Fri, May 16 2008
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Published May 04, 2008 12:16 am - 56 years later, Rotarians hold vivid memories By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com OSWEGO, Kan. — Fifty-six years ago, Oswego Rotarians second baseman Jerry Coburn apparently knew the end was near. “We were playing in the final game,” he said. “Right before a ball was hit, I went to Jake (Crowell, the shortstop) and said ‘Jake, let’s just turn the double play and get out of here.’ The ball went to Jake, went to me, went to Dale Smith (first baseman), and that was it ... for the championship. “I got the ball over there. I called it, and Dale gave it to me.” The Rotarians defeated the Great Bend Golden Belters 5-0 before approximately 1,000 fans on Aug. 25, 1952, to win the Kansas Ban Johnson Semipro Championship. The Great Bend newspaper billed it as “The Little World Series of the Plains.” On Friday and Saturday, eight players from that team gathered for a reunion — Coburn, Crowell, Preston Carpenter, Larry Cruzan, John Paul Jones, R.E. Layton, Jerry Patrick and Donnie Vance. “I’ve seen people I haven’t seen since 1952,” said Coburn, who lives south of Joplin. “I lived with them here for a summer. I loved it. I married a gal from Oswego.” Coburn, Crowell and Smith were all from Joplin, and they went into the Air Force together after high school. But the reunion, organized by Phil Blair, brought Coburn and Crowell, who lives in Louisiana, together for the first time in many years. “The image, the snapshot I’ll take away from the picnic (Friday) night was when the shortstop of this team walked in late,” said Tim Kurkjian, an ESPN baseball analyst and Patrick’s son-in-law. “The second baseman saw him, and they haven’t seen each other in 50 years. The shortstop and second baseman embraced, and it was a real hug from teammates who’d lost track of each other, but the minute they saw each other, it was real again, and they were teammates again. “This is what baseball is all about to me, and even though I’m here mainly because of a family situation, I would like to see something like this even if I didn’t know anyone in the room. These players become a member of the family, and when you win as a family, there’s nothing better than that.” Ray Gifford was the Oswego manager, and he and his wife, Betty, could not have come from more contrasting backgrounds. “Ray grew up around Fenway Park,” Betty said. “His father took him to his first game I think before he could walk. And if there was a sandlot game going on, they’d stop and watch it even if they didn’t know any of the players. Ray Gifford grew up in that kind of atmosphere. “I didn’t know anything about baseball. I sat in the stands with Danny Doyle, the Red Sox scout, and he taught me how to score the game and what was going on. That’s how I learned about baseball, and I never missed a game. Then I had two sons, and I went to a lot more games, washed a lot more uniforms. “I was 28 in 1952 and had a new baby. Two of those ballplayers lived upstairs in the old house we lived in. Luckily there was a door we could close because they’d leave razor blades (out), they’d drink all the milk, typical young boys. They were ornery boys but real athletes. They didn’t do anything bad. They were just real active, having fun.” 
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