EC's South Island League

[Eugene Church]

Sorry, folks... I never posted the last weekend of the South Island Secondary League... I won't be able to recap the games as I don't save them in my history.

So I will just have to be happy with the terrible game recaps that the AI does... they really are done poorly... I don't even want to look at them.

I will post the box scores tomorrow.

Where is CD when you need him?... he used to be my best proof reader and editor... he would have caught my error.... I miss CD as an editor... and even more as a good friend.

[Eugene Church]

Ah, I did get to write the game recaps and didn't have to use the AI recaps.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 20, 1960

GRIN HILL'S SMILING AGAIN... SMILEYS 2 GAMES UP ON RUNNERUP CHERRYWOOD STOUTS
The first place Grin Hill Smileys are enjoying a fine season in the South Island Secondary League with an impressive 9-2 record... that's 2 games better than second place Cherrywood... Grin Hill won a close one from the Littleville Supermen 5-3, while the Stouts were outplaying the Billings Rams 9-6... in other league action St. Dominc tripped up the Parkland Perfectos 6-3 and Pelham outhammered the Joliet Green Giants 14-11 in a high-scoring run marathon.

[Eugene Church]

South Island Stars of the Week

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

I hope I am back on track... I have already posted the 12th week of the Supreme League... now I need to report on the 12th week of the Secondary League... it will be a day or two... I am currently playing those games.

[Eugene Church]

For the first time ever, the South Island League had more views today than the Islandian Pro Alliance... 302 to 301.

Thanks, folks... much appreciate it.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 20, 1960

GRIN HILL FALLS TO PELHAM... LEAD OVER CHERRYWOOD DIPS TO ONE GAME WITH 2 TO GO
The basement-dwelling Pelham Oaks were all smiles after they trounced the first-place Grin Hill Smileys this past weekend... the Smileys
saw their lead over second place Cherrywood dip to just a single game with 2 games left on the schedule... it was an outrageous
high-scoring weekend in both the South Island Secondary League and the Supreme League... 7 of the 8 games ended up with double-digit
scores... Pelham outscored Grin Hill 12-7, Cherrywood crushed Parkland 13-6 and Joliet jolted St. Dominic 13-1... the only game in both
leagues that didn't overload the scoreboards with crooked numbers was in Billings, where the Rams whipped Littleville by the puny score of 4-1.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 2023
EC's Life's Is Filled with Glee in '23

"Wit, Quips and Quotes from the Diamond Minds"

Just finished "The Baseball 100" by Joe Posnanski... it's a wonderful book, well-written and well-researched.

Who was the greatest baseball player? Tough to say... it got down to Willie Mays and the great Negro League star Oscar Charleston... both 5-tool players that could do it all.

I'll just leave it up to Joe Posnanski's book.
Posnanski also wrote a wonderful book about Buck O'Neal, Negro League player and manager, who endeared himself with all of us in Ken Burns' "Baseball" documentary.

Posnanski spent a year traveling with baseball's ambassador Buck O'Neal while writing "The Soul of Baseball", which was about Buck's life. Buck knew the Negro League players and he knew MLB players.

I just might take Buck's opinion on who the best baseball player was... He, Joe Posnanski and Willie Mays were taking a tour of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City... EC and my wife have been there... it was a real treat... just like the Motown Hall of Fame in Detroit... EC highly recommends both of them.

Willie was not in a good mood at the museum and not very talkative... Buck tried to get to get him talking about his baseball life and tell some stories... to get Willie going, Buck brought up the subject of "The Catch" Willie made in the 1954 World Series against Vic Wertz and the Cleveland Indians.

Excerpted from "The Baseball 100":

"Willie", Buck said in an effort to break through, "I saw the catch on television the other day."
The catch. Willie Mays made it on September 29, 1954. It was the first game of the World Series, the Polo Grounds, and he went back on a long fly ball hit by Vic Wertz, a fly ball that would have been a home run in almost every other ballpark. Mays turned his back so that anyone who was behind home plate clearly saw the number 24 on his jersey. He caught the ball over his shoulder and then whirled and threw it back to the infield.
"You saw that, Buck?" Mays said. He smiled a little.
"Only one other guy I ever saw could have made that catch," Buck said.
"Oscar Charleston", May said as he looked around the museum.
"He was you before you," O'Neil said.
O'Neil said that while Mays was the greatest major leaguer he ever saw, Charleston was the greatest ballplayer he ever saw.

'nuff said... that's good enough for EC.

[Eugene Church]

Sorry, folks... I tried to get the link to the Nike Untold Truth Website, but couldn't find it... it seems that it may not be there any longer.

I found a few sites that covered the subject a little bit, but they were not well done.

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 2023
EC's Life's Is Filled with Glee in '23

"Wit, Quips and Quotes from the Diamond Minds"
John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil Jr. (November 13, 1911 – October 6, 2006) was a first baseman and manager in the Negro American League, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs. After his playing days, he worked as a scout and became the first African American coach in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs. He signed Lou Brock to play for the Cubs. In his later years he became a popular and renowned speaker and interview subject, helping to renew widespread interest in the Negro leagues, and played a major role in establishing the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. Sadly 16 years after his death, Buck was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 as an executive. Buck should have been elected before he died.

Buck O'Neil was just an average first baseman in the Negro Leagues. He must have been a very good manager. The Kansas City Monarchs only hired good managers. Most of all, Buck was a Hall of Fame person. Buck was the eternal optimist as you can see from his quotes.

O'Neil's life was documented in Joe Posnanski's 2007 book "The Soul of Baseball".

Quotes from Buck O'Neill:
"Don't shed any tears. You think about this, the grandson of a slave. And here the whole world was excited about whether or not I was going into the Hall of Fame or not. We've come a long ways."

"A lot about the game has changed, and thankfully, much of it has gotten better. There is still a lot of work to do, but today we have a Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, we have black owners, managers and executives of teams... and look what Nike has done. The Untold Truth Collection represents more a jersey or a pair of sneakers. It represents our lives, our story, our legacy."

The Nike Untold Truth Collection site features the different Negro League Baseball teams of the past that Nike is representing for their collection. Along with the collection that consists of the sneakers and the Untold Truth Baseball Jerseys, the site will also feature video episodes about Negro League Baseball and the Negro League Basebal Museum.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, June 27, 1960

1960 SUPREME LEAGUE CHAMP NY YANKS IN CRUISE CONTROL
With nothing to really play for, New Yerby is playing out the season in the South Island Supreme League... the Yankees already have the
league record for wins... they were 12-2 last season... they hope to match that again this year... the Yanks have won two titles in a row...
actually this is their third straight crown... in 1958 New Yerby won the South Island Secondary League and was promoted to the Supreme
League.

New Yerby was pushed to the limit by last place Bar Harbor this past Sunday... the Yankees had to score 2 in the top of the 9th to top the
Cajuns 4-3... second place Zebulon and Delta won vital games this weekend... the Zips had to score 3 in the bottom of the 9th to prevail
9-7 over the Braxton Bruins, while the Stars tallied 3 in the last of the 8th frame to rally past the Mystic Mariners 5-4... 3 must have been
the magic number this week... Jackson roared back with 3 runs in their last at bat in the 10th to outlast the Meraux Tigers 13-11... yep, it
was a wild and crazy weekend in the Supreme League.

One question is still up in the air... last place Bar Harbor could be headed for demotion to the Secondary League... the Cajuns have a chance to avoid relegation, if they defeat Meraux on the road this coming Sunday afternoon and the 7th place Mystic Mariners lose to the Jackson Jackalopes in Jackson... Bar Harbor whipped Mystic in both games this season and has the tiebreaker.

[jg2977]

Question - Meraux is 6-7 while Bar Harbor is 4-9. That means that the Tigers can't finish in last place, correct? So they can't be relegated. Seems to me that two teams in danger of being relegated are the Bar Harbor Acadians and Mystic Mariners, correct?

The New Yerby Yankees are dominating the Supreme League. If they win again next year it could be the beginnings of a dynasty.

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by jg2977

Question - Meraux is 6-7 while Bar Harbor is 4-9. That means that the Tigers can't finish in last place, correct? So they can't be relegated. Seems to me that two teams in danger of being relegated are the Bar Harbor Acadians and Mystic Mariners, correct?

The New Yerby Yankees are dominating the Supreme League. If they win again next year it could be the beginnings of a dynasty.

Yep, you caught me... I fixed it... Bar Harbor must win and Mystic must lose... then the Mariners get demoted... they lost both games to the Acadians this year.