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Eugene Church · 09-13-2020, 09:10 PM

MY LIFE IN 1953
EC's Glee in '53

After an absence of three years EC is home again in Mobile, Alabama, the Azalea City... home of the bee-you-tee-full Bellingrath Gardens... go in the Spring when the Azaleas are in their bull bloom and full glory... also home of the first Mardi Gras in the United States... I personally prefer Mardi Gras in Mobile... it's more like a State Fair with parades... and really kid friendly... New Orleans is mainly parades and catching worthless beads... and of course, Mobile is the home of the Mobile Bears, my favorite team of all times in my beloved Southern Association... I think the Southern Association started in 1901 and lasted until 1960.

EC is in his glory... going to Hartwell Field to watch the Bears... listening to Jack Bitterman do the play-by-play on WABB radio... and reading about the Bears in the Mobile Press-Register... thought I'd share a couple of box scores... I loved the "Bear-O-Meter" (a play on the word "barometer"), which gave all the current stats of the Mobile players... the New Orleans Times-Picayune presents "Baseball Barometer", which is the league standings of all the leagues the paper covers.

The Bears are pretty bad... first baseman Norm Larker was an very good first baseman... he spent 6 seasons in the Major Leagues and had a couple of decent years... he hit .323 for Brooklyn one year... Larker played 3 years with Mobile... .300 hitter, 20 homers, 75 RBIs... Ray Shearer was a fine center fielder and played for Mobile for 3 seasons... a .300 hitter with good power, around 25-30 doubles and 20 homers a season with 85-100 RBIs in Double A and Triple A... he was just a 12-year journeyman minor league outfielder... but he did hit .500 for Montreal in the Major Leagues... yeah, I know... he only had 3 at bats... was 1 for 2 with a walk... Shearer was one of my all-time favorite Bears... I also see Dick Teed... a fine defensive catcher in Double A and Triple A... .280 hitter in 3 seasons with the Bears.

New Orleans is better than the Bears... must have been the pitching staff... the regulars do not look much better than Mobile... Double A and Triple A first baseman Al Grunwald had 3 good seasons with the Pelicans, hitting .293, .320 and .332... 30 doubles, 20 homers a year... 100 RBIs... Gail Henley was a solid minor-league center fielder that could hit... Triple A and Double A... played 6 years in the Southern Association compiled a .285 BA with 25 doubles, 15 homers and 75 RBIs on average... Mel Brookey was a good defensive catcher... not much of a hitter... batted around .260... no power 2-3 homers a year... 50 RBIs... and Felipe Montemayor, a fine defensive center fielder... played 4 years with the Pels, batting .277, .282, .236 and .309... one year was outstanding with 30 doubles, 6 triples, 24 homers, 100 RBIs... Montemayor played a few games in the Majors with the terrible Pirates... over 2 seasons he played 64 games and batted only .173 for Pittsburgh.

Sorry, I think the Associated Press or Elias Sports would abbreviate players' names to fit them in the box scores... the print quality of the Mobile Press-Register is sometimes pretty bad.
Note that it was Ladies Night at Hartwell Field in Mobile... 557 ladies got in free to the game... only 926 paid admissions... Mobile was not a good sports city, except for the wonderful Senior Bowl All-Star Football Game that is held each year at Ladd Memorial Stadium... that's where my high school graduation was held... outdoors for 922 graduates of Murphy High School,which was the largest high school in the South at that time... it was a beautiful southern night under southern skies and I got to sit next to one of the school's beauty queens at graduation... I was in awe at first, but then found out to my surprise, she was just an average gal, like I was an average guy... she was not stuck up or uppity at all, y'all... actually she was quite friendly and amiable toward EC... she was a very nice young southern belle.

09-13-2020, 09:10 PM	#1755
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 36,237	MY LIFE IN 1953 EC's Glee in '53 After an absence of three years EC is home again in Mobile, Alabama, the Azalea City... home of the bee-you-tee-full Bellingrath Gardens... go in the Spring when the Azaleas are in their bull bloom and full glory... also home of the first Mardi Gras in the United States... I personally prefer Mardi Gras in Mobile... it's more like a State Fair with parades... and really kid friendly... New Orleans is mainly parades and catching worthless beads... and of course, Mobile is the home of the Mobile Bears, my favorite team of all times in my beloved Southern Association... I think the Southern Association started in 1901 and lasted until 1960. EC is in his glory... going to Hartwell Field to watch the Bears... listening to Jack Bitterman do the play-by-play on WABB radio... and reading about the Bears in the Mobile Press-Register... thought I'd share a couple of box scores... I loved the "Bear-O-Meter" (a play on the word "barometer"), which gave all the current stats of the Mobile players... the New Orleans Times-Picayune presents "Baseball Barometer", which is the league standings of all the leagues the paper covers. The Bears are pretty bad... first baseman Norm Larker was an very good first baseman... he spent 6 seasons in the Major Leagues and had a couple of decent years... he hit .323 for Brooklyn one year... Larker played 3 years with Mobile... .300 hitter, 20 homers, 75 RBIs... Ray Shearer was a fine center fielder and played for Mobile for 3 seasons... a .300 hitter with good power, around 25-30 doubles and 20 homers a season with 85-100 RBIs in Double A and Triple A... he was just a 12-year journeyman minor league outfielder... but he did hit .500 for Montreal in the Major Leagues... yeah, I know... he only had 3 at bats... was 1 for 2 with a walk... Shearer was one of my all-time favorite Bears... I also see Dick Teed... a fine defensive catcher in Double A and Triple A... .280 hitter in 3 seasons with the Bears. New Orleans is better than the Bears... must have been the pitching staff... the regulars do not look much better than Mobile... Double A and Triple A first baseman Al Grunwald had 3 good seasons with the Pelicans, hitting .293, .320 and .332... 30 doubles, 20 homers a year... 100 RBIs... Gail Henley was a solid minor-league center fielder that could hit... Triple A and Double A... played 6 years in the Southern Association compiled a .285 BA with 25 doubles, 15 homers and 75 RBIs on average... Mel Brookey was a good defensive catcher... not much of a hitter... batted around .260... no power 2-3 homers a year... 50 RBIs... and Felipe Montemayor, a fine defensive center fielder... played 4 years with the Pels, batting .277, .282, .236 and .309... one year was outstanding with 30 doubles, 6 triples, 24 homers, 100 RBIs... Montemayor played a few games in the Majors with the terrible Pirates... over 2 seasons he played 64 games and batted only .173 for Pittsburgh. Sorry, I think the Associated Press or Elias Sports would abbreviate players' names to fit them in the box scores... the print quality of the Mobile Press-Register is sometimes pretty bad. Note that it was Ladies Night at Hartwell Field in Mobile... 557 ladies got in free to the game... only 926 paid admissions... Mobile was not a good sports city, except for the wonderful Senior Bowl All-Star Football Game that is held each year at Ladd Memorial Stadium... that's where my high school graduation was held... outdoors for 922 graduates of Murphy High School,which was the largest high school in the South at that time... it was a beautiful southern night under southern skies and I got to sit next to one of the school's beauty queens at graduation... I was in awe at first, but then found out to my surprise, she was just an average gal, like I was an average guy... she was not stuck up or uppity at all, y'all... actually she was quite friendly and amiable toward EC... she was a very nice young southern belle. Attached Images Last edited by Eugene Church; 09-13-2020 at 10:07 PM.