Top of the 4th: Champions

The Lebanon Little League All-Stars shown in the picture were coached by my Dad.(left) In the front row middle is Mark "WHO" Campbell. After coaching the Midget League White Sox Dad stayed active in Lebanon baseball coaching other teams and being active in the sport at all levels. Dad served as Little League President and also served as President of the Optimist Club. The Optimist were a sponsor of the Babe Ruth League in Lebanon. One of Dad's accomplishments was dividing the league into a Junior Division and a Senior Divison. Gregg, Scott and Mark played in Little League, each of them making the All-Star team, and Babe Ruth league. Gregg and Scott also played High School Baseball making All-District or All-Conference teams. In addition Gregg played Legion Baseball and earned a Baseball Scholarship to Crowder Community College in Neosho, Missouri.

The picture is on a page with an article about the Little League all-stars but also includes an article about Lebanon's Babe Ruth All-Stars advancing to the state tournament in the 14-15 year old division. On that team is Scott Campbell who played shortstop. Seems like Gregg and Scott primarily played 2nd base or Shortstop.

There were several occassions when Dad formed pick-up teams to go play at the Mickey Owen Baseball school in Miller, Missouri. One such occassion had several boys of Gregg's age but included the Hilme & Clark fathers and sons from the Midget League days. During this era Mickey Owen was the Sheriff of Greene County, MO (Springfield) whom Dad had met through other civic activities in Lebanon, notably Boy Scouts. So, who was Mickey Owen and why did he have a baseball school? Mickey Owen was a catcher who played professional baseball between 1937-1954. Most notably he played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Brooklyn Dodgers. He is most famous for a particular event that took place in the 1941 World Series, Brooklyn vs Yankees. Quoting from an article: "During the championship season, he set a record for most errorless fielding chances by a catcher with 508 perfect attempts. Ironically, Owen earned a place in baseball lore for a costly passed ball that he was charged with during the '41 World Series." The Dodgers led 4-3 in the top of the ninth inning. With two outs and a 3-2 count on the batter, Owen missed a swinging 3rd strike. The Yankees went on to rally, won the game and took a 3 games to 1 lead in the series. The next day the Yankees won the world championship in game 5. -30-

Bottom of the 3rd: From Worst to First

Part of the caption from this picture says: "The Lebanon Optimist took time Monday night to express appreciation for the improvements to the baseball diamond at Lebanon High School provided by the memorial funds of the late Jim Campbell, Harold Beaver and Lloyd Johnson......Above from the left are: Faye Beaver, Dorothy Johnson and Rita Campbell."
I had mentioned this memorial in the last blog post. Mom was also active in Lebanon Little League. One year she ran the concession stand at Maplecrest Park, where the Major League teams had their games. That was a year I played in the Babe Ruth League, I think Dad was still coaching Scott in the Midget League and Gregg was playing in the Major League. Some nights our family would be at three different parks.
In the second year of Dad coaching the Midget League White Sox he had many of the same boys from the previous year, who were now a year older. I remember Dad talking to the boys/team at one practice asking them about winning vs. everyone playing. He was committed to giving everyone a chance to play but wanted them to help make this decision. Some close games would come when getting everyone in the game would be difficult. You have to remember, in this era and this league there were no limitations about not keeping score, everyone bat in the inning regardless of outs,etc. The only special rule I remember was that a boy could not pitch more than six innings in a week. Don't get me wrong these are good in controlling coaches who want to win at all costs. Dad let the boys help make the decision and they all understood it. I remember one game where a boy did not get in the game. His parents were upset and told Dad so after the game. He explained the team decision, calmed the mother down and she eventually became one of the best fans of the team.
Now, back to the games.... This second year went a lot better than the first. The team was winning games. In one game the White Sox were behind and a parent told Dad that he hadn't worn his "lucky" shirt. Dad hadn't realized he had worn it to all the games so far, so Mom made a trip home to get it for Dad. With his "lucky" shirt the team won the game. At another game he ripped the sleeve of the shirt on the fence. The White Sox got behind and several mothers were ready with needle and thread to sew up the tear. Again, the White Sox won the game. In the previous blog I think Dad is wearing that lucky shirt; brown with vertical tan & white stripes. The team wore orange hats. Two of the other hot teams in the league were the Senators, coached by Mr. Hilme and I think the Pirates, coached by Mr. Clark. Both of them had a son on their team. The games with the Senators and Pirates were always close, hard fought and exciting games. When the season was over Dad and the Midget League White Sox finished in first place with a record of 14 - 0. I thought it interesting that the next year Gregg played on the Major League Cubs. Two of his team mates were the sons of Hilme and Clark. -30-

Third Inning: Lebanon Little League

While searching for information about Lebanon Little League on the internet, I came across a notice in the Lebanon Daily Record. Glenn Drake had recently passed away at the age of 90. Mr. Drake was active in Lebanon youth baseball, especially the Babe Ruth League. He had been instrumental in getting the Babe Ruth World Series to Lebanon. There were many other men in Lebanon who were active and important to Lebanon Youth Baseball, some of them being Ollie Scott, Harold Beaver and my Dad. Dad served in many capacities; as a Midget League coach, Little League President, and President of the Optimist Club that sponsored the Babe Ruth League. At his death a memorial was set up for improvements to the High School baseball field that was shared by the Babe Ruth League.
Lebanon Little League was organized into three leagues; Midget League for boys age 8-9, Minor League for boys age 10-12. These leagues had 8 teams each. The teams were the Red Sox, Pirates, Reds, Colts, Phillies, Mets, White Sox and Senators. There was a Major League of six teams for boys age 10-12 who were the "better" players. These teams were the Cardinals, Orioles, Dodgers, Yankees and Cubs. I can't remember the name of the sixth team.I played for two years (age 11 & 12) on the Minor League Reds.
Dad began his involvement with Lebanon Youth baseball by coaching the Midget League White Sox for two years. During those two years my brother Gregg played on the team along with some other kids from our neighborhood, such as Mike Eidson, Gene Eidson and Royce Crisp who lived in the neighborhood for a short time. Most of the boys on that first team were 8 years old and just beginning to play organized baseball. In those games score was kept and there was a winning and losing team. The team had lots of fun, the boys learned a lot, but by the time they game to their 14th and final game they were 0 - 13. In this final game Dad decided to surprise the other team. He prepared a lineup with names of Peanut characters which Mr. West the announcer at Gasconade Park read off. Players were announced as Linus, Schroeder, Pigpen, Snoopy, etc. My brother Scott was announced as Charlie Brown AND the pitcher. Dad put him in the largest team jersey he had which happened to have the largest number, 14. Scott didn't pitch in the game, but his warm-ups on the mound had the opposing team all psyched out wondering if this little kid was really going to pitch. It seems like the opposing team may have been in first place. The game began and Dad moved kids around every inning, letting every one pitch that wanted to. I remember Gene Eidson caught a fly ball in the outfield. That was something pretty rare in midget league. When the dust settled the Midget League White Sox finished their season 0 - 14 but had some momentum to take them into the next season. -30-