The "Team that should have been Champs! Story

It was an ordinary day. We had just finished our 1969 season in the Red Rose Junior Midget League. I started coaching little league youth baseball last year during my first year of teaching at Manheim Township. I had been married a year and asked Carol if she would mind if I would coach little league baseball. I just love the game and wasn't happy not playing baseball anymore so I decided to coach it. Found a sponsor in Hamilton Watch Company in Lancaster and started to plan for the season. Made a few phone calls and had a team in the Red Rose League. There were no geographical boundaries that I had to choose from, so I thought about where I would find some of the best athletes and decided to hold tryouts in the southeast section of Lancaster City. This is predominately a minority section of the city and knew they would enjoy a chance to play baseball. Had over 50 people try out and kept the 15 best kids. Tough to tell some they didn't make the team, but I told them to try out again next year. Well, we did OK for our first year and ended with an even record. The star of the team was pitcher-1st baseman Brent Hawkins whose father was my coach when I played 1st base for Schick in 1956. I was real excited about our chances for this year. At the beginning of the season I asked my cousin's husband, Lance, to help me again and I also asked my wife's cousin Bobby Nonnemacher. to help. Bobby had pitched for the Cleveland Indians for two years before his career ended with an injury. He was a big left-hander and the kids would love to have him help with the team. Well, we had a great summer of baseball. Ted Groff led the team in wins on the mound. He was a lefty and Bobby took him under his wing and spend hours teaching him the fundamentals of pitching. Bobby tutored him throughout his career in high school and Ted eventually was drafted by the Minnesota Twins organization. He also had to quite baseball because of an arm injury. We had a centerfielder in Keith Gordon who later became a star athlete for Lancaster McCaskey High School. We also had a player who was almost as tall as me and I believe weighed more than me who I would have pitch when we wanted to intimidate the opponent. He could throw the ball harder than anyone in the league, but you weren't quite sure where it was going. Scary at times. Eddie H. eventually spent time in jail for intimidating too many people. We ended the regular season with a record of 11 wins and 2 losses. Won the Division title of the Red Rose League and made it into the New Era Tournament which is a year-end tournament of teams that excel in their league seasons. The tournament is sponsored by the Lancaster New Era newspaper and is every boy's dream to play in this tournament. We progressed through the first two rounds and had to play Lancaster Township in the semi-finals. Lancaster Township featured a right-hander by the name of Kip K. We had beaten LT earlier in the year, but Kip hadn't pitched. I knew he would be ready for us. We took an early one run lead on them and then Ted Groff came to bat for us with two guys on and two outs. I just knew we were going to add to our lead, but Kip threw a fastball that hit Ted in the helmet and knocked him to the ground. He was extremely groggy so I suggested that his dad take him right to the hospital. Bobby went with them and we continued the game. LT managed to get our next batter to get out of the inning. To this day I believe that the LT coach told his pitcher to throw at Ted to get him out of the game! And ....... I told him that right in front of the large crowd!! My kids and parents cheered me the whole time. Never denied it either. My team was disheartened after losing their leader. I put Eddie in to pitch, but LT scored two runs on us and won the game. They eventually won the Jr. Midget title in the New Era Tournament. The '69 Team ended the season 13-3, but knew they were the best team in Lancaster County. Later I found that during the season Bobby managed to get some great results from the players by offering them incentives for good production. A dollar here for so many strikeouts or fifty cents there for a homerun. Wondered why they liked him so much. All I ever offered them was ice cream cones after every win that year. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

PS - Team photo featuring front (l-r): Parke, Raver, Schreiner, Wiker, Koller, Overly, Keller, center: Tim Groff, Wiker, Kling, Eshelman, Ulmer, Ted Groff, rear: Fulkerson, Gordon, Hollman, Brown, Lentz, Gabel, coaches: LDub, Nonnemacher, Smith