Ec's north island recreation league

[Eugene Church]

Monday, March 9, 1953

THEODORE ONLY UNBEATEN IN NI SECOND DIVISION
After two weekends of play only the Theodore Bobcats are unbeaten... the Bobcats edged the Kofa Kings 8-7 for their second straight victory... perennial also-ran West Chester broke into the win column with a rousing 10-4 thumping of the Union Heights Hackers... and the Kinston Firebirds treated the Avalon Oldtimers harshly 7-4 and dealt them a second successive loss in their new league... Avalon and Kofa were demoted from the NI First League.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, March 9, 1953

GATORS AND LIONS TAKE LEAD IN SI FIRST LEAGUE
After the first two weekends of action in the South Island First League, newcomer, the Guedon Gators, and holdover, the Opelousas Lions, are sitting atop of the league standings with spotless 2-0 marks... yesterday Guedon rang up a victory over arch-rival St. Dominic 6-2... the Lions clipped the Claiborne Cardinals 5-3 and last year's champ Labadieville chalked up a win over the Des Allemands Eagles 5-2... the Cardinals and Eagles are both winless so far.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, March 9, 1953

EVERYBODY'S IN FIRST PLACE IN THE SI SECOND
How about that!
After the first two weeks of play in the South Island Second League everybody's in first place... all six clubs have identical 1-1 records... Meraux gained its first win of the season by thumping Chitamaca 10-7... Mystic moved up to the top spot by getting by Bayou Bleu 4-2... and Delacroix earned its place atop the standings with an 8-6 triumph over Bar Harbor.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1952
EC's Still Havin' Fun in '52, Too!

Ah, it was great to be there... it's World Series time... the Brooklyn Dodgers and the mighty New York Yankees... yes, of course, it was televised, but guess who got to listen to it on the radio... yeah, me... EC... 'cause most people still don't have a TV... all we had in Sheffield was radio... not nary a TV station yet... even that would not have made it any better... 'cause nobody could afford a TV.

Brooklyn with Joe Black on the mound whipped New York in the opener at Ebbets Field 4-2... he beat Allie Reynolds... Black was the first African-American to win a World Series Game... Jackie Robinson's solo home run in the second gave the Dodgers the lead... Gil McDougald got one in the third to tie it for the Yanks... Duke Snider walloped a two-run swat in the sixth for a 3-1 lead... a Gene Woodling triple and Hank Bauer fly ball cut the margin to 3-2... but Pee Wee Reese went deep in the eighth to make it a 4-2 final score in favor of the dastardly Dodgers as they took a 1-0 lead in the 1952 World Series...all EC can do is scream very loudly, "What a revoltin' development this is!"

I was pulling for the Yanks... EC did not like Brooklyn at all, y'all...'nary a little bit... they always seem to beat Stan "the Man" Musial and my St. Louis Cardinals every year... so EC had no great love for the Dodgers hardly at all, y 'all.

In game two at Ebbets Field, New York's Vic Raschi humbled the Dodgers 7-1 on a 3-hitter... Billy Martin had a 3-run homer... the series is now tied at one game each... ah EC breathes a sign of relief... all is well in the world now.

Game three at Yankee Stadium went to those dastardly Dodgers 5-3... Preacher Roe beat Eddie Lopat... Brooklyn got 11 hits paced by Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Andy Pafko... Yogi Berra and Johnny Mize (former St. Louis Cardinal) had homers in defeat... those darn Dodgers are up in the series two games to one.

It's game one pitchers going at it once again against each other in game four at the House that Ruth built... this time around New York's Allie Reynolds bested Brooklyn's Joe Black 2-0... they only allowed four hits each... Johnny Mize got a homer for the Yanks in the fourth... in the eighth rookie Mickey Mantle tripled and kept on going when the throw was bad to third base... that gave New York a little cushion... ah, EC is somewhat relieved... series now tied at 2-2.

What a game it was in game five at Yankee Stadium... Andy Pafko singled in a run for the Dodgers in the second... Pee Wee Reese's sac fly and Duke Snider's two-run clout gave Brooklyn a 4-0 edge... then the roof fell in on Carl Erskine, the Brooklyn starter... RBIs by Irv Noren and Gil McDougald, coupled with a three-run blast by Johnny Mize, his third of the series, gave the New Yorkers a 5-4 lead... Snider knotted the score 5-5 with an RBI single in the seventh... can you believe, you all, Carl Erskine pitched all 11 innings and the dastardly Dodgers pulled it out 6-5 on Duke Snider's double off Johnny Sain... can you believe, you all, that Erskine retired the last 19 batters in order... in the bottom of the 11th Erskine closed it out by retiring future Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle, Johnny "the Big Cat" Mize and Yogi Berra 1-2-3... my, my, my... those darn Dodgers are just one game away from beating the mighty New York Yankees and winning their first World Series... Brooklyn is up three games to two... and they are going back to Ebbets Field for the rest of the Series, too... How about that! so says Mel Allen, voice of the Yankees... EC had a few discouraging words after this one, too, you best believe...I screamed at the top of my voice "OY VEH!"... or as EC might would say in his best southern drawl, "Woe is me".

In game six Dodger Billy Loes goes up against Yankee Vic Raschi... they match zeroes for five and a half innings... Duke Snider slams Raschi's pitch out of the park and over the wall into Bedford Avenue for a 1-0 lead after six innings... in the seventh Yogi Berra hits one out for the Yanks to tie it up... then Raschi sends New York into the lead with an RBI single that ricocheted off of Loes into right field... in the eighth frame Mickey Mantle hit the first of 18 World Series homers to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead... in the last of the eighth Snider hit his second homer of the game and fourth of the Series... Jackie Robinson almost hit one out, but it was just a long out to Woodling in left... Shotgun Shuba (former Mobile Bear) walloped a double and sent Raschi to the showers... Allie Reynolds came on in relief and ended the inning and he made quick work of the Dodgers in the ninth... New York wins it 3-2 and tied the series up at three games apiece... game seven is on the horizon... as EC might say in his best Yiddish accent, "Hallelujah... Hosanna... Amen".... or as EC might say in his best southern Baptist drawl, "Praise the Lord... Saved... Amen!"

Sorry, Brooklyn, but it ain't over till it's over!

Game seven is also at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn... Joe Black is making his third start in seven days for Brooklyn... no days off that year for travel... all games were in New York... it's lefty Eddie Lopat for the Yankees... it's scoreless for the first three frames... Yanks take the lead 1-0 in the fourth on a Phil Rizzuto double and Johnny Mize single... Brooklyn loaded the bases in their fourth with no outs... Allie Reynolds replaced Lopat on the hill and gave up a sac fly to Gil Hodges to tie it up a 1-all... Reynolds then got out of the inning by striking out Shotgun Shuba and getting Carl Furillo on a ground out, leaving Jackie Robinson stranded at third... in the fifth Gene Woodling homered for New York and Brooklyn tied it again 2-2 on a Billy Cox double and Pee Wee Reese's base hit... Mantle made it 3-2 New York in the sixth with a roundtripper and tacked on another run in the seventh with an RBI single to give them a 4-2 advantage... those dastardly Dodgers again loaded the bases against reliever Vic Raschi, yes in relief, in their half of the seventh... Bob Kuzava came in from the bullpen... he retired Duke Snider for the second out... with two outs and the runners moving, Jackie Robinson popped up to the right of the mound... Kuzava hesitated, looking to his infielders... Billy Martin charging in hard from deep second base just barely managed to catch it off his shoetops to end the inning... Kuzava then sat those darn, dastardly Dodgers down in the eighth and ninth to give the high and mighty New York Yankees their fourth consecutive World Series victory and their 15th overall.

Mel Allen, what have you got to say about that?

How about that!

I thought so.

I guess you could say Mel is a man of few words.

Boy, what a series!

Hope all y'all got your enjoys as much as EC did... Brooklyn losing always tickled my innards... that's even better than sippin' on ice cold RC Colas and eatin' moon pies.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, March 16, 1953

YANKS, COYOTES, GREEN GIANTS IN 3-WAY TIE IN NI FIRST
Dutton slowed down the NewYerby Yankees in the North Island First Division this weekend and sent them down to their first loss of the new season... the Coyotes, Yanks and Joliet Green Giants are tied atop the division standings after three weeks of play... all of them have 2 wins and one defeat.

Dutton dumped New Yerby 7-1... Joliet shot down the Wafford Eagles 5-1 and Stockdale whitewashed the Jackson Jackalopes 3-0.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

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[Eugene Church]

Monday, March 16, 1953

3-WAY TIE IN NI 2ND DIVISION
It's a tight race in the North Island Recreational League Second Division... the Kofa Kings, Kinston Firebirds and Theodore Bobcats are riding high in first place with 2-1 records... and there were three close contests this past weekend... the Kings edged the Union Height Hackers 3-2... Avalon got past the West Chester Comets 6-4... and the Firebirds outlasted the Bobcats 7-6.

[Eugene Church]