1960 BARRELL BROTHERS UPDATE
ROLLIE BARRELL
Rollie turned 64 in 1960, leaving him one more year as President of the Detroit Maroons Football Club, following a promise he'd made to his wife to retire on his 65th birthday. While Rollie would retain ownership of the Maroons, he would no longer participate in running the club's business. This put him on the horns of a dilemma. His original plan had been to put Allie on the club board and promote her as president, but his daughter had been in California for several years, working in the front office of the San Francisco Sailors baseball club. She had also married a Bay Area businessman named Victor Bertram, who ran a midsize shipping business. Rollie considered hiring his other son-in-law—Marty's husband, Jack McCarver—who had played pro football and was now coaching in California, but Jack wasn’t interested in the "business side" of things. Rollie was wary of going outside the family, but Francie was adamant that he retire, and in this, she was supported by Rollie's doctor, who was concerned about Rollie's heart. Therefore, as the year 1960 ended, Rollie faced an ultimatum: find a new president by April or sell the team. As for the team, 1960 had been a pretty good season. The Maroons posted a 7-5 record, tying them for first with the KC Cowboys. Unfortunately, the Cowboys dismantled them 54-10 in the playoffs before losing the AFA Championship Game to New York.
JACK BARRELL
Jack Barrell was tired at the end of the 1959-60 season, so much so that the 62-year-old coach called it quits. "I'm not a spring chicken anymore," he said. "It's time to turn this game over to the younger men." Jack retires with six Cup wins as a coach.
DAN BARRELL
Dan's labors seemed to bear fruit in 1960. Cal Poly's football team posted a 7-3 record, its best in years. The basketball team had a down year (13-18), but the baseball program was doing well. Overall, the Board of Trustees was happy with Dan's performance; he knew they only really paid attention to the football team.
FRED BARRELL
Fred remained as station chief in Berlin, monitoring the Soviets in the divided city. Many East Berliners—and East Germans in general—had been flooding into West Berlin in recent years, seeking a better life in West Germany. A big chunk of Fred's time was spent vetting people to weed out any potential spies.
TOM BARRELL
Tom began to suffer from wanderlust in 1960. His job, working for his nephew James' stock car circuit, mainly involved glad-handing and entertaining various sponsors, automakers, and occasionally disgruntled drivers. NARF enjoyed another successful season, and while Marla and their kids enjoyed living in North Carolina, Tom felt the pull of competition. He mentioned the idea of returning to managing—or even coaching—in FABL. Marla was opposed to this, remembering how moody Tom had been while managing, taking every loss personally. Tom knew she was right but also knew that he would only grow more disgruntled unless he made a change.
BOBBY BARRELL
Bobby's tenure with NBC ended after the '59 season as the network hired Rabbit Day for its broadcasts. However, Bobby wasn’t out of work for long; ABC signed him for their own Saturday telecasts, winning a bidding war with CBS for Barrell's services as all three major networks featured weekend baseball telecasts.
HARRY BARRELL
Riding high after winning the 1959 WCS, Harry's Minutemen repeated, posting a 90-64 record to hold off the Chiefs and Pioneers to win the Federal pennant. They again faced the Cleveland Foresters in the Fall Classic and won the series in five games. Harry was named FA Manager of the Year, claiming his third championship ring, having won one as a player with the 1937 Brooklyn Kings.
TOM BOWENS
Coming off a 9-2 season and a win in the Lone Star Classic that propelled his CCLA Coyotes to a #7 ranking in the final poll, Coach Tom Bowens had high hopes for 1960. Unfortunately, the team took a step back, finishing 6-4 and missing a Classic invite. Tom was unhappy with the state of the defense—he was an offensive-minded coach—and quietly began searching for a top-notch defensive coordinator, likely someone not already working in the AIAA.
DEUCE BARRELL
Deuce turned 43 in June and had an uneven year for the Foresters in his return from an arm injury in '59. He posted a 12-10 record with a 4.25 ERA for the pennant-winning Foresters, pushing his lifetime record to 329-202. The season ended with a disastrous WCS start against Boston, where the Minutemen pounded him for seven hits and three walks, scoring six earned runs in just two and two-thirds innings in his only appearance of the series, which Cleveland lost four games to one. Facing questions about retirement, Deuce said his desire to compete had not waned and that he planned to return in 1961. A 13-win season in 1961 would move him into third place on the all-time win list.
JAMES SLOCUM
James enjoyed NARF's twelfth season, another successful one. The circuit ran 44 races, most of which drew well, and a few were even televised locally. James had big plans—for one, he wanted to build a second superspeedway after seeing the success of the track he'd built on the large parcel of farmland bequeathed to him by his grandfather Rufus Barrell. He was negotiating with several municipalities in North and South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee, seeking the ideal location. His family life was as rewarding as he could have hoped: he and Rose now had five children. Their oldest, Brenda, turned 11 in 1960; their oldest son, Paul, was born just over a year later. After him came two more boys—James Powell Slocum, a boisterous force of nature whom everyone called J.P., and Edward (Eddie). Their youngest, who turned four that year, was named Claudia after James' mother, but everyone called her Sissy because J.P. refused to call her by name, referring to her only as "Little Sissy."
ROGER CLEAVES
Roger's first season as a manager was spent in Davenport, where he led Toronto's Class A Heartland League affiliate to a middling 69-71, sixth-place finish. It was therefore a big surprise when he received an interview request from the Washington Eagles for their managerial opening. The interview went well, and Roger was hired on October 21, signing a two-year deal to manage in Washington.
CHARLIE BARRELL
1960 was a strong year for Charlie. He established career highs in at-bats (629), hits (201), doubles (41), triples (7), and RBIs (105) while scoring 96 runs for the second straight season and belting 18 home runs. Even better, the Stars improved, tying for fourth place with a 77-77 record, leading the league in home runs, and placing second in runs scored. Pitcher Dewey Allcock took a step forward, emerging as the team's ace with a 19-10, 3.31 season (despite a puzzling second-place finish in the CA Allen race). Charlie hit ahead of his cousin Ralph (more on him below), and together they became a fearsome tandem. FABL introduced a new defensive award—the Diamond Defense Award—and Charlie won the CA award for second basemen. On the personal front, Charlie married Anna Czerwinska in November. He told his mother that the marriage had felt inevitable and that it was only in late 1959 that he realized he had fallen for Anna. His best man was Ralph Barrell, and the groomsmen were Deuce Barrell, Roger Cleaves, Reid Barrell, and two of Anna's brothers: Adrian and Stan Czerwinski. With the wedding held in Los Angeles, newspapers dubbed it "Baseball's Royal Wedding" due to the many FABL players, ex-players, and management in attendance.
MIKE BARRELL
In his fourth year as a member of the U.S. Army, 1st Lt. Mike Barrell began considering his options as his five-year enlistment term neared its end in 1961. He hadn't lost his competitive spirit and was in excellent physical condition, leading him to consider playing professional football or basketball. He had also proven to be an excellent soldier and leader, earning a promotion to Captain in October.
STEVE BARRELL
Steve had a solid 1958-59 season, though he missed 22 games due to a dislocated shoulder and a later concussion. He posted a respectable stat line of 13.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. The Centurions finished with a 39-37 record, securing second place in the Eastern Division of the FBL and earning a playoff berth. They swept Philadelphia in the first round and upset division champion New York in the semifinals, but they fell in the finals, losing 4 games to 1 to the St. Louis Rockets.
FREDDY BARRELL
Freddy had middling success again in 1960, participating in about two-thirds of the pro golf tour events and making the cut about half the time. Though he earned enough to scrape by, he wasn’t sure if he could improve enough to become a true contender.
BENNY BARRELL
Benny spent the entire 1959-60 season with the Detroit Motors, appearing in 58 games and posting underwhelming totals of 5 goals and 11 assists for 16 points, averaging 14:38 of ice time as the left wing on the team's second line. Detroit finished with a 30-28-12 record, missing the playoffs by two points and placing fifth in the six-team league.
HOBIE BARRELL
Hobie Barrell continued to be the most-talked-about prospect in junior hockey. In the season when he turned 18, Hobie scored 46 goals and added 59 assists in 61 games for Halifax. Despite finishing fourth with a sub-.500 record of 23-31-10, Hobie was second in points (105), third in goals, and seventh in assists.
RALPH BARRELL
Things couldn't have gone much better for Ralph Barrell in 1960. At 20 years old, he was an emerging star playing in Hollywood alongside his cousin Charlie. The only blemish on the season was a groin injury in June that sidelined him for six weeks. In his first full FABL season, Ralph played 107 games, hit .325, belted 25 home runs, and showed surprising competence at third base—a pleasant surprise, as he had always assumed he'd play the outfield like his father.
REID BARRELL
Unlike his cousin Ralph, Reid Barrell spent 1960 in the minor leagues. He played half the season in Spokane (Class B) before earning a promotion to Class A Gary. Reid showed great promise at Class A, hitting .299 and becoming an extra-base hit machine with 16 doubles, 9 triples, and 12 homers in 298 at-bats. His defense at second base remained a concern. His father, Harry Barrell, believed Reid’s struggles were due to his "intense desire to play shortstop" rather than second base.
Charlie and Anna Barrell, Wedding Photo, 1960