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Eugene Church · 04-08-2020, 09:52 PM

MY LIFE IN 1952
EC's Just Havin' Fun in '52, Too!

School is out... thank goodness, C. J. Colton School on St. Claude Avenue has again called it another school year!
I passed everything... made all A's again in everything... except for that everlovin' thing called "deportment"... yeah, EC made a C+ in "conduct"... think I probably talked a little bit too much in class a little bit too much... was not always on my best "behavior"... actually, I think it was "guilt by association":... my good buddy... actually, my good "bad" buddy, Mitchell Savoie, could be a "bad" boy sometimes... Mitch would harass the ladies in class... and EC just happened to always be in the vicinity of Mitch when he did something of an unpleasant nature to Felicidad Del Monte... she was his favorite target... and though I was innocent of any wrong doing, Felicidad always included my name when filing a complaint to the teachers.

An now, a historic event... EC's first ball team... my first time to play organized ball... my phys ed teacher, Mr. Anthony Savoca, organized a baseball team for us... we played in the 12-year-old NORD League (New Orleans Recreation Department)... games were played at City Park where there were about 15 ball diamonds... we were the Colton Comets... guess who came up with that name?... yep, yours truly, EC... later on when Colton became a junior high school, that was the school's nickname... naw, they never paid me any royalties for using my creative property... let's see if I can remember anybody that played on that team... Albert Link was our very tall first sacker... he could really hit and catch the ball, our best player... I played third base... was a "good field, no hit" kind of player... that was always the story of my baseball career... but I could really play defense... nothing got by me at third base... and I had a rocket for an arm... and was very accurate, too... rarely made an error... next to me at shortstop was our second-best player, Sal Ragusa... good hitter and a good fielder... at second base was Johnny Cannatella... Johnny was OK... but he was slow and a little on the chubby side... so-so fielder and just a fair hitter... that's all of the players I can recall... hey, that was 68 years ago, my friend... give an old man a break!.. I think we played about 8 games that season and finished 3-5... we were not a very good team... but we did play the unbeaten Molenaar Pals, the best team in the league, a close game... they beat us 3-2... they had a fancy dan southpaw that we couldn't hit... and they had something else the Colton Comets didn't have - beautiful caps, jerseys and pants... we just wore dungarees and some old ball cap... none of us matched.

I also played for the Union Tigers, a NORD League team... I may have played for them when I was 11... they put me in right field... and no EC was never an outfielder... never could judge fly balls in the outfield unless it was hit high and in front of me... somehow I managed to catch that kind of a ball... a guy named Jimmy O'Brian was the pitcher... Zeph Jensen was a really fine shortstop... he got me on the team... he was my next-door neighbor on Downman Road... I also remember we had a really good center fielder named Warren Gravois... years later I saw him again at LSUNO (Louisiana State University in New Orleans)… he was the school's photographer... I graduated from LSUNO... it's now called the University of New Orleans... that's where I met my lovely wife, the joy of my life... OOTPB is a very distant number two to her!

This past weekend I went downtown on Canal Street and saw a movie "Sinners Holiday" at the Strand... the original title of the movie was "Christmas Ever"... it starred one of my all-time favorite gangsters, George Raft... George Brent and Randolph Scott were in it, too... it was a double feature... the second movie "Border Saddlemates" was a B western with Rex Allen, a Singing Cowboy with a smart horse, Koko... the horse was smarter than most of the people in the movie.

Sunday night my Mama, Daddy, little 2-year-old sister, Lynda, and me went to a great amusement park and beach... Pontchartrain Beach... they had live shows every night... always free shows... you just had to pay for the rides and the food... there was no admission charge... sometimes it was popular singers... much of the time it was trapeze artists... it was thrilling to watch them swing and sway on the high wires... it was scary... we just knew they were going to fall... and yes, looking back on it, I think they "faked" falling sometimes, just to give up a thrill... there were lots and lots of "oohs and ahs".

EC had a great weekend!
Life is good for EC... yeah, life is good for EC.

04-08-2020, 09:52 PM	#1325
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 36,214	MY LIFE IN 1952 EC's Just Havin' Fun in '52, Too! School is out... thank goodness, C. J. Colton School on St. Claude Avenue has again called it another school year! I passed everything... made all A's again in everything... except for that everlovin' thing called "deportment"... yeah, EC made a C+ in "conduct"... think I probably talked a little bit too much in class a little bit too much... was not always on my best "behavior"... actually, I think it was "guilt by association":... my good buddy... actually, my good "bad" buddy, Mitchell Savoie, could be a "bad" boy sometimes... Mitch would harass the ladies in class... and EC just happened to always be in the vicinity of Mitch when he did something of an unpleasant nature to Felicidad Del Monte... she was his favorite target... and though I was innocent of any wrong doing, Felicidad always included my name when filing a complaint to the teachers. An now, a historic event... EC's first ball team... my first time to play organized ball... my phys ed teacher, Mr. Anthony Savoca, organized a baseball team for us... we played in the 12-year-old NORD League (New Orleans Recreation Department)... games were played at City Park where there were about 15 ball diamonds... we were the Colton Comets... guess who came up with that name?... yep, yours truly, EC... later on when Colton became a junior high school, that was the school's nickname... naw, they never paid me any royalties for using my creative property... let's see if I can remember anybody that played on that team... Albert Link was our very tall first sacker... he could really hit and catch the ball, our best player... I played third base... was a "good field, no hit" kind of player... that was always the story of my baseball career... but I could really play defense... nothing got by me at third base... and I had a rocket for an arm... and was very accurate, too... rarely made an error... next to me at shortstop was our second-best player, Sal Ragusa... good hitter and a good fielder... at second base was Johnny Cannatella... Johnny was OK... but he was slow and a little on the chubby side... so-so fielder and just a fair hitter... that's all of the players I can recall... hey, that was 68 years ago, my friend... give an old man a break!.. I think we played about 8 games that season and finished 3-5... we were not a very good team... but we did play the unbeaten Molenaar Pals, the best team in the league, a close game... they beat us 3-2... they had a fancy dan southpaw that we couldn't hit... and they had something else the Colton Comets didn't have - beautiful caps, jerseys and pants... we just wore dungarees and some old ball cap... none of us matched. I also played for the Union Tigers, a NORD League team... I may have played for them when I was 11... they put me in right field... and no EC was never an outfielder... never could judge fly balls in the outfield unless it was hit high and in front of me... somehow I managed to catch that kind of a ball... a guy named Jimmy O'Brian was the pitcher... Zeph Jensen was a really fine shortstop... he got me on the team... he was my next-door neighbor on Downman Road... I also remember we had a really good center fielder named Warren Gravois... years later I saw him again at LSUNO (Louisiana State University in New Orleans)… he was the school's photographer... I graduated from LSUNO... it's now called the University of New Orleans... that's where I met my lovely wife, the joy of my life... OOTPB is a very distant number two to her! This past weekend I went downtown on Canal Street and saw a movie "Sinners Holiday" at the Strand... the original title of the movie was "Christmas Ever"... it starred one of my all-time favorite gangsters, George Raft... George Brent and Randolph Scott were in it, too... it was a double feature... the second movie "Border Saddlemates" was a B western with Rex Allen, a Singing Cowboy with a smart horse, Koko... the horse was smarter than most of the people in the movie. Sunday night my Mama, Daddy, little 2-year-old sister, Lynda, and me went to a great amusement park and beach... Pontchartrain Beach... they had live shows every night... always free shows... you just had to pay for the rides and the food... there was no admission charge... sometimes it was popular singers... much of the time it was trapeze artists... it was thrilling to watch them swing and sway on the high wires... it was scary... we just knew they were going to fall... and yes, looking back on it, I think they "faked" falling sometimes, just to give up a thrill... there were lots and lots of "oohs and ahs". EC had a great weekend! Life is good for EC... yeah, life is good for EC. Attached Images Last edited by Eugene Church; 04-08-2020 at 10:10 PM.