EC's South Island League

[Eugene Church]

Monday, May 19, 1958

MERAUX SUPREME LEADER... STILL CHALLENGED BY KOFA, DELTA, JACKSON, ST. DOMINIC
7 teams are theoretically still in the South Island Supreme League pennant race, but realistically the number is just 3, perhaps 5 at the utmost... the teams with the best chance to cop the league crown are first place Meraux and the two runners-up Kofa and Delta... you could also add in red-hot Jackson and St. Dominic... they have an outside chance to be the champion... however, it might be a stretch to include Anderson and Bar Harbor because neither is playing well right now.

The Meraux Tigers have risen to the top mainly because of its longball offense... the Tigers have hit their way to first place, easily leading the league with 17 homers and 47 runs... their pitching is marginal at best... Kyle Fischer (4-1/3.78 ERA) will have to do well down the stretch against some major foes, Anderson, Delta and Bar Harbor... Meraux will not waltz to the Supreme League title, they will have to really earned it.

The second place Delta Stars and Kofa Kings depend heavily on their fine mound staffs... both lack offense... the third place Jackson Jackalopes and St. Dominic Saints are both on hot streaks with 4 wins in a row... they have fairly good offenses and fairly good pitching... the Bar Harbor Acadians and Anderson Ravens have slumped in recent weeks and appear to be on the decline... the Cajuns have a fair offense and good starting pitching, but lack a bullpen... the Ravens have fine pitching, but almost no offense.

Nobody is dominating games in the Supreme League these days... parity is here... this weekend Meraux just barely got past St. Luke's Place 6-4... Kofa had difficulty with cellar-dwelling Moon Valley, holding on for a slim 5-4 victory... Delta skimmed past Mystic 3-2... the other three games were pretty close, too... Jackson tamed Bar Harbor 5-1... St. Dominic took care of Anderson 4-1... and in a battle of also-rans, Zebulon defeated St. Pete 5-2.

As usual, good pitching will go a long way in determining who triumphs this year in the South Island Supreme League... who are the key hurlers who will make or break their teams this season: Meraux's Kyle Fischer (4-1/3.78 ERA), Kofa's Howard Pollet (2-1/2.30 ERA) and Jason Hilburn (1-0/0.55 ERA), Delta's Terry Cockrell (3-2/2.26 ERA), St. Dominic's Matt Seeley (3-0/1.74 ERA), Jackson's Denny McCain (4-1/2.51 ERA), Bar Harbor's Jesse Dodge (4-2/1.74 ERA) and Anderson's Richard Kelt (3-2/2.15 ERA).

[jg2977]

I remember a few weeks ago I said that Meraux would probably start to struggle because of their so-so pitching. Well, they're still chugging along. Will be interesting to see if they can keep it up the rest of the season.

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by jg2977

I remember a few weeks ago I said that Meraux would probably start to struggle because of their so-so pitching. Well, they're still chugging along. Will be interesting to see if they can keep it up the rest of the season.

Meraux's Kyle Fischer will have to be a little better down the stretch... he will be facing 3 tough teams in Bar Harbor, Delta and Anderson... none of them swing bats very well... that will help.

[Eugene Church]

Supreme League Stars of the Week

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

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

Nope, EC's life is not so great in '58... I graduated from high school in June... can't find a job anywhere... everybody wants experience... the restaurant business is all I know and I don't want to do that the rest of my life... so I take the easy way out and join the United States Air Force... EC will soon be flying off into the wild blue yonder and headed for Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio for basic training... uh oh, lordy mercy, you know what this means... this means no Mobile Bears' baseball for EC this summer... and guess what, lo and behold, the Bears came in second in the Southern Association... they whipped the third place Atlanta Crackers in the first round of the playoffs sweeping all 4 games, then they had to play the pennant-winning Birmingham Barons in the finals and lost 4 games to one... the Bears had a good team this year with solid pitching, but they couldn't hit much... the Barons could do both, pitch well and hit well... Birmingham, the Southern Association champion, went on to the Dixie Series and played the Texas League champion, the Corpus Cristi Giants, for the Double A championship. The Barons triumphed there, too, 4 games to 2.

This was one of Mobile's better teams... the Bears' batting order was filled with quality career minor league players: Jack Waters, Don Saner, Don Dillard, Jack Baumer, Bud Hutson, Vern Grace, Andy Frazier and Stan Pawlowski... but it was the pitching that did the job... Dick Stigman (15-7/2.48 ERA), Jake Striker (17-12/3.10 ERA), Charles Kolakowski (10-10/3.20 ERA) and Don Schaeffer (15-10/4.19)... this starting foursome gave them a good, steady and consistent rotation throughout the whole season, which didn't happen often in the minor leagues... often there were a lots of roster changes throughout the season... one of my favorites Bears of all-time, Bill Dailey was the relief pitcher for the club... he was 7-7 in 39 games... he made 12 starts, completed 6 games and posted 2 shutouts... in the early 60s for the Minnesota Twins he starred for one season as their prime reliever, but he developed arm trouble and had to retire, but he had one fine season... in 1963 he was 6-3 in 80 games with a 1.99 ERA... 72 Ks in 108 IP with only 19 walks... yep, my boy Bill had a fine year in the Majors.

Dick Stigman went on to the Majors and pitched for 7 seasons for the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins... he was on the Twins with Dailey in 1963 and went 15-15 with a 3.25 ERA in 33 starts... he completed 15 games and fanned 193 batters in 241 innings... but Dick was only 46-54 in his career with a decent 4.03 ERA.

Just an additional note... Jim O'Toole led the Southern Association in 1958 with a 20-8 mark for the Nashville Vols... he led the league with a 2.44 ERA... O'Toole had a solid MLB career with Cincinnati... in his 10 seasons from '58 to '67 he was 98-84 with a 3.57 ERA... the batting champion was Jim Fridley, also with Nashville... he batted .348 with 20 homers and 101 RBIs for the Vols... but Fridley didn't fare well in MLB, hitting only .248 in 3 seasons with Cleveland, Baltimore and Cincinnati... Fridley hit 8 homers and drove in 53 runs in his career... not very impressive is it?... but then again, it's a heck of a lot better than you and me did, right?

[Eugene Church]

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

Just wondering?

Will the Air Force TI treat me as good as my Mama? (TI = tactical instructor, I think... it was a heck of a long time ago)

Will EC be able to survive on $78 a month?

[Eugene Church]

Monday, May 19, 1958

7 IN A ROW FOR UNBEATEN YANKS... CUBS CLINGING CLOSE, 1 GAME BEHIND IN SECONDARY LEAGUE
Parkland tested the unbeaten South Island Secondary League leader New Yerby this weekend, but the Yankees met the test with a 3-2 victory, their 7th in a row this season... clinging quite close in their footsteps are the Delacroix Cubs, just one game behind after they squeezed past the Littleville Supermen 3-2... 2 games off the pace in 3rd place are Cherrywood and Gull Lake... both were victors yesterday... the Stouts trounced the Grin Hill Smileys 8-4 and the Sailors pulled away late for a 9-4 triumph over the Columbia Black Cats... in the other two games Guedon upset 5th place Billings 8-2... and Pelham won for the first time this season shutting out the Braxton Bruins 3-0.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

I will take a month off from the South Island League... no problems or anything... just gonna take some time off.

So don't be concerned if you don't see me posting.

Sorry, that I will not finishing the 1958 season right now.

[Eugene Church]

Miss all of you... still busy with life for next 2-3 weeks... no problems... just taking care of business... all is well... Miss the South Island League a lot..