Casty's Lines (July 8, 2009)

Covering the Bases

Major League Baseball commemorated the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's famous "luckiest man" speech this past weekend as it occurred on July 4, 1939. It occured to me that former T-Town resident (actually Osterhout) Joe Glenn was a teammate of Gehrig's and I wondered if he was present for the speech at Yankee Stadium.

As it turned out, the back-up catcher to Hall of Famer Bill Dickey was a Yankee teammate from 1932-1938. In 1939, he was traded to the St. Louis Browns and did not hear the famous address as the Yanks were hosting the Washington Senators that day in a doubleheader. Mr. Glenn and his St. Louis teammates were in Chicago playing the White Sox.

Although he was not present on that memorable day in the Bronx, he still has the distinction of being behind the plate for Babe Ruth's last game as a pitcher in 1933 and also behind the dish for Teddy Williams' only career mound appearance with the Red Sox in 1940.

While Mr. Glenn earned three World Series rings with New York in 1936, '37 and '38, I'm still miffed at the Yankees and  manager Joe McCarthy for not giving him at least one at bat in the Fall Classic. In 1936, for example, the Yanks beat the New York Giants 18-4 in Game Two and 13-5 in the deciding Game Six. I realize that they may have had only two catchers and didn't want to take a chance of not having a catcher if Glenn replaced Dickey and Glenn got hurt, but give me a break.

I made it up to Binghamton on Saturday evening to see my friend Tom Brookens, who is the manager of the Erie SeaWolves of the Eastern League. We chatted about the season thus far and what it was like to have former All-Star Dontrelle Willis on hand for a start. He noted that the D-Train did quite well within his the SeaWolves, but has really struggled otherwise. I first met Tom at a Mansfield alumni baseball game in 1978, the year before he made it to the "bigs." He played with Detroit from 1979 to 1988 and was on hand to pick up a World Championship ring in 1984 as the Tigers swept the San Diego Padres. He was traded to the Yankees in 1989 and ended his 12-year career with Cleveland in 1990. I remember being in Yankee Stadium in 1980, when he homered off of Ron.Guidry.

Little League All Stars

With the Little League Playoffs underway, here's a look back at another very successful local team that made an impact in the tournament.

It was the Summer of 1956 and the Roosevelt Trail All Stars made it all the way to Williamsport to the state semi-finals. I always thought that my dad was the assistant coach, but after researching the archives I learned that he was the manager and Eddie Sebastianelli from Meshoppen was his assistant.

The squad consisted of 15 boys with Tunkhannock being represented by Bobby Sheffler, Donny Marabell, Ralph Fisher, Danny Kenia and Tom Ford from Gay-Murray's and Bobby Montross, "Butch" Keller and Billy VanDuzer from Turrell Motors. Ken Taylor, Bob Keeney and Jim Kisner were from Wyalusing, while Roger Salsman and Earl Lewis represented Laceyville. Gerry McGavin and Michael Federovitch hailed from Meshoppen.

McGavin hurled RTL to a 10-5 win over Bob Horlacher to start the playoffs as Kisner belted two homers. Taylor won the second game, posting a 7-3 victory over Towanda. Keller and Sheffler combined for six hits and leadoff man Marabell drew three walks and singled.

Fisher picked up the mound win over Potter McKean in the District 15 title game as Keller, Kisner and Montross came through with the timely hits. The fourth win was a hard fought 4-2 win over Berwick as McGavin mowed down the opposition with 14 strikeouts. Montross and Kisner combined for five hits in the win. Taylor punched the RTL ticket to Williamsport as he hurled the locals to a 6-2 victory over Lock Haven with nine strikeouts.

The five wins were the most ever for an RTL team, but the youngsters ran into a talented bunch from the Pittsburgh area in the semi-finals and were eliminated by North Braddock by the tune of 5-2. Montross and Kenia were the only locals to hit safely in the season ending defeat. I recall being at the game and it was a sad ending to a sensational run at the state championship. However, I also remember that the local fans and businesses took up donations to send the boys to a major league game for their efforts in the tournament. I still have pictures of the excursion that included a train ride to Hoboken, a ferry ride to somewhere and a subway ride to Yankee Stadium. Imagine doing that today with 15 youngsters!

Ramblings

It's once again time for my good friend R.A. Griffis to attempt to claim ownership of the coveted All-Star Cup. This year the game is in St. Louis on July 14 and I don't have a very good feeling about the outcome. Other than 2002, when they ran out of pitchers and called it a tie, the AL has won every game since 1996. This year the NL is home and they are being managed by" Mr. Lucky" Charlie Manuel. I won't feel so bad if the AL loses this year as it's apparent that my Indians are not going to need the Home Field in the World Series and R.A.'s Mets are really having a tough year and I feel sorry for him.

Football's just around the corner sports fans and former Tiger great Frank Wiggins is already telling me that the Browns don't stand a chance against his Steelers. I told him that it's very difficult to repeat, as everyone is gunning for the Super Bowl Champs. My Brownies don't have that problem.

Penn State freshman Eric Shrive is rated as one of the Top Twenty Incoming Recruits in the Big Ten this fall. Shrive was on the West Scranton team that scrimmaged the Tigers the past few years. West Sider Matt McCloin is also vying for playing time at QB for the Nittany Lions, but traditionally "walk-ons" have a difficult road than the regular recruits.

Tiger boys' basketball coach Bob Miller is looking to organize an "alumni night" for the upcoming season. He's hoping to bring back as many "blasts from the past" as he can and perhaps have a game or just honor those who have played roundball for the Tigers. More to follow.

Trivia

The Durlands knew that the "expansion" Lake Winola Indians got permission from Russ Hons to play their home games at Falls-Overfield High School. I look at the fields that youngsters play on today and I say that we've come a long way baby. Thank goodness!

Who was Art Keefer and why did they name a baseball field after him?