Here it is, the beginning of March. Hopefully, the worst part of the winter is behind us. It's a time when a young man's fancy turns to - BASEBALL.
A daily glance at the sports page shows highlights of Spring Training down in sunny Florida and out in the warm desert climate of Arizona. The Philadelphia sports writers are already proclaiming the Phillies' starting four the best pitching staff in the history of the game and this year's World Series Championship practically in the bag.
New Gretna also had it's share of baseball stars. I got an email the other day from Joyce Sutton with an attachment provided by her husband, Bob, containing a list of his favorite New Gretna baseball players from the "good old days."
In the spirit of Spring Training, I decided to share Bob's List, complete and in his own hand writing, with you here at the Blog.
Jack " Jelly Sandwich" Mathis
Wonder why they called him " Jelly Sandwich" ?
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(l-r) Sam Carr,Rich Hickman & Jack Mathis
Baseball buddies
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Orval Mathis
Lou Bourguignon - 1948
Norman Mathis
Fred Kalm - 1948
Bob Sutton - Senior Year, 1950
Harvard "Hob" Allen, Senior Year, 1951
John Barnes
Well, there you have it ! Are they a match for this year's Phillies? You be the judge.
Pete S
PS- John Yates wrote in a comment below that his grandfather, Elihu Ward Sears (1877-1927), who lived in New Gretna, was said to be an excellent baseball player. This would have been before the time of Bob Sutton's list; however, I think it appropriate to place a photo of Ward below.
