro throwing a complete game. It was the Astros first post season berth as well as Andújar's first, he recorded a save in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Phillies. They were eliminated 3-2 in the five game series.

In 1981 he was 2-3 with a 4.94 ERA when he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Tony Scott just before the players went on strike in mid-June, play resume in the beginning of August and he went 6-1 the rest of the season. In 1982 he became a workhorse pitching a career high 265.2 innings, winning his last seven decisions with a 1.64 ERA during that span, finishing 15-10. He pitched a three-hit shut out of the Phillies on September 15 that gave them a 1.5 lead in the NL East and they stayed there until the end of the season. He started and won Game 3 of the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves as they swept their way to the World Series. He started Game 3 and 7 against the Milwaukee Brewers, he won them both with a 1.35 ERA, he committed an error that led to an unearned run in game three as the Cardinals took the championship series 4-3.

His best regular season came in 1984, he was 13-6 at the break leading to another All-star nod, but he was unable to attend. He finished with a 20-14 record and a 3.34 ERA, he led the league in wins, IP (261.1) and shut outs with four, he also won a Gold Glove. In 1982 and 1984, he led the Cardinals in wins, ERA, games started, complete games, innings pitched, shutouts, and strikeouts. He began 1985 strong again going 12-1 leading to a fourth All-Star team. This season's battle for the NL East came against the Mets and once again went down to the end of the season. Andújar went 3–1 with a 4.29 ERA against the Mets that season but he suffered a loss on October 2 with Dwight Gooden going for NY placing the Mets just one game behind. The Cards won the following game to take the division, he finished with a 21-12 record and a 3.40 ERA. In the NLCS he didn't pitch well in Game 2 and they dropped the first two games to the LA Dodgers but they rallied back winning four in a row including the decisive Game 6 which Andújar (though he got a no-deicison) catapulting them to the World Series. Sadly, his start in Game 3 lasted just four innings as he gave up four runs on 10 hits, so manager Whitey Herzog went with John Tudor in Game 7, which also didn't go well as he gave up three runs in three innings being pulled with the bases loaded. Andújar was inserted to try to stop the bleeding, but when umpire Don Denkinger called a ball that he felt was a strike Joaquin went off having to be physically restrained, Herzog argued and was ejected. Andujar started again but Denkinger tossed him when he thought a gesture meant for catcher Darrell Porter was directed at him. Andujar went off again. He was so furious after he left the field that he took a baseball bat to the visiting clubhouse bathroom and was fined and suspended for more than a month that was to be served the following season.They lost the the World Series to the Kansas City Royals.

Over the winter he was traded to the Oakland Athletics for Tim Conroy and Mike heath. His ten-game suspension for beating up the Kauffman Stadium bathroom was reduced to five however at the end on February 8, 1986 Baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth sentenced Andujar to a season long suspension for dealing drugs to teammate Lonnie Smith back in 1982. It got reduced to just community service a a sum to be contributed to an anti-drug programs. When he finally took the mound for his first game of 1986 the home plate umpire was Denkinger, he wasn' tin the game long enough for any issues, he worked things out, but did suffered through some injures, finishing 12-7 with a 3.82 ERA. He was limited in 1987 to just 13 starts due to injuries including one that ended his season on August 3rd.

He became a free agent after the season and signed with Houston Astros in January 1988, he spent most of the season in the pen, making a few starts in mid-season when injuries took down some of the rotation. He went 2-5 with a 4.00 ERA, he became a free agent again and signed with the Montreal Expos in December, but was released just before the start of the 1990 season.

His ast MLB appearance was September 30, 1988 for the Houston Astros, he was 35, same team in which he made his debut. He spent 13 seasons in the majors with three teams going 127-118 with a 3.58 ERA and 1, 032 strike outs.

He retired to his former hometown in the Dominican Republic and began a trucking business. He donated time and money to youth baseball programs and charities


He passed away at his home in on September 8, 2015 suffering complications from diabetes, he is survived by his wife Walkiria and their children Jesse and Christopher along with siblings and extended family.

[Tobywan]

Alex Monchak


Alex Monchak was born on March 5, 1917 in Bayonne, New Jersey, he was the eldest of three children born to Ukrainian parents. His first pro season he played for four different teams with no ML affiliation including the Baltimore Orioles who were a Double-A team in the International League.He bounced around until his contact was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1940, he began the season with the Portsmouth Cubs (Virginia), a B level team in the Piedmont League. He was called up and made his ML debut on June 22 in a game against the Chicago Cubs at Shibe Park He came in late in the game as a pinch hitter for SS Bobby Bragan when the Cubs were already leading 10-2 and was retired. He hit just .143 (2-for-14) with one run and one stolen base in 19 games.

He was sent to the Detroit Tigers spending the next year and half with the Elmira Pioneers (NY) of the Eastern league, then managed part of the year for the Wellsville Yankees of the PONY. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army, he deployed with the 11th Armored Division and fought under General George Patton in the Battle Of The Bulge, the largest battle ever fought at the time. He had risen to the rank of 1st Sgt. at the time of his discharge in 1946. He continued his baseball career playing a few years in the minors, in 1949 he became a player/manager with teams like the Odessa Oilers, Lexington Indians, Wellsville Braves and Cedar Rapid Braves. He finished his playing career in 1957 with Wellsville, he began managing full time in the Milwaukee Braves minor league organization in 1958 through 1961 and won four championships.From 1962-1970 he worked for the California Angels as a scout and in the instructional league.

While he never made it back to the majors as a player playing his last MLB game on September 1, 1940 at age 23. He spent 17 seasons in the minors finishing with a .274 BA, 1,512 hits, 144 HR and 292 doubles in 1,534 games. In his 13 seasons managing in the minors he finished with 787-669 record. He did make it back to the majors as a coach for renowned manager Chuck Tanner, the two would be a tandem for a handful of clubs Chicago White Sox (1971-1975), Oakland A's (1976), Pittsburgh Pirates (1977-1985) and the Atlanta Braves (1986-1988). The most special moment was in 1979 when he was the first base coach, with the "We Are Family" Pittsburgh Pirates who became World Series Champions. That team included Willie Stargell and pitcher Bert Blyleven.


Through much of his career he and his wife Audrey made their off season home and raised their family in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, they relocated to Bradenton, Florida in 1980 during his time with the Pirates. After coaching he continued as a scout for several teams and was named the 2009 winner of the Roland Hemond Award by Baseball America in December 2009 that was presented to him at McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Florida. The award recognizes baseball figures who have made long-term contributions to scouting and player development operations. In January 2013 he was inducted into the Cedar Rapids Hall of Fame just a couple months shy of his 96 birthday he traveled to accept his award and give a speech. He had led the 1958 Cedar Rapids Braves to a Three-I League championship.


Monchak passed away on September 12, 2015 at the age of 98. At the time of his death, he was recognized as the third oldest living Major League player and oldest living Philadelphia Phillies player. He was preceded by his wife Audrey (nee Guidry in 2004), both of his siblings, brother Edward and sister Mary. He is survived by his son Alex Jr., daughter Trona, granddaughter Amanda, grandson Quinton and extended family. His internment is in the columbarium (joining Audrey) at Arlington National Cemetery where he received full military honors.

[Tobywan]

Erma Bergmann


Erma Mary Bergmann was born on June 18, 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri. Her father Otto was born in Schirradorf, Germany, into a large family, he had served in the German Army in 1908 when he was 23. The following year he emigrated to St. Louis where some of his brothers owned a bakery. He also fought for the US Army during WWI. He went to work at a meat packing plant as a butcher, in his free time, he often went to the German House where folks danced in costume to Bavarian folk tunes. This is where her parents met, Otto was now 37, mother Sophie was 30. When they married the newlyweds moved into her humble flat where she lived with her father above a shoe store. Erma was the oldest, Otto Jr. came along 15 months later, seven years after, brother Victor was born. They didn't have a lot, she and her brothers spent time playing baseball in vacant lots with neighborhood children. They would do odd jobs to scrape up a little money, once buying a bike that they all shared.

When she was 14 she was “discovered” by a local scout and asked to play in the women's St. Louis Amateur Softball League, she started out at third base. At 15 she played baseball for the Phantoms in a boy's baseball league and was featured often in the St. Louis Star-Times. She once pitched 10 straight wins and was named as one of the team's leading hitters. She also still played softball for Melbar Bakery, she made two all-star teams and traveled to Chicago to play in tournaments.

Sophie was a ragtime pianist and wanted Erma to take piano lessons, but she preferred the outdoors and playing ball. She took up the trombone and even performed through the early 1940's in local parades and events with the McKinley High School band. She was an above average student, the first in her family to graduate from high school. She had wanted to go on to the University of Missouri to major in physical education, but couldn't afford the tuition.

Her talent drew notice from scouts of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which Philip Wrigley, chewing-gum magnate and owner of
the Chicago Cubs, founded in 1943 to maintain interest in baseball while so many male players were in uniform during World War II. In 1944 a scout for
the AAGPBL named Al Nicolai approached her at the softball park. She turned down the first offer because her team manager told her if she didn't make the team she would lose her amateur status for two years and couldn't play. Just before spring training in 1946 the scout asked again, her mother was concerned, but accepted Erma's decision to give it a try, after all she was 21 now. Sophie was always very supportive of her children in anything they decided to do with their lives.

Nicolai, got $100 for the recruit, Bergmann got a bus ticket to Pascagoula, Mississippi. She not only made the expansion Muskegon Lassies inaugural team as an outfielder but was rated as one of the top rookies in 1946, according to Max Carey, then-president of the league. Her parents traveled to Rockford that season to watch her, it was the first time they ever saw her play, she hit a home run against the Peaches in the 9th to win the game 2-1. She loved the traveling, the people she met, friends she made and though the money was only equal to that of the men's Triple-A teams, it was more than she had ever made. At $75 a week in 1946 plus $3.50 meal money per day, it was a dramatic increase from her $18 a week stenographer’s salary. In 1947 they attended spring training in Havana, Cuba, Erma was filmed for Movie Tone News where her newsreel was shown in theaters. The Brooklyn Dodgers were there too, but the girls’ exhibition games drew bigger crowds. The girls had chaperones that became surrogate mothers and nurses as well as keeping the girls from violating curfews. That season they made her a pitcher, switching to a full side arm submarine style, she pitched a no-hitter on May 22 against the Grand Rapids Chicks. She finished with a 1.74 ERA and helped lead her team to win the pennant that year.

She played in 1948 for the Springfield Sallies, spent two seasons with the Racine Belles, her final season in the league was 1951 with the Battle Creek Belles. She didn't have the success as those first couple seasons playing for lousy teams. Her last season in the league, she led in losses (18), runs allowed (119) and earned runs (87). With the savings from her pro career, she was able to purchase a black 1951 Chevrolet convertible with a white top.

She switched leagues heading to the rival National Girls Baseball League from 1952 to 1954. She tied two league records by pitching a 23-inning game and hitting five singles in a game. After the 1954 season she hung up the cleats for good.

She played eight years amateur and nine years professional ball. In her professional career, she pitched 1,046 innings with a 2.56 career earned run average.

During her playing days she spent the off seasons working for Monsanto and McDonnell Aircraft. After baseball she got a job working at City Hall, she attended the Police Academy, showing off her proficiency in Judo. She began her career in law enforcement in 1956. In 1961 while serving on the decoy squad she was responding to a fellow officer’s aid call when she shot and wounded a suspect with her snub-nosed revolver. Her sergeant praised her quick response and accurate shooting. Her last assignment was working in prisoner processing, she retired in September 1981 after 25 years of exemplary service on the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

The store flat she and her family lived in for decades was torn down and in 1958 the Bergmanns moved to the Bevo Mill neighborhood, after her parents passed away in the 1970's, she and her siblings lived in the area for remainder of their lives.


When director Penny Marshall was doing research for an upcoming movie she was to film about the women's professional league she traveled to Cooperstown, New York where the AAGPBL was holding their reunion in 1988. One of the ladies she spoke to about her experience was Bergmann, asking her if the time spent in the game had an affect in her later life. Erma said the education and experience helped her in every way. That same year the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., included her picture, ball glove and one of her team contracts in a permanent exhibit on women in baseball. The women's professional league was somewhat forgotten until the release of that Hollywood film "A League of Their Own " in 1992. Bergmann continued to get fan mail and autograph requests and always answered the mail herself. It brought so much new interest that many of the ladies including Bergmann were sought out for interviews and appearances for many years.

On March 26, 1996, she was inducted into the St. Louis Amateur Softball Hall of Fame. She played third base at the old St. Louis Softball Park at Shenandoah and Ohio Avenues from 1938 to 1945.

McKinley High School dedicated a locker to Bergmann when the school celebrated its centennial in 2003.

In 2007 she was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame after recommendations from the St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa, Heidi Glaus of Channel 5 and former shortstop for the Cardinals, Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith. She was the only woman in the class and attended the event with Smith as her special guest.

On her 90th birthday in June 2014 she threw out the first pitch of a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium. She was joined by former AAGPBL players Audrey Kissel and Barbara Hoffman.


She passed away at her home in St. Louis on September 13, 2015. She was preceded in death by her parents as well as brothers Otto Jr. (2010) and Victor (2000), there are no immediate survivors. She was buried a Sunset Memorial Park in Affton, Missouri.












Audrey Kissel, Erma Bergmann and Barbara Hoffman