Ec's north island recreation league

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, May 26, 1952

GATORS 6-GAME STRING BROKEN BY CUBS
The unexpected happened in the South Island Second League yesterday... the Delacroix Cubs surprised the top team, the Guedon Gators and put an end to their six-game winning string... the Cubs outhit the Gators in a runfest 11-8... no problem for Guedon, they still hold a two-game edge over second place St. Dominic... in other league action the Saints were victorious over the Bayou Bleu Blues 4-3 and the Chitamaca Moccasins rallied past the Meraux Tigers 8-7... there are 7 games remaining on the schedule.

If Delacroix could whip Guedon, there's hope for several other clubs, too... there may still be a pennant race in the SISL... Delacroix, Meraux and Chitamaca are 3 games behind the league-leading Gators.

Taking a gander at the South Island Second League leaderboards shows each category is still up for grabs... Connie Ryan of St. Domimic has the best batting average... he sports a .407 mark, followed by Clinton Theriot of Meraux and Mike Rogers of Guedon, both batting at a .396 pace... Bayou Bleu slugger Luc Desselle has hit 6 out of the park for the top spot with four players close on his heels... Rufus Chauvin of Delacroix has 5 boomers and Chitamaca's Matt Briscoe, Meraux's Buddy Brodnax and Delacroix's Chaucey Guilbeau all have 4 homers... Chauvin has a good lead in RBIs with 17... Desselle is number two with 13... and Theriot, Briscoe and Guedon's Winky Biggio have driven in 12 apiece... Ryan is tops with 22 hits with Theriot in second place with 21... Guedon's George Thomas leads the SIRL with 17 runs... and Adam Derouen of Chitamaca and Ryan are tied for the most stolen bases with 9.

The pitching leaders are Chris Charlet (6-2) with the most victories with 6... Paul Amiss of St. Dominic (5-2) is runner-up with 5... Gerry McClure (2-4) is tops with a 1.84 ERA, followed by Amiss with a 1.94 ERA and Charlet with a 2.95 ERA... Charlet leads in strikeouts with 56 in 88 innings... Amiss and Mario Michelli of Meraux are number two with 49 each... Amiss has tossed 65 innings and 62 innings... Charlet has hurled 2 shutouts.

[Eugene Church]

Delete.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

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

Well, let see... ye olde school year is winding down... guess what?... EC is back in the sixth grade at Colton where I started the school year... went to Blake in Sheffield a month or so and now I'm back in New Orleans... I got back in time to go to City Park... most of the elementary grades would go there for an end-of-the-school-year celebration... it was an amusement park with a beautiful carousel... it was one of the best carousels in the world... there was a ferris wheel, tilt-a-whirl, pedal boats and a small rollercoaster... also a Tunnel of Love... one would ride through it on a pedal boat, hopefully with the cute girls in the class... and a wonderful train that would take you on a ride all around City Park, which is a beautiful place with magnificent live oak trees... much of this was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, but most of it has been restored... we enjoyed hot dogs, cokes, snowballs and cotton candy... if you ever go to New Orleans, be sure to go to City Park... if you like sweets, don't miss the food pavilion... it serves hot, cooked-to-order beignets with lots and lots of powdered sugar piled on top of them... Oh My Goodness Gracious, How Sweet It Is!

And now, something that is very near and dear to my heart... my beloved Southern Association... wow!... EC is in Hog Heaven... my Mobile Bears and New Orleans Pelicans are the top two teams in the league... they are running neck-and-neck in the standings... the Bears are ahead by one and a half games over the Pels... two and a half better than the third place Atlanta Crackers and four and a half games up on the fourth place Chattanooga Lookouts... but we still have a long way to go... only one-third of the season has been played... I can't wait to head to Tulane Avenue and Carrollton Avenue, the site of Pelican Stadium and spend an afternoon at the ballpark watching the Pelicans... and of course EC will have his ear glued to the radio at night listening to the Old Redhead Ted Andrews describe all the action and all thrills and chills from the ballpark on WTPS radio... the TPS part stands for the Times-Picayune, which must have owned the radio station.

Check out the Saturday, May 31 Baseball Barometer showing all the standings of the Southern Association (Double A League), American and National Leagues, Texas League (Double A League) and Evangeline League (Class D League in Louisiana)… thanks to the New Orleans Times-Picayune for the use of their historical archives.

[Eugene Church]

Here are the box scores of the latest Mobile Bears and New Orleans Pelicans games.

Perusing the lineups, only Frank Thomas did well in the Majors... his career spanned 16 seasons with 286 homers, 962 RBIs and a .266 BA... Dale Long had a fair career. with 132 homers, 467 RBIs and a .267 BA... in 1956 Long hit homers in 8 consecutive games to set an MLB record... Don Zimmer was a journeyman utility infielder for over a decade... batted only .235 with 91 homers and 352 RBIs... later became a fairly successful manager and bench coach with Padres, Red Sox, Cubs, Rangers, Yankees... Norm Larker played in the majors for 5-6 years... he hit .323 for the Dodgers in 1960... lifetime .275 BA with 32 home runs and 271 RBI... there were a few others in the lineups that had a cup of coffee or two, but that was about it.

[Eugene Church]

Thought you might like to see the stats leaders in the Southern Association... taken from the New Orleans Times-Picayune sports pages in late May, 1952.

[Eugene Church]

Southern Association Batting and Pitching Leaders
Sunday, June 1, 1952

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 2, 1952

JOLIET STANDS TALL IN NIRL FIRST
In spite of losing to last place Avalon this weekend, the first place Joliet Green Giants are still standing head-and-shoulders above the rest of the North Island Recreational League First Division... all three games were decided by one run... Avalon upset Joliet 3-2 in 10 innings... Kofa knocked off Jackson 2-1... and New Yerby nipped Dutton 5-4 in 13 innings.

Top to bottom in the NIRL First Division, it's tough to win on any given Sunday... it is dominated by good pitching... it was a record-setting weekend for strikeouts... a new league mark was set in the Avalon-Joliet contest and then broken in the Kofa-Jackson clash.

Joliet's second baseman Clancy Dupepe is still on top of the NIRL First Division leaderboard with a .385 batting average... tops in hits is right fielder Billy Mann of Jackson with 21... Jackson second sacker Buddy Boyce and Joliet catcher Tim Lytle lead with 3 homers each... Boyce is way ahead in RBIs with 16... Avalon centerfielder John Carpenter and Dutton second baseman Tuck Thompson have scored the most runs with 11 each... and shortstop Edward Nolan of Jackson and Tuck Thompson are tied with 10 stolen bases apiece.

On the pitching side of the ledger Joliet's Grant Mosher has the most victories with 9... he is 9-4 with a 2.06 ERA... the best ERA belongs to New Yerby's Jon Cunningham... he is 1-0 and leads the league with a 1.59 ERA... and Dan May of Avalon has struck out the most batters... he had fanned 98 in 104 innings and posted a 5-6 mark with a 2.68 ERA.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 1, 1952

UNION HEIGHTS RISES TO TOP IN NIRL SECOND
The Union Heights Hackers took possession of first place in the NIRL Second Division this weekend... they jumped up all alone to the top spot with a 6-5 victory over fifth place Kinston... last week's tri-leaders Stockdale and Wafford dropped a notch into a three-way tie for second place... Theodore thumped Wafford 5-1 to climb up into the tie for second... and Stockdale was surprised by last place West Chester 5-4.

After this week play, the statistical leaders are Sidney Kimball of Theodore with a .500 batting average... second place goes to Wafford's Manny Velasco carrying a .422 mark... Velasco has the most hits with 27... Stockdale's Andy Kessler leads with 4 homers... Theodore's Ivan Orsak and Wafford's Dave Strickland are tied with 11 runs batted in apiece... tops in scoring runs is Charley Blackburn of Stockdale with 15... the best basestealer is Caleb Carson of Theodore with 11.

On the mound the biggest winner is Eddie Beal of Union Heights with a 9-4 record and a 2.42 ERA... Theodore's Walter Johnson has the best ERA at 2.10... he is 3-2 record-wise... Beal is number two in ERA... Sarge York of Stockdale is the strikeout leader with 67 in 98 innings, followed closely by Beal with 64 in 112 innings.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 2, 1952

PELS PERCHED HIGH IN SISL, AHEAD BY 2 GAMES
The Labadieville Pelicans are flying high in the South Island First League with six consecutive wins and a two-game lead over the runners-up Opelousas Lions and Des Allemands Eagles... the Pels pulled out a 5-4 decision in 10 innings over the pesky, cellar-dwelling Bar Harbor Acadians... the Lions stole one from the Claiborne Cardinals with a game-winning homer in the last of the ninth... and the Eagles soared past the Mystic Mariners 10-1.

[Eugene Church]