A team representing Stamford, Connecticut won the 1951 Little League World Series Championship. It was the fifth tournament in the history of the LLWS, eight teams from across the United States meeting in the north central Pennsylvania city.
The 1951 Potter-McKean All-Star Team: front row, left to right-Tommy Bergholtz (Port Allegany), Mike Gamble (Port Allegany), Freddie Howell (Eldred), Bobby Chitester (Coudersport), Bill Norton (Port Allegany), Dave Cornelius (Roulette), Gerald Baker (Port Allegany) and Tommy Deppe (Coudersport).
Back row, left to right-Louis Baker (Roulette), Terry Shields (Eldred), Joe Marzo (Coudersport), Van Campbell (Coudersport), Paul Farris (Eldred) and Bert Tucker (Roulette)
Williamsport saw its largest population in the early '50's, dropping from 45,000 to today's 28,000. The late summer tournament is actually held in South Williamsport.
The annual event has grown to a 16 team field that includes eight international teams and eight squads from the United States. The tournament is now double elimination play with each team guaranteed a minimum of three games via consolation contests.
In 1951, it was eight teams, single elimination- one and done. A single loss eliminated a club from the tournament.
Stamford's opening round victory over Potter-McKean, 4-2, was the closest game they played on their way to LL title. They defeated a team from West Virginia, 11-0 in the semi-finals and captured the championship with a 3-0 victory over a squad representing Texas.
The four Potter-McKean coaches from left to right- Joe Wolcott (Eldred), Gerald Carley (Roulette), Buzz Shirey (Coudersport) and Cecil Gamble (Port Allegany). Three of these men had strong ties to Eldred.
Joe Wolcott was a life-long resident of Eldred and he and his wife, Margaret (Cawley) taught in the Otto-Eldred School District for many years. NOTE: Joe was my first coach in organized baseball (1965).
Gerald Carley was a former resident of Eldred and conducted a funeral home while living there.
Buzz Shirey (wearing his flashy "good luck" shirt) was a legendary coach of several sports in Coudersport.
Cecil Gamble was a coach in the Eldred Borough School for several years and while teaching in Eldred he married the former Lillian Rosenswie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Rosenswie. Cecil's son, Mike, was a member of the P-M All-Star squad.
Terry was the son of Mrs. Mary Shields. He was the power-hitting third baseman for the Potter- McKean team.
The caption states below Freddie's photo, "he became known to thousands of radio listeners as"- 'the red-headed, freckle-faced, snub-nosed little urchin from Potter McKean." Well, it was the 50's and I think these were terms of endearment, endorsing Freddie as an outstanding player despite not being the biggest player on the field. He was an outstanding pitcher and shortstop. He entered the Potter-McKean vs. Stamford game as a relief pitcher and shut down the hard-hitting Connecticut club.
We all have certain memories of childhood. There are those remembrances we may have no idea why we should recall them and others that we comprehend exactly why they still bring a smile to our faces-even fifty plus years later.
This is the opening paragraph of an essay I wrote about Freddie Howell on February 12, 2018. It continues below.
I was conducting some research for a book I was working on and I found information on Eldred's Freddie Howell. I don't know if Freddie was the best player on that '51 All-Star club (I heard he was), but in reading some articles I know he impressed a lot of people with his play in Williamsport.
Years after his WS appearance, I was probably eight or nine years old (1963-64), and hanging around the Eldred Park's ball diamond as I always did.
The Eldred Town Team (that's what we called them, but I think they may have been members of the McKean-Elk League) was practicing. Freddie was now 24 or 25 years old and playing shortstop during the workout.
For some reason, probably because I was a nuisance, the team let me play second base during batting practice.
I was playing next to Freddie Howell! Not only playing beside him, but after awhile we began to turn some double plays. Freddie would feed me, then I would feed him. I can still see him with his red hair and fluid and graceful actions. I never saw him play basketball, but there's no doubt he had to be an excellent player with that type of athleticism.
I felt like Nellie Fox or Bobby Richardson. Trust me, children of the 2000's, Fox and Richardson were excellent major league second basemen. I felt like a big leaguer taking ground balls next to Freddie.
It wasn't just his talent. He was teaching me at the same time. I was some little kid and he was having as much fun as I was.
Fred died in 2014. I read his obituary and was awe-struck at all he had accomplished and all the activities he was involved in during his many years of living in the Portville-Olean area.
An all-star as a baseball and basketball player, Fred later became an Olean fast pitch player- named here as a third baseman representing Hysol
I wish I could have sat down with Fred several years ago and just listened to his stories and experiences. I'm sure there are still folks in our community that knew him and/or his family well.
I'll never forget that day. I played next to Freddie Howell. It's impossible to compare eras and I don't know who was the best football player ever at Otto-Eldred or the best pitcher in Eldred history. I do know how Freddie Howell made a little crew-cut boy feel on one Saturday afternoon.
How can you put a price tag on that? Thanks, Freddie.
This was the home of the LL World Series in Williamsport. In this photo the P-M team is warming up prior to a game.
The boys had tons of support from local businesses.
Front page headlines, the summer of 1951.
The 1951 Eldred Vets Little League Team, sponsored by the VFW Post 2092, was started in 1951. Eldred was in second place in the four team league before the All-Star competition began. Members of the '51 club were: front row, left to right- Dave Loftus, Roger Fitzsimmons, Johnny Farris, Kenny Johnson, Francis Froebel, Gary Taylor and Billy Slavin.
Back row: Coach Joe Wolcott, Kenny Bailey, Roy Heinaman, Mike Kibler, Terry Shields, Paul Farris, Ben Kibler and Freddie Howell.
A Potter-McKean Little League All-Star team has never duplicated the incredible feat of the '51 squad, but they have certainly put together many fine teams through the years.
An Eldred Baseball Banquet in the early 50's. Russ Slavin is one of the men in the photo.
Only six years after being in the World Series, the '57 P-M team defeated Tarentum, 5-3 to advance to the state finals where they lost to Media, 2-0 in the title game.
Russ Hofer of Austin was the manager of that Potter-McKean team that also had five representatives from Austin; Steve Kudlock (who played professionally in the Boston chain), Doug Dow, Joe Keck, Bruce Bresslin and Eric Young.
1964 P-M club wins their opening contest. Duane Dow and Henry "Butch" Fallenstein hit home runs in the 12-2 win. Gary Nuss (Roulette) got the win. John Oszustowicz of Eldred was the starting SS and hit in the #3 spot.
This, I believe is a 1965 or '66 clip, with Ed Babcock managing the club and Chuck Kovach assisting. The Potter-McKean League now had six teams with Austin and Shinglehouse coming aboard. There would be a period of time when Port Allegany would have two teams (Pirates and Phillies) in the league.
Mike Miller, Mark Barnard and I played for the Potter-McKean All-Stars when I was 11. Mark was a catcher, Mike played short and I played second. Lew Schaub was our manager and we won our first game in Coudersport, but dropped our second.
The next year, Lenny Oszustowicz was an outfielder and I pitched in the opener. Jim Turner and Ed Harrington were our coaches. Despite two home runs by Austin's John Frank, we lost 5-4.
Here's the Austin club from that season-
Back row, keft to right- Greg Garzel, Dean Dow, Paul Plant, John Frank, Jim Sims, Gary Price, Randy Cooney and Coach Jim Turner NOTE: Randy Cooney played professional baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system.
The '68 team coached by Lew Schaub.
Bob Haskins of Roulette, 23-28 for robust .821 average (also eight HRs after only nine games). Roulette trailing Coudersport by a game.
1974, P-M All-Stars. John Henry Welch represents Eldred.
I graduated from high school in June 1973 and began college that fall. My first year of college was very similar to my last year and a half of high school- just do enough to get by and drifting day to day with no direct course in my studies or life in general.
I was given the opportunity to run the Eldred Area Park program in the summer of '74. My duties included coaching the Little League and "farm team" (those youngsters who did not make the 15 person Little League roster), running a high school summer basketball program and initiating activities that would keep the kids wanting to come back day after day.
It was my first coaching experience. I wasn't even 20 years old and not that far removed from having played Little League ball on the same field that I was now in charge of maintaining. Hopefully, I could make it a place where local kids would want to come and learn how to play the game and have fun doing it.
I'll mention it again later, but it was (and I hate using this over-used phrase), but it really was a "game changer." Working with the kids on a daily basis changed everything. I went back to college after my first summer of coaching, changed my major to education and I got on a path, a bumpy path at times, but it was the kids, if they were 7 or 17, that were the inspiration. Sounds like a television after-school special, but that's how it happened.
It's why I coached college baseball for seven years and scouted professionally for 25.
Front row, left to right-Mike Barr (Roulette), Dan Lutinski and Gerald Duffee of Austin, Kent Kovach (Shinglehouse), John Henry Welch (Eldred) and Wade Kio (Roulette)
Second row, left to right-Steve Gerner and David Deiter of Coudersport, Ted Wichert (Shinglehouse), Rick Robinson and Dan Taylor of Port Allegany Pirates, Jeff Stuckey (Roulette), Stan Dunsmore (Shinglehouse) and Dan Teclaw of Port Allegany Phillies.
Back row, left to right are the league coaches-Chet Teclaw (Phillies), Gus Kuratomi (Coudersport), all-star coach- Gerald Duffee (Austin), Bill Darush (Roulette), Jim Pransky (Eldred) and all-star manager- Jim Woods (Shinglehouse)
Four home runs for the Potter-McKean team.
Victory over Wellsboro clip again- Rick Robinson, Kent Kovach, Stan Dunsmore and Barr homered.. Jeff Stuckey picks up the W.
My first season as Eldred's LL coach ended with a record of 3-11. Our second year mark was 2-12. No, I wasn't fired.
In fact, even as a novice coach, I think I had a fair understanding of how to build a successful program- not look at each year simply by itself, but is it leading you to being more competitive in the future?
All of that is the complete antithesis of how I used to play-celebrate when you won, sulk when you lost. Geez, I was bad.
I knew we were on the right track when the number of kids that we had involved in our baseball program kept growing each year. We were 8-7 in our third year and we didn't have a bunch of six foot, 170 pound, hard throwing 11-year-olds move in to town. The wins are nice, of course, but it's just a part of building a program that will continue to improve.
I don't have any scrapbooks or scorebooks anymore. I donated them all to our library in Eldred. I don't have any yearbooks. Here's a list of our Little Leaguers and our farm team kids (who were there at afternoon practice or inter-squad games) 3-4 days a week for most of the summer.
This is a 45 year recall, jotting down names in a couple of hours. That's the impact these youngsters had and I hope they have with their kids and grandkids now. I apologize for missing some names, but you know I haven't forgotten completely. Give me more days and I'll have another dozen or more to add.
My players:
Bob Windsor Ed Windsor Matt Windsor Mark Windsor
David Dubois Larry Houben Pat Reed Bob Fessenden
Allen Chase Gary Barber Scott Papp Kevin Slavin
John Henry Welch Kelly Luce Doug Reeves Doug Cochran
Jody Thwing Danny Prince Jeff Prince Lance Looker
John Petruzzi Jason Gordon Mike Pascarella Mark Pascarella
Robert Roemer Chris Chase Corey Chase Molly Bednar
Wendy Campbell Tracey Harris Julie Todd Jeff Bell
Larry Gross Joe Green Jim Jewart Bill Rosenswie
Pat Eaton Mike Eaton Scott Eaton Mike Beebe
Jim Wade Danny Redmond John Welch Bob Close
Steve Appleby Shane Appleby Sean Appleby Troy Appleby
Doug Martz Dave Campbell Paul Tyler Don Tyler
Tom Schweikart Kris Slavin Carl Templin Tom Freer
Tom Van Scoter Mike Green Bill Fowler Tricia Marrone
Ray Marrone Marty Marrone Jim Housler Jim Johnson
Dana Gordon Ed Armstrong
That's 66 kids. Apologies to those who are missing. I'll be glad to add more as the names come in.
One of my ex-players wrote the following, "The Austin game is over 40 years ago, but I still remember that Rotello kid was a "horse." He hit a ball to the basketball courts in the park. They were a great team-undefeated with power hitters, but we were the better team that night. I'm pretty sure our rally came with two outs."
"I remember being 12 years old and over 100 kids trying out for our '77 Little League team."
I believe this is a beautiful field in Austin, Pa. I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Regardless, it's a great site.
P-M All-Stars Bob Fessenden and Pat Reed from the clips just shown.
Gerald Duffee hit a game winning HR and threw a two hitter. The Austin star faced Brenda Bates, who gave up only three hits and fanned eight. Duffee in his varsity years won the Big 30 scoring title two years in a row.
Duffee after an All-Star game.
Above and below- '79 P-M team. Trophies are Eldred's Scott Eaton, who made the All-Star squad as both a 11 and 12-year-old.
Front row, left to right-Mike Dunsmore, Chris Keck, Scott Reynolds, Phil Dewey, Scott Eaton and Bob Green
Back row, left to right- Coach Ernie Kuratomi, Ed Elias, Eric Phillips. Matt Rodkey, Devin Staiger, Pat Warnick, Kris Fuller and Manager, Jim Wood
Eric Phillips of Shinglehouse slides home with a run for the P-M team. Potter- McKean won their opening game, 10-2 over Galeton and then defeated Elkland in a come from behind slugfest. Phil Dewey had four hits in the game 2 victory.
My final season of Little League coaching began with a two day tryout. I was teaching at the time and I brought one of those tablets the students were given every six weeks. I assumed I would use three full sheets of paper, maybe squeeze in a few extra names if needed.
We had 110 kids at our open tryouts. 15 kids were selected to the LL squad, but the most impressive aspect and the most pleasing was that most of the others all played in our farm team system.
We finished 8-7 again. We never had a starter on the P-M All-Star team. We never had more than two players on the team. We never had that one hard throwing player who could strike out double figures whenever he pitched and/or hit tape measure home runs.
I wouldn't change anything. We had kids who knew how to play the game. The size, the strength, the speed could all come farther down the line. They were 11 or 12-years old and they needed to learn how to play.
Walking to Wrigley to scout a Cubs' game
My friend, Jim "Lefty" Miller. Talking baseball.
Seven years of coaching college baseball and 25 years as a professional scout............
The Baseball Life:
1. scouted 36 states
2. 15 ML stadiums
3 received World Series ring
4. lived in six states, eight different apts/houses
5. a million (yes, a Million) miles on the road in 25 years. Not incl. flights
6. two years as a minor league coach
7. Oakland A's "Scout of the Year," 2001
8. Too many high school, college and minor league games to list.
9. Scouted ten different spring training sites in Arizona and Florida
10. Coached, played or scouted in Europe, South America and Netherland Antilles
11. Six years with Houston, eight with Oakland, one with Cincinnati, seven with Tampa Bay and three with Colorado.
12. Three university coaching jobs; Saint Bonaventure, Quincy Il. and George Washington (D.C.)
And, I am absolutely certain where I spent my four favorite baseball years. Hands down, coaching the Eldred Little League. Nothing else happens without that experience and if I had one final year left in my coaching career, LL baseball would be my wish.
One of my instructional school kids. Lainey is going to be a fine player.
Congratulations to that '51 Williamsport team and to all the coaches, players and parents involved in LL baseball.
I realize times have changed; travel teams, 2X, 3X, 4X as many games played during a season, Hit-trax, $$$$ spent on travel, hotels, equipment and large fees to play, some league rules and game rules have dramatically changed. Different doesn't mean better or worse, it just means different.
There are many, many excellent teachers out there. Find them. Winning is only part of improvement. Good luck and thanks Eldred and the Potter-McKean Little League.
For decades, the Eldred Park's baseball field was not enclosed. All teams played on the same open field with bases and pitching rubbers moved to the appropriate distances. You can now see an outfield fence that surrounds the playing field for Little League and Babe Ruth ball. There is no Legion program now.
Across town, there are currently, at least two or three fields for softball and youth baseball. The trees shown here used to be a hopeful destination for some lefty power hitters to reach for a designated home run. The center of this road was impossible to reach in flight, but balls could roll across, again an almost certain HR.
The left field/ slightly left center area housed the basketball courts. Improbable to reach by air (but it was done), but balls were driven toward it and rolled on to the court, again an almost certain home run.
Many volunteers combined their efforts to improve the overall appearance, stabilize and unify the ground rules with the permanent fence, backstop, protective nets, etc. It continues to be a site for kids of all sizes to practice and play ball and a place for parents and friends to watch- a pleasant atmosphere that hasn't changed despite the more modern improvements.
Hopefully, there will always be town supervisors, council and families who will always see the importance of baseball and softball, in addition to the basketball and tennis courts, to the community. Many of us grew up there- safely and happily.
A game for all ages.
"Time makes you bolder
Children get older
And I'm getting older, too
And I'm getting older, too"
(SN)
A special thanks to:
Terri Crosby Duffee
Steve Appleby
Leanne Cooney
Scott Eaton
Mike Barr
Kevin Slavin
Greg Sevinsky- P-M All-Star from Coudersport
In 1978 playing for Port Allegany in Potter-McKean little league I got fooled by a guy who must have been one of your players. Somehow I made it to third base, which was a place I seldom visited since I got out of the community league. Your third baseman got the ball and faked a throw, and I moved off the bag and he tried to tag me. I really can't remember if I was out or not. I want to say the 3rd baseman's name was Eddie or Meatball.
ReplyDeleteWe were 4-11 that year and that was the last game of the season, at our place, and somehow we won it. Our other 3 wins that year were against Roulette, who was severely depleted and rebuilding and forced to start quite a few 9 and 10 year olds. That was my 12-year-old year and I had worked my way into the starting lineup in the second half of the season, playing out in right field where no one hit it, and batting 8th or 9th. In our mid-season game at Eldred I slapped a couple would-be singles into right field and got thrown out at first (this happened twice in one game, I really wasn't fast).
It was fun to play in that league and this article brought back those memories. I guess I went out on a high note with that win as I never played another baseball game.
Eddie "Meatball" Armstrong was the 3B,a good player and a really good kid. And tricky. Kevin Slavin was our RF and he actually threw several guys out at first that year. He played shallow-you definitely weren't the only one. Thanks for writing. Glad you got a W.
DeleteI went to Gannon U at the same time as Kevin Slavin and rode home with him and Julie Todd once (and my buddy Mark Splain). That was the only time I met Kevin and Julie, though.
DeleteMy older brother graduated from Gannon and when I was coaching baseball at Bonas we played them in the fall at the old ballpark in Erie. I think it may have been called Ainsworth or something like that. I knew the Splain family.
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