Ec's north island recreation league

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1954
EC's Keeping Score in '54!

So sorry, I didn't cover the World Series in 1953... it was won in 6 games by the New York Yankees over those dastardly Dodgers from Brooklyn... as you know, I never appreciated Brooklyn whipping Stan the Man and the Cardinals so much... loved it when the Yanks would whoop the Dodgers.

(Special thanks to Wikipedia, which I do support with an occasional financial donation... hope you do, too, if you use it)
The 1953 World Series matched the four-time defending champions New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in a rematch of the 1952 Series, and the fourth such matchup between the two teams in the past seven seasons. The Yankees won in six games for their fifth consecutive title — a mark which has not been equalled — and their 16th overall. It was also the last of seven consecutive World Series wins by teams from the American League, the longest such streak for the AL in series history. Billy Martin won World Series MVP honors as he hit .500 with a record-tying 12 hits and a walk-off RBI single in Game 6.

Game One: Yankees 9, Dodgers 5
(pitcher Johnny Sain and first baseman Joe Collins led New York)

Game Two: Yankees 4, Dodgers 2
(Eddie Lopat handcuffed the Dodgers... Martin and Mantle homered for NY)

Game Three: Dodgers 3, Yankees 2
(Carl Erskine outpitched Vic Raschi... Roy Campanello homered for Brooklyn)

Game Four: Dodgers 7, Yankees 3
(Billy Loes beat Yanks and Whitey Ford... Duke Snider went deep for Dodgers)

Game Five: Yankees 11, Dodgers 7
(NY outhomered Brooklyn 4 to 2... Woodling, Mantle, Martin and McDougald hit it out of the park for Yanks... Cox and Gilliam homered for the Dodgers)

Game Six: Yankees 4, Dodgers 3
(Whitey Ford held Brooklyn to one run in 6 innings, leaving with a 3-1 lead... Allie Reynolds was tagged for a game-tying 2-run clout by Carl Furillo in the ninth... Billy Martin was the hero with a series-winning single in the bottom of the ninth off Clem Labine.)

Manager Chuck Dressen couldn't beat the Yankees in the World Series and lost his job to Walt Alston... Alston won four World Series in his 23 seasons as skipper.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, March 15, 1954

GREEN GIANTS TOWER OVER NI PREMIER LEAGUE, YANKS FALL AGAIN
Joliet won the battle of the unbeatens Sunday afternoon to take over the top spot in the North Island Premier League... the Green Giants got some solid pitching and whipped Theodore 4-1... it was Joliet's third win in a row... the Bobcats fell to 2-1... in the other league game the Dutton Coyotes bushwhacked last year's champion New Yerby 6-4... the Yankees have lost all three games this season.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, March 15, 1954

KOFA, KINSTON CLIMB TO TOP OF NI ELITE LEAGUE
After three weeks of play in the North Island Elite League, it's the Kofa Kings and the Kinston Firebirds perched atop the league standings... this past weekend Kofa won a low-scoring battle with Avalon 1-0... and Kinston creamed the Jackson Jackalopes 6-3.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, March 15, 1954

GATORS AND SAINTS TIED FOR 1ST PLACE IN SI SUPREME LEAGUE
For two years, 1952 and 1953, the Guedon Gators and the St. Dominic Saints battled tooth-and-nail for the pennant... the Saints won it in '52, but the Gators captured it in '53... now the big rivals are going at it again the South Island Supreme League... after three weekends of play, they are tied for the top spot with 2-1 records... Guedon outlasted Bar Harbor 4-3 in 11 innings, but the Meraux Tigers toppled the Saints 5-1 and dropped them from the ranks of the unbeatens... Guedon and St. Dominic are both 2-1 for the season.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Monday, March 15, 1954

1ST PLACE CARDS CLAIM 3RD STRAIGHT IN SI PRIMARY LEAGUE
The Claiborne Cardinals continued to fly high in the South Island Primary League... the Cards blasted Des Allemands 15-8 to remain unbeaten in three games thus far... Mystic stayed close with their second victory in three games... the Mariners outslugged the winless Bayou Bleu Blues 8-6.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

MY LIFE IN 1954
EC's Scoring More in '54

Actually "EC's Scoring More" was huge stretch and quite an embellishment... but it was a good rhyme... really didn't do any scoring in 1954 (except on the ball fields), but it was one of the best years of my life... I'm in the 8th grade at Robert E. Lee Elementary School in Mobile, Alabama... 13 years old and bordering on the brink of puberty, whatever that was... I guess puberty came and went... EC didn't pay a lot of attention to it... but I did pay a lot of attention to Judy Flack and Margie Pollard, two Southern Belles and Sweet Magnolias in the 8th grade.

I was in Mrs. Reardon's class... wow, what a year!... EC was BMOC (big man on campus)... made all A's on my report card except for a few B's and C's in conduct... EC would cut up in class every now and then, just having fun... nothing really bad... why was this a great year for EC?... looking back on it, the ladies liked me... smartest kid in the class... good athlete... but I didn't feel that popular, but I was... EC could have used a healthy dose of good self-esteem... it would have made my bout with puberty much, much better.

5 years prior, Judy Flack was my girl friend in the 3rd grade at Robert E. Lee... she made me walk her home and carry her books... Judy was a beautiful blond with long beautiful curls down to her shoulders and she was very conniving and controlling... a commanding beauty like Judy could do that... she told my mother that she was going to marry me way back in the 3rd grade.

So Judy is all grown up and bustin' out all over, if you know what I mean... and now she is back in EC's life at puberty, whatever that means... well, what it means is it's gonna be a good year for EC... Judy still has a thing for EC, but also for Carl Vernon Smith, a handsome devil that is also a great athlete... Carl V could also fight well because basically he was a thug... but EC was no match for Carl Vernon Smith in any respect, but fortunately he liked me... we were friends... for the whole year Judy would like me for a few weeks, then go back to Carl Vernon for a few weeks... Judy and Carl V had a love-hate relationship like Diane Chambers and Sam Malone on "Cheers".

And to set the scene for the whole year, Margie Pollard was Judy's best friend... there were two 8th grade classes at Robert E. Lee School, Mrs. Reardon's and Mrs. Jenkins'... Margie was in my class, Judy was in Mrs. Jenkins' class, along with Carl Vernon Smith... actually Margie would have made a much better girlfriend than Judy... she was cute as the dickens, nice and friendly, perky and smart... Margie and Mary Smith were my main competition for the best grades in the class... more about EC, Judy, Carl V and Margie and their entangling alliances and off-and-on dalliances later as the school year progresses.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, March 22, 1954

JOLLY GREEN GIANTS ROLLING OVER EVERYBODY IN NI PREMIER LEAGUE
The jolly Green Giants of Joliet are having a ball y'all so far in the 1954 North Island Premier League... they posted their fourth consecutive victory and have yet to lose a game... the Green Giants just barely got by the Dutton Coyotes this past Sunday... it took the 16 intense innings to eke past the Coyotes 4-3... in the other Premier League contest, last year's pennant winner New Yerby finally won a game, outscoring the Theodore Bobcats 11-8.

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

[Eugene Church]

Deleted.

[Eugene Church]

Monday, March 22, 1954

FIREBIRDS FLYING HIGH IN NI ELITE LEAGUE
The two top teams in the North Island Elite League meet yesterday afternoon in Kofa and the visiting Kinston Firebirds stole the show and took over first place with a 5-1 win... in other action the Avalon Valiants tripped up the Jackson Jackalopes by the same score, 5-1.

[Eugene Church]