That's the old ballgame Shreveport, chapter 15 (Sports 1959-61)

  Chapter 15
Sports (1959-61)

As Shreveport withdrew from the Texas League on Dec. 30, 1957, there was talk of the city acquiring a team in the Southern Association. That became a reality ... but it took almost a year.

On Dec. 12, 1958, a Shreveport group purchased, for an undisclosed sum, the Little Rock franchise in the Southern -- the last all-white league in Organized Baseball at or above the Class AA level.

Only a week or so after he was crowned "King of Baseball" at the minor-league convention, Bonneau Peters -- "Mr. Pete" -- again headed the Sports team operation as managing general partner.

    The ownership group included only five men: Peters, longtime Sports investor Major B.A. Hardey, former U.S. Senator W.C. Feazel, G.M. Anderson and George H. Jett.

    It also gave the Sports a working agreement with a major-league team, which had not happened since the early 1940s. The Little Rock Travelers had been the Kansas City Athletics' Class AA affiliate for a couple of seasons, and now -- with a three-year agreement -- the KC prospects would play in Shreveport.

    It was the first Southern Association franchise change since 1945; for 14 seasons, the league had included Atlanta, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Little Rock, Memphis, Mobile, Nashville and New Orleans. In fact, most of those teams had been together in the league during the 20th century.

     But the Little Rock-to-Shreveport deal was contingent on one factor: The sale of Shreveport's ballpark from Peters' old group to the City of Shreveport. And that was done for $225,000, an agreement announced by Shreveport mayor Clyde Fant the day the franchise shift became official.

     That placed the ballpark under the jurisdiction of the Shreveport Parks and Recreation department, thus the name change to SPAR Stadium. The city was free to use the park for other events; the Sports paid a lease for the stadium during the season.

     The City would receive 10 cents for each adult paid admission to Sports games, guaranteeing at least $10,000 annually but no more than $12,500.  And the City made a $50,000 down payment -- a sum advanced by Southwestern Electric Co. (SWEPCO) -- toward the purchase of the stadium, with a payment schedule that would have the park paid for by 1962.

     With that, Peters and the Kansas City Athletics went to work building a team for 1959. Managing the team would be the 1958 Little Rock player/manager, catcher Les Peden, returning to Shreveport where he had played in 1955 and '56.

     Top players from the era

    LES PEDEN -- (See chapter on managers, Part II)

    DICK HOWSER -- The biggest "name" from the three-year Kansas City Athletics' tie with the Shreveport Sports. Manager of the 1985 World Series champion Kansas City Royals, dead of a brain tumor a year and a half later. In his third pro year, he spent more than half of the 1960 season as the Sports' shortstop and was one of the leaders for a team that almost won the Southern Association regular-season pennant, hitting .338 (112 hits in 88 games), with 20 doubles, six triples, four homers, 38 RBI and 17 stolen bases. The next year he started for the Athletics and was The Sporting News American League "Rookie of the Year," an All-Star Game choice who hit .280. That was the best of his eight MLB seasons; his only other year as a starter was 1964 with Cleveland. His career finished in 1967-68 as a New York Yankees' reserve, he then became their third-base coach for a decade and, after a year coaching his alma mater, Florida State (where he was an All-America shortstop in 1956 with a .422 average), he was the Yankees' manager in 1980. Fired after a 104-win regular season, he then managed the Royals from 1981 through mid-1986. The last game he managed was for the American League in the 1986 All-Star Game in Houston; his brain tumor was found days later. Died June 17, 1987, in Kansas City, age 51. His No. 10 jersey was retired by the Royals.  

    LOU KLIMCHOCK -- The second baseman from Latrobe, Pa., arguably was the most popular player of the 1959-61 Shreveport Sports era -- "Baby Lou" at age 19 in '59 when he hit .315 in 151 games and led the Southern Association in hits (192) and doubles (44, 11 more than teammates Al Grunwald and Leo Posada, who tied for second). Injuries cut into his next two seasons and he came back to Shreveport for 11 games in 1960 (.263) and 44 games in 1961 (.248) after beginning that year as the Kansas City Athletics' starting second baseman. From 1958 to 1970, he was in the majors each year except '67, but only one without minor-league time. He became a journeyman player, with six teams and moves between second and third base. His career high for games in one season was 90 for Cleveland in 1969, when he batted .287, and started at third to replace injured Max Alvis. In 318 MLB games, he hit .232 with 13 homers and 69 RBI. After baseball, he worked a variety of jobs, the longest with the Coors Brewing Co., and then Coca-Cola Bottling, and settled in Arizona, where for a quarter century he has been a leader in the Major League Alumni Association to benefit retired players.

    DAVE WICKERSHAM -- He was the Shreveport Sports' most effective pitcher in 1960 and 1961, a solid right-hander from Ohio University who went on to pitch in the majors each year of the 1960s, including six complete seasons (1962-67). He came to Shreveport in his sixth pro season and in 1960 worked in regular-season 69 games -- 17 more than any other Sports pitcher, with a 10-7 record, 2.65 ERA and 187 innings. He started 11 games that year, but in 1961 he was strictly a reliever in 57 games, with a 14-11 record and 2.45 ERA. Each of those seasons he got call-ups to the Kansas City Athletics, then stuck with them in 1962. Between 1963 and '67, he made 206 American League starts; his best season was 1964, a 19-12 record with 11 complete games for the Detroit Tigers. He went to Pittsburgh -- the organization he originally signed with -- in 1968, then one more year in Kansas City (now the Royals) in 1969. His MLB totals: 68-57 record, 3.66 ERA, 1,123 innings.

   AL GRUNWALD -- The tall, lean Los Angeles native (6-4, 210), known as "Stretch" to teammates and "Grunny" to us in Shreveport, was one of the most popular Sports players of his time and the most versatile -- a first baseman but also a winning left-handed pitcher who had been in the big leagues. In 1959, he had an outstanding season for the Sports: he hit .313 with 126 hits -- including 33 doubles, 10 home runs and 56 RBI -- in 124 games; as a pitcher, he was 9-1 with a 2.09 ERA. He came back for two more years in Shreveport, the last of a five-year stay with the Kansas City Athletics' Double-A team (starting with Little Rock 1957-58). In three Sports seasons, he was a .292 hitter (48  doubles, 19 homers, 103 RBI) in 301 regular-season games and 24-14 as a pitcher in 62 games (45 starts) and 351⅓ innings. He began his 13-year minor- league career in 1947 as a first baseman, then switched to pitcher and made his major-league debut for Pittsburgh in 1955 (three games). His '59 season in Shreveport gave him another shot with Kansas City at season's end; he had one start in six outings. His MLB totals: 0-1 record, 19 innings, 6.63 ERA. In the Pirates' chain, he had strong seasons with Double-A New Orleans (Southern Association) in 1953 and 1956, and he was well-traveled, with stops in San Francisco, Toronto, Mexico City and Hollywood and his final season, 1961 in Japan. In the minors, he had a 41-31 record on the mound and was a .295 hitter with 111 home runs in 1,392 games.

     In his MLB debut, as a fourth-inning reliever for the Pirates (April 18, 1955) vs. the New York Giants, he was hit for the cycle: two-run triple by Willie Mays, RBI double by Monte Irvin, RBI single by Don Mueller and two-run homer by Whitey Lockman. Died Jan. 18, 2011, in Chatsworth, Calif., age 80.

    LEO POSADA -- The native Cuban, one of the most popular Shreveport Sports of his time, had two productive seasons (1959-60) for the team. He played 150 regular-season games each year, totaling 351 hits (68 doubles, 15 triples, 38 home runs) and 203 RBI -- 81, then a Southern Association-best 122, with batting averages of .301 and .314. He was back for only 11 games in 1961 (hit .278). He was in the big leagues with the Kansas City Athletics for bits in 1960-61-62; his only substantial action was in '61 (116 games, .253 average, seven homers, 53 RBI). He never played in the majors after '62. Signed originally by the Milwaukee Braves in 1954, his first season was in Louisiana -- Lake Charles (Evangeline League). Kansas City took him in the minor-league draft after the '55 season; he played in Corpus Christi in '55 and '56. He played his last six seasons in the Houston organization, three years in the Texas League (San Antonio '64, Amarillo '65-'66) and was the TL "Player of the Year" in '65 (26 home runs, 107 RBI, .305 average). Starting in 1968, he managed nine years in the minors (all but one in the Astros' system) and then scouted for several teams. Three decades after he played, the Posada name was back in baseball -- his nephew Jorge was the New York Yankees' star catcher for 15 years.

     JAY HANKINS -- A speedy, left-handed hitter from the University of Missouri, a member of its 1954 College World Series championship team, he was the Shreveport Sports' center fielder and leadoff batter in 1959 and 1960. He was a sparkplug, hitting .316 and .300 in those seasons, with 367 hits in 292 regular-season games and totaling 48 doubles, 15 triples, 17 home runs and 111 RBI. He made the majors with the Kansas City Athletics in 1961 (76 games, .185) and again in 1963 (10 games, .176), then retired as a player but stayed in the game -- one year as a minor-league manager, then as a three-decades scout before and after four years (1989-92) as scouting director for the Philadelphia Phillies. In all, he had 48 years in pro ball. Also was a referee in several sports in the off-season. Died Jan. 20, 2020, in Kansas City, age 84.

    JAY WARD -- The Shreveport Sports' solid third baseman in 1959 and 1960 when he was 20 and 21, John Francis (given name) had a long baseball career as a player and manager -- mostly in the minor leagues -- and was hitting coach for the New York Yankees in 1987 and Montreal in 1991. His 1959 season for the Sports was one of his best -- 153 games, 20 doubles, 22 home runs and 84 RBI and a .257 average -- and was comparable to 1960 (109 games, .261, 19 doubles, 15 homers, 53 RBI). From Highland, Ill., signed by the Yankees in 1956 and drafted in 1958 by the Kansas City Athletics, he made the majors briefly for Minnesota in 1963 (one hit) and 1964 (.226 in 12 games) and not again until 1970 with Cincinnati. His MLB totals: 8-for-49 (.163), four RBI. He played 16 seasons, 10 of them in Triple-A and one in Japan, and hit 255 home runs. He then managed for 13 seasons, none above Class AA, and the final six in independent leagues. Died Feb. 24, 2012, in Kilispell, Montana, age 73.

    KEN HUNT -- A powerfully built right fielder and power bat for the 1959 Shreveport Sports, he came to the team (at age 24) early that season and was impressive -- .322 average with 21 home runs and 74 RBI in 99 games. His Sports debut was sensational: a grand slam and three doubles in six at-bats. Property of the New York Yankees, on loan to the Kansas City organization, he had bits with the Yankees in 1959 and '60, then was taken in the expansion draft by the Los Angeles Angels. He was in center field for the Angels' first-ever game in '61 and that season, at home in cozy Wrigley Field in LA, he hit 25 home runs with 84 RBI (.255 average in 149 games). But a torn shoulder muscle and subsequent injuries led to surgery in 1962, sent his career into decline, and it ended after only three more years. His MLB totals: 310 games, .226, 33 homers, 111 RBI.  His stepson was child actor Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster in "The Munsters" TV show), and he also had a couple of TV acting bits. After working in the aerospace industry in the Los Angeles area, he died (heart attack) June 8, 1997, in Gardena, Calif., age 62, and is buried in Fargo, N.D., next to 1960s Yankees teammate Roger Maris.

    JIM MCMANUS -- He was one of the Shreveport Sports' first basemen in 1959 and '60, alternating with Al Grunwald (who also pitched and played in the outfield). McManus was rangy -- 6-4, 215 -- and muscular, and liked wearing sleeveless sweatshirts under his uniform to show off his big arms. He was the main power source for the near-champion 1960 Sports, leading the Southern Association in home runs (32) and second in RBI with 117 (teammate Leo Posada had 122), plus batting .304 in 151 regular-season games. He also played some outfield that season. He was from Boston, originally signed with the Detroit Tigers' organization and traded to Kansas City, came to Shreveport in his sixth pro season for the second half of '59, hitting .276 in 63 games (five homers, 24 RBI). His only major-league time came at the end of the 1960 season -- five games for the KC Athletics, a .308 average, one homer, two RBI. He had another big season for Triple-A Hawaii in 1961, then finished his career with two seasons in Japan.

     BOB SPICER -- When the Shreveport Sports returned to baseball in 1959, after a year's absence, the veteran right-hander from North Carolina was the Opening Day pitcher. He was starting his 13th pro season that included two two-game stops -- ineffective -- for the Kansas City Athletics in 1955-56, his only major-league time. For the Sports in '59, he had a 7-10 record and 4.10 ERA in 37 games (16 starts) and 147 innings. It was his third consecutive year with the Athletics' Double-A team in the Southern Association; he had been with Little Rock in 1957-58. He spent his first eight seasons in the Chicago Cubs' chain, four (1951-54) with Los Angeles (Pacific Coast League). After Shreveport, he was traded to Chattanooga (SA) and pitched his final two years in the Philadelphia Phillies' system. In 15 minor-league seasons, he had a 166-12 0 record in 576 games (183 starts). He was a good hitter (left-handed) who occasionally played in the outfield. After baseball, he worked for Ed Fleishman & Bros., then Devine's Sporting Goods, and died Feb. 27, 2016, in Fayetteville, N.C., age 90.

    RAC SLIDER -- The small shortstop was, the Shreveport Sports' starter in 1959 and a utility infielder for most of the 1960 season. He was from Simms, Texas -- near Texarkana -- and first played for Shreveport in 1956 for 18 games (.250 batting average). His career began in 1954 at Class C Alexandria, La. (Evangeline League). He was with the Kansas City Athletics' Double-A team in Little Rock in 1958, then moved with the team to Shreveport. In 1959, he hit .270 in 153 games, and got into 138 games in '60, batting .273, before being traded to Chattanooga in the Southern Association. He eventually wound up in the Boston Red Sox' system ... for life. He played four years for Red Sox farm teams, mostly at Triple-A. He then became a minor-league manager for 21 consecutive seasons (2,680 games) with the Red Sox, including nine at Class A Winter Haven (Fla.), was a minor-league infield instructor for five years and -- never having made the majors as a player -- was the Red Sox's third-base coach (for manager Joe Morgan) from 1987 to 1990.

    JIM SMALL -- A left-handed outfielder -- who also pitched in four games and nine innings (0-1 record) for the 1960 Shreveport Sports -- he signed as a "bonus baby" out of high school in San Jose, Calif., with the Detroit Tigers in 1955. Under baseball rules then, he was on the big-league roster his first two-plus years and played sparingly, but hit .319 in 56 games in '56. After he started '57 in Detroit (.214 in 36 games), he was traded to the Kansas City Athletics' organization and appeared in the last two games of the 1958 season in the majors (0-for-5). He never returned to the majors and was with the Sports in 1959 (85 games, .276) and 1960 (65 games, .232). He played two more years and after rheumatic fever following the 1962 season, retired from the game to live in Stanwood, Mich. He hit .270 in 108 MLB games; .280 in 587 minor-league games.

    JACK "RED" PARKS -- He was in his 16th minor-league season at age 31 by the time he came to the Shreveport Sports to split catching duties with player-manager Les Peden in 1959 (and again in 1960). A left-handed hitter, a gritty team leader, he played in 226 regular-season games for the Sports, with batting averages of .261 and .240 and a total of 33 doubles, four triples, 24 home runs and 114 RBI. In a career which began in 1944 when he was 16, he never played in a major-league game, although he started the 1955 season as the third catcher on the Milwaukee Braves' roster, sent to the minors after three games. He spent four seasons (1952-55) as a solid catcher for Atlanta (Southern Association) and parts of five years at Triple-A Louisville, including the entire 1956, '57 and '58 seasons. He went into the insurance business and died Oct. 6, 2001, in Spokane, Wash., age 73.

    DAN PFISTER -- A right-hander from South Florida, he pitched eight years in the Kansas City Athletics' organization, including two years for the Shreveport Sports as a rotation regular. He was a big winner in 1960 -- 13-5 regular-season record, 3.03 ERA, 20 games (18 starts) and 124⅔ innings -- and more durable for a less-talented 1961 team -- 10-16, 5.39 ERA, 38 games (30 starts) and 197 innings. Called up in September 1961, he pitched two games for the A's, then stuck with them in 1962, '63 and part of '64. He was in 41 games, with 25 starts, in 1962. His MLB totals: 6-19 record, 4.87 ERA, 65 games, 29 starts, 249⅓ innings. After baseball, he was a firefighter in Hollywood, Fla.

    RON DEBUS -- A lantern-jawed third baseman, he was with the Shreveport Sports in 1960, his third pro season, for 39 games and hit .270, then returned for the full season in 1961 and put up good numbers -- 143 games, 166 hits, 31 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs, 86 RBI and a .303 average. He played five years after that, three in Triple-A, but  never reached the majors and spent most of his nine-year career in the Kansas City Athletics' system (with brief stays in the Yankees' and Red Sox organizations). He died Jan. 30, 2018, in Kansas City, Kansas, age 80.

    FRED NORMAN -- The left-handed pitcher was a major leaguer for 16 seasons (1962-80) for seven teams, a starter for the 1975-76 World Series champion Cincinnati Reds, but his pro baseball career began in Shreveport in 1961. He was 18 when he signed with the Kansas City Athletics and his start with the Sports was rough -- a 1-7 record, 5.70 ERA, in 14 games (11 starts) and 53⅔ innings. He spent most of a decade in the minors, with a bit in the majors in five seasons, but stuck in 1970 and found his form -- a screwball was his best pitch -- with Cincinnati, where he spent seven seasons in the 1970s. Each year he won between 14 and 11 games, a total 85-64 regular-season record, 196 starts, 38 complete games and ERAs consistently between 3.09 and 3.73. He pitched in four Reds postseasons, with two World Series starts, and a 1-1 record in 23⅓ innings. His MLB totals: 104-103 record, 403 games (268 starts), 1,939⅔ innings.

    JOSE SANTIAGO -- A right-hander from Puerto Rico, he pitched in three games for Shreveport in 1961 (0-1 record, 1⅓ innings). Six years later, he started two World Series games for the American League champion Boston Red Sox, including Game 1 vs. St. Louis. Both his Series starts (also Game 4) were losses. He was 12-4 in the regular season, plus five saves, for that "Impossible Dream" team and it was the best of his eight major-league seasons. He made the majors with the Kansas City Athletics in 1963-65, with 34 appearances and 83⅔ innings in 1964, then was with Boston from 1966 to '70. His MLB regular-season totals: 34-24 record, 3.74 ERA, 163 games (65 starts), eight saves, 556 innings. He managed for two seasons (in Puerto Rico and Miami).

  BUD BLACK -- The rangy right-handed pitcher (listed at 6-foot-3, 197 pounds), given name William Carroll, had been in the big leagues (Detroit Tigers, 1952,  1955-56) and in the Korean War (U.S. Army, 1953-54) by the time he was a reliable, durable starter for Shreveport in 1959 and 1960, his final two seasons as a player. For the Sports, he had records of 13-15 and 14-16, respectable ERAs (3.29 and 3.65), and totaled 72 regular-season games (59 starts), with 22 complete games, and 447 innings. For Detroit earlier in the decade, he was 2-3 with a 4.22 ERA in 10 games (five starts) and 32 innings. The highlight was one shutout in 1955.  He moved through the minors after that, including the Southern Association the last four seasons. Out of University City, Mo., he signed with the St. Louis Browns in 1950, the next year had a 20-10 record in 264 innings for Pine Bluff, Ark. (Class C Cotton States League), was a starter in the Texas League for San Antonio in 1952 (12-8 record) and that year was traded to Detroit as part of an eight-player deal in which the big name was Vic Wertz. He made his MLB debut for the Tigers at age 19. He died Oct. 2, 2005, in St. Louis, age 73.

   RAY "BUDDY" BLEMKER -- A left-handed pitcher whose pro baseball career began with the 1959 Shreveport Sports (five games) as a free-agent signee by the Kansas City Athletics. He spent much of the 1960 season with Shreveport (8-6 record, 4.78 ERA, 16 games, 14 starts, 105 innings) after a one-game major-league appearance in relief (and not effective) for KC vs. Boston on July 3. The pitcher he relieved: Don Larsen. He was back with the Sports for a bit in 1961 (1-2 record, 14 games, six starts, 40⅓ innings) and out of baseball after 1962. He came in with promise -- a three-sport star in high school (Huntingburg, Ind.), an All-SEC basketball starter at Georgia Tech and star pitcher (and first baseman) for two SEC championship teams (1957, '59). Even with only one game, he was the first MLB player from his county (Dubois) in Indiana. After baseball, he went into sales, then was an investigator with the U.S. Department of Labor for 25 years and died Feb. 15, 1994, in Evansville, Ind., age 56.

    BOB DAVIS -- A New York City native, Jewish, a Yale University graduate, the right-handed pitcher had two stints with the Kansas City Athletics (1958, 1960) around one big season as a Shreveport Sports' starter. In 1959, he had a 16-12 record for the Sports, with a 4.37 ERA in 34 games, completing 12 of his 28 starts, and totaling 202 innings. He came with the club from Little Rock, where in 1958 he was 11-8 with a fine 2.17 ERA and was promoted to Kansas City for eight games (four starts, 0-4 record). Back with the A's in 1960, he was more effective in 21 relief appearances, although most of his season was with Dallas-Fort Worth (Triple-A). Drafted by the expansion Los Angeles Angels, he chose instead to return to Yale, earned a masters degree in history and became a longtime clinical psychologist, for 15 years with IT&T as vice-president of human resources and then as an independent consultant for a couple of decades. He died Dec. 22, 2001, in New York City, age 68.

    CHET BOAK -- Lou Klimchock's successor at second base for the Shreveport Sports, he had a Southern Association all-star season in 1960 -- 150 games, 157 hits, 33 doubles, two triples, 12 homers, 96 RBI and a .292 average. That led to a late-season call-up by Kansas City and then being selected in the expansion draft by the new Washington Senators (he opened the 1961 season with them). But in his two MLB stints (five games for each team), he was only 2-for-20 (.100) with one RBI. He played 891 minor-league games in eight seasons (through 1964) and hit .280.  After baseball, he was a mold maker for Universal Randle Corp. and died Nov. 28, 1983, in Emporium, Pa., after a heart attack while hunting, age 48.

    BILL KIRK -- A tall, thin left-handed pitcher (6 feet, 165 pounds) from Pennsylvania, he pitched for the Sports in 1959 and 1961, mostly as a reliever. He was in his sixth pro season when he came to Shreveport and in '59 worked in 33 games (four starts) and 50 innings, with a 1-5 record and 4.68 ERA. He was back briefly in '61 -- 1-0, 5.05, 18 games (five starts) and 46 1/3 innings. His only major-league action was one game, three innings, for Kansas City in '61. Died Oct. 26, 2009, in Lititz, Pa., age 75.

   

     ALEX GEORGE -- The Shreveport Sports' second baseman in 1961, he had one of the best of his nine seasons in pro ball, with a .276 average, 133 hits in 137 games, including 19 doubles, four triples, 18 home runs, 68 RBI. At age 16, barely out of high school, he was in the major leagues all season in 1955 for his hometown Kansas City Athletics, but only in five games (1-for-10) as a shortstop and pinch-hitter. Never returned to the majors. He had power for a middle infielder, with 23 home runs for Class C Pocatello, Idaho (Pioneer League) in 1958.

     WOODY HUYKE -- In his third pro season, Elwood B. (given name) was a middle infielder for the 1961 Shreveport Sports for a half season, playing in 75 games and hitting .305. He went on to play 14 minor-league seasons, six in Triple-A, and batted .266, but his claim to baseball fame was 31 years as a minor-league manager -- 29 of them in one spot, the Pittsburgh Pirates' rookie league team in Bradenton, Fla. (Gulf Coast League).

      BILL HARRINGTON -- After three stops in the majors with the Athletics (Philadelphia 1953, Kansas City 1955-56), the thin right-hander (5-11, 160) from North Carolina was a reliable pitcher for the 1960 Shreveport Sports. He had a 7-6 record and 5.23 ERA in 28 games (19 starts) and 129 innings. That included six complete games. Two years earlier he had been a 20-game winner (20-7) for Birmingham in the Southern Association. His pro career began in 1949; he was in one game for the A's in 1953, then spent the whole 1955 season with Kansas City -- 3-3 record in 34 games and 76⅔ innings. His MLB totals: 5-5 record, 58 games (only two starts), 116⅓ innings. After Shreveport, he pitched only one more year, in Class B.

       GORDON MACKENZIE -- He had a long, solid career in pro baseball, and 1961 was a notable season for him. He was one of the Shreveport Sports' catchers that year, hitting .270 in 116 games and at the end of the season was promoted to the Kansas City Athletics for his only major-league playing time in 11 seasons (11 games, 3-for-24, .125). From St. Petersburg, Fla., he played 11 minor-league seasons, batting .247 in 990 games, and then -- from 1966 to '95 --  was a minor-league manager for 16 seasons, a major-league coach for eight, and then a scout. Died Aug. 12, 2014, in Eustis, Fla., age 77.

      DALE WILLIS -- An All-SEC pitcher for the Florida Gators in 1955 and 1956, he signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Athletics in 1960 and the next year was a dependable right-hander for a mediocre Shreveport Sports team. He had an 11-11 record and 3.08 ERA in 32 games (19 starts) and 169⅓ innings. That included seven complete games and three shutouts. His only time in the majors was in 1963 for the A's -- 25 games, an 0-2 record and 5.04 ERA. He stayed in baseball only two more seasons after that.

      DUTCH ROMBERGER -- A right-handed pitcher, almost exclusively a reliever, he pitched the final two seasons of a 13-year mostly minor-league career for the Shreveport Sports, in 1959 and after a year out of the game, 1961. He came to Shreveport with the franchise, having pitched for Little Rock (Southern Association) in '57 and '58 (with an 18-5 record that year). He was 2-1 in 16 games for the Sports in '59, then 4-1 in 37 games (one start) in '61. Allen Isaiah (given name) had one 10-game stint in the majors, with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1954 (1-1 record). His only victory came when he pitched one inning against Detroit and the A's scored five runs to erase a 4-0 deficit. In the minors (1948-61), he had a 111-72 record in 462 games (all but 23 in the A's organization). He died May 26, 1983 -- his 56th birthday -- in Weikert, Pa.

       FRANK CIPRIANI -- A right-handed outfielder from Fordham University, he was with the 1961 Shreveport Sports in his second pro season, having jumped from Class D. He hit .285 in 93 games for the Sports, with 15 doubles, four home runs and 36 RBI, then at season's end was promoted to the Kansas City Athletics, where in 13 games he hit .250 (nine singles in 25 at-bats) and drove in two runs. Never returned to the majors and played five more minor-league seasons.