EC's South Island League

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1958
EC's Hopin' It's Great in '58
(I'm a pessimist trying to be optimistic a little bit)

It's nearly May... I will graduate from Murphy High School in Mobile in June... EC as usual has no plans, no goals, no ambition... still just drifting and dreaming through life.

What is life like in the whole wide USA in 1958?
Here is just a sample of what happened in 1958:

The U.S. Army inducts Elvis Presley, transforming "The King Of Rock & Roll" into U.S. private #53310761.
The Wham-O plastic hula hoop is first marketed... eventually sold 100 million... nope, EC never had a hula hoop.
EC's alma mater, LSUNO (now University of New Orleans), begins classes as the first racially integrated public university in the South... EC began classes at LSUNO in 1962... races got along fine... no real problems... we didn't really notice it at all... I know it was a very important step to integrate society, but it wasn't a big deal to us at the time... but I'm sure it was a big deal for the black students.

Federal Government:
President: Dwight D. Eisenhower (R-Kansas/Pennsylvania)
Vice President: Richard Nixon (R-California)
Chief Justice: Earl Warren (California)
Speaker of the House of Representatives: Sam Rayburn (D-Texas)
Senate Majority Leader: Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas)

Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.
First Japanese automobiles, Toyota and Datsun, imported into the United States.

Thought you might like to see what America was watching on TV... western series were the rage in '58... Maverick would have been my favorite show, but we only had NBC and CBS in Mobile... only two stations... Maverick was on ABC... of course, your future DJ watched all of the music variety shows: Perry Como, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen and Jackie Gleason... really enjoyed Have Gun, Will Travel (Richard Boone as the original anti-hero Paladin), Gunsmoke (James Arness as Matt Dillon, Miss Kitty, Chester, Festus and Doc Stone) and Wanted: Dead of Alive... Steve McQueen was a really cool cowpoke as a bounty hunter with a unique sawed-off rifle/weapon... my favorite game show was I've Got a Secret (Garry Moore)... often watched The Millionaire where people were given a $1,000,000 check each week by John Beresford, a fictional rich eccentric billionaire.. it was a study in human nature to see how wealth would affect people...executive secretary Michael Anthony always delivered the check for Tipton... EC had to watch Ricky Nelson on the Ozzie and Harriet Show to hear his latest records... really like the comedy of Jack Benny and George Burns and Gracie Allen.

And just to show what life was like financially, I posted the 1958 Cost of Living.

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1958
EC's Hopin' It's Great in '58

One thing about 1958, pilgrim, is the music's great... yep, I do declare the music is great in '58... it's the time of rockabilly, rock 'n' roll, rhythm 'n' blues and do-pop... this is EC's favorite period for pop music... it's my hit parade heyday... it was truly the happy days of music in my opinion... just happy-go-lucky music... good old singalong songs.

One of the greatest singers of all-time was Marty Robbins... he had a voice like a musical instrument... he and the great Johnny Mathis share this trait... not too many singers have it... Marty was a showman and an entertainer... he could sing traditional country, pop country, country and western and rockabilly.

Listen up all you guys and dolls, you buckaroos and you little darlin's, too... Marty Robbins has the #1 country song "Just Married"... this is its first week at number one... he knocked Don Gibson out of the top spot... Gibson was #1 for 8 straight weeks with his great two-sided hit "Oh Lonesome Me" and "I Can't Stop Loving You".

"Just Married" is a rockabilly song produced by one of the greatest arrangers ever, the great Ray Conniff... he also produced Johnny Mathis with songs like "Misty", "Chances Are" and "It's Not For Me To Say"... and the Ray Conniff Singers ("Somewhere My Love" the theme song from the movie Dr. Zhivago)... both Marty, Johnny and the Ray Conniff Singers were on Columbia Records... Conniff was important man at Columbia, along with Mitch Miller in the 50s and 60s... and probably into the 70s.

Here's Marty Robbins singing his #1 song "Just Married"... he's back up by the great Ray Conniff Singers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pGbO9chTjU

[Eugene Church]

Saturday, April 26, 1958

BIG CLASHES SET FOR SUNDAY IN SOUTH ISLAND LEAGUES
It's early in the season in the South Island Leagues, but there are several showdowns on the agenda this Sunday afternoon... in the Supreme League the main clash has the Bar Harbor Acadians (3-0) hosting the Anderson Ravens (3-0)... the other unbeaten club, the Meraux Tigers (3-0) will take on the Moon Valley Dreamers (1-2) at home... and the St. Pete Pelicans (2-1) travel to the Delta Stars (2-1) in another important game.

Two clubs are unbeaten in the Secondary League, but they will not play one another... the Delacroix Cubs (3-0) will welcome the Parkland Perfectos (2-1) to their home diamond... and the New Yerby Yankees (3-0) are on the road in Gull Lake against the Sailors (2-1)... victories will be critical for all of the contenders... Grin Hill (2-1) and Cherrywood (2-1) have easier tasks on paper with games against two winless teams, the Braxton Bruins (0-3) and the Guedon Gators (0-3), while Billings (2-1) will entertain Littleville (1-2).

[Eugene Church]

Monday, April 28, 1958

AND THEN THERE WERE 2... ANDERSON AND MERAUX ALL ALONE IN 1ST PLACE IN SUPREME LEAGUE... BAR HARBOR FALLS FROM UNBEATEN RANKS
In an epic duel, two of the best ballclubs in South Island circles, met on the diamond and went toe-to-toe for 10 innings... finally newcomer to the Supreme League, unbeaten Anderson (4-0), prevailed 3-2 over the previously unbeaten Bar Harbor Acadians (3-1)... now the Ravens are deadlocked for the number one spot in the standings with unbeaten Meraux (4-0)... the Tigers trimmed the Moon Valley Dreamers 5-2 for their 4th consecutive victory... Meraux and Anderson were the top 2 teams in the South Island Secondary League last season... they won promotion to the Supreme League this year.

The Delta Stars (3-1) are clinging close to the leaders after topping the St. Pete Pelicans (2-2) by the tight score of 4-3... in the other three games Kofa slowed down the Zebulon Zips 5-2... Jackson bumped off the Mystic Mariners 6-3... and St. Dominic won a close one with the St. Luke's Place Orioles 4-2.




Supreme League Stars of the Week

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1953
EC's Hopin' Life is Great in '58

EC is doing OK in '58... that's about the best way I can describe it... not good... not bad... but not great... (spoiler -- EC's life wouldn't get good until the mid 1960s).

I'm really enjoying the music of the day... also enjoy going to the movies... however, not too sure that I like movies as much as I used to when I was a kid... EC misses the Saturday matinees... really miss Hoppy, Gene and Roy and all the riders of the purple sage like the Lone Ranger, Tonto, Durango Kid, Lash Larue, Randolph Scott, Wild Bill Elliott, Red Ryder, Little Beaver, Crash Corrigan, Cisco Kid, Poncho... and the singin' cowboys like Jimmy Wakely, Rex Allen and Eddie Dean... and of course, the Sons of the Pioneers with Bob Nolan.

The 1958 Oscar-winning picture was The Bridge Over The River Kwai... not sure it was the best one... nope, it was just an OK movie for me, that's all... I thought there were many others that were more entertaining... I preferred 12 Angry Men with Henry Fonda, Gunfight at the O. K. Corral with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison with Robert Mitchell and Deborah Kerr and Vertigo with Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak.

Alec Guinness won the Academy Award for best actor for The Bridge on the River Kwai... and Joanne Woodward took the best actress Oscar for her role in The Three Faces of Eve.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, April 28, 1958

UNBEATEN YANKS RIDING HIGH ATOP SI SECONDARY LEAGUE
4 games into the season the New Yerby Yankees are the only team with a perfect record in the South Island Secondary League, primed by the stellar play of hurler Steve Chancellor (4-0/1.62 ERA), outfielders Clayton Delaney (.412) and Silas Delaney (.294), and by rookie second baseman Don Winston (.357)... the Yanks took possession of first place by outlasting Gull Lake 7-2 in 11 innings... Delacroix's chance to tie for the top spot was spoiled by the Parkland Perfectos, who prevailed over the Cubs 4-2... Parkland is tied for second place in the standings with Delacroix, Billings and Cherrywood with 3-1 marks, just one game behind New Yerby (4-0)... this weekend Billings tripped the Littleville Supermen 6-2... Cherrywood outslugged the Guedon Gators 11-7... Columbia nudged past the Pelham Oaks 3-1... and Braxton upended the Grin Hill Smileys 7-6 in 11 innings.




Secondary League Stars of the Week

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[jg2977]

Look at the pitch counts - 168 and 172. That's what I like to see. Impressive start to the season for the Yankees, let's see if they can keep it up and earn promotion to the Supreme League for next year.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]