Researching baseball is ... history

     The subject is the history of professional baseball in Shreveport-Bossier, and after 21 months of research, here is where we are:

     Finished (for now). Might need to do more. But ready to move on.

     Of course, over the years I had done plenty of research, and had much material on pro baseball in Shreveport. Have a backlog of columns and stories, and have done several blogs.

     Always have loved researching athletics history, especially pertaining to Shreveport-Bossier, North Louisiana and Louisiana in general, and especially high school sports and pro baseball. 

     Spent so many late-night or off-day hours looking at microfilm over the years that -- oh, my eyes -- it meant wearing glasses fulltime much sooner than it should have and it was time spent when I should have been studying good/great writing, and trying to improve my craft.
      It was a hobby, almost an obsession, fun for me, and often useful for background info in stories and columns.

The history of pro baseball in Shreveport should begin
with the 1956 season, and Ken Guettler's
 62 home runs, the Texas League record.

     Anyway, when someone in Shreveport, in December 2016, suggested a book on the subject (actually I was the second choice), I did not feel like I had enough material to do that and be satisfied.

     So, more research and another "project" for my list. Trying to stay busy, and it is not difficult.  

     Well, it took a while because (1) I expanded the area to include North and Northwest Louisiana, with all the talent from there that went into pro baseball and (2) there were a lot of breaks in the research time.

     Like, maybe 21 breaks -- to match the months -- or maybe it was 211 breaks. Contrary to what some people believe, we do have a life other than athletics, research and writing.

     So here we are with a great backlog of material -- on the early days (from 1895) and then the Gassers, Sports,  Captains, and, yes, Swamp Dragons (yuk!).

     Does that mean a book is in the works?

     Maybe. Working on it. Might not happen, but let's see.
     Know it will have a limited and regional audience, but that's fine. It is a project that suits me.

     The original idea came from a link to a publishing company that has done a substantial series of books on baseball (and other sports). In baseball, those include selected cities -- Memphis and Birmingham are examples -- and their histories in the game.

     We have been in contact with that company, have provided a proposal/outline. But we are just starting; we are a long, long way from a deal. Do not hold your breath waiting.

     Might have too much material, too many facets. Could be cost-prohibitive. The intention is, well, for the company and the writer to generate enough book sales to make it worthwhile.

     But making the effort is worthwhile. And if the book does not develop, this will become a series of blog pieces -- for my friends, for Shreveport-Bossier (and North Louisiana) resources that might want them.

     We have begun doing preliminary pages on Google "Docs" as examples of the material we have.     

     Not saying this is a complete history of pro baseball in Shreveport-Bossier and North Louisiana, but there is a lot of depth there. We could give you details, but that would spoil the fun.

     Much of the research came from books on the Texas League, and files on the Internet, and the greatest amount of info came from the microfilm files of The Shreveport Times -- especially the writing of Jack Fiser and Bill McIntyre, sports editors/columnists/writers over a five-decade span. Fun reading their words.

     Later writers included Scott Ferrell and John James Marshall, and many others. Appreciate their help.

     So stay tuned.

---

     One example of how research goes, how a funny twist develops ...

     Lou Fitzgerald was the Shreveport Braves' manager for the 1969 season and the first 12 games of 1970. He was a veteran baseball man, a minor-league player dating to 1942, a manager for 20 years (beginning in 1951 and ending ... in 1970 in Shreveport).

     Yes, we were his last managing stop -- with the Atlanta Braves' Double-A farm team.  

     OK, looking for background info on Mr. Lou, I found this photo on this Internet astroland.net page. He is wearing a Shreveport Sports uniform.

     What the heck? Why?

     Knew he had never played for Shreveport. Knew his 1969-70 uniform had "Braves" on the front.

     Could not figure it out. Called Taylor Moore, the Captains' team president/part owner for 25 years and a longtime fan of Shreveport teams. He also was puzzled. 

      We thought maybe that Fitzgerald had played for Marshall, Texarkana and Longview -- all East Texas teams -- from 1947 to 1952, and some of those teams were "farm" teams for the Sports, that might be the answer.

      But not likely. We were not sure.

      Three months later, the answer came almost by accident.

      Happened to do a "Lou Fitzgerald" search on  newspapers.com, and deep in the results was a file from the   April 20, 1957, sports pages of the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser. 

      And here was the photo, that same photo as we'd seen, with the man wearing the "Sports" uniform. Read the photo caption ... and there is the answer.

      (Connection: Montgomery's team was in the same league -- the Alabama-Florida League -- as Pensacola.)

     Just to confirm it, we then came across another file, this one from a more familiar source: The Shreveport Times, dated March 14, 1957. 

     The story was on the annual baseball school and tryout camp -- for area players -- that the Sports held at our familiar stadium (then called Texas League Park). Included in the story: "Instruction will be provided by manager Lou Fitzgerald of Pensacola, with whom the Sports have a working agreement."

     And just an educated guess: When Lou took the field, he was wearing a Shreveport Sports uniform. 

     So there. Thought you would like to know.      

Butch Williams' life has been one of achievement

         Those of us who for decades have known Wayne Williams Jr. -- always "Butch" to just about everyone -- know that he has been an achiever all his life. And a battler.
     We admire that. We have for all those years.

The Williams family -- at the Frisco (Texas) Bowl, December 2017

     He was, when we first knew him in the mid-1960s, a darned good athlete. Not a superstar, but he was a difference maker. And it was that way in his career, too.
     Whether it was in athletics, as a player and coach, or in education, as a teacher or administrator, he met with success -- and earned respect.  
     He always has been a big man in Minden, Louisiana -- and Webster Parish -- and his family has been a treasured one in that area, especially in education.
     Most proudly, he was -- to use an expression we favor -- the son of the father. Wayne Jr. (Butch) followed Wayne Sr.'s career path -- teaching and coaching, then school administration, from high school principal to the same job:  superintendent of Webster Parish Schools.
     And Irene Williams ("Mama Rene") -- Sr.'s wife, Jr.'s mother -- was right there -- for 34 years the school secretary at Minden High.  
      It was a dynasty of sorts.

The young just-married couple, April 1969

     But Butch's biggest achievement, as I am sure he said repeatedly over the years, is the family he and Ki built over nearly 49 years of marriage.
     She was Karen Marlowe of Mangham, Louisiana, when they began dating and fell in love as students at Louisiana Tech University in the late 1960s and married in the spring of 1969, a few months before Butch's senior football season.
      Three sons and six grandkids are their pride and joy.
---
      Here is the reality: For more than a decade, Butch faced an opponent tougher than Springhill and Northwestern State in football or Jesuit and Bossier (in baseball). Cancer sucks.
      Even as schools superintendent, he worked through the early battles. After his retirement (in June 2011), his life -- with Ki -- was his kids and grandkids, his love of gardening, staying in touch with friends, and following Louisiana Tech athletics. 
      But cancer kept striking. It attacked his neck and his liver last summer; a Facebook post on Aug. 11 told of his infusion treatments. And the couple of times we spoke in the fall, he told me about the every-other-week treatments in Baton Rouge -- where son Trey (Wayne III) lives -- so it was a difficult, demanding process.
      It sapped his strength; it took his hair. He no longer was the beefy guy who -- after being tried in several positions -- bulked up to 235 pounds and became an all-conference offensive tackle ... in front of quarterback Terry Bradshaw. 
      Still, he was hopeful, optimistic ... but cautious.
      Time now is precious, and it is short. Prayers are in order.
---
      The personal connection: We arrived at Louisiana Tech at the same time, as freshmen in August 1965. He was a football linebacker and end, or had been at Minden High; I was a student sports information assistant.
      Butch for years was a good source for stories and background information on high school athletics and Tech football (especially about our years there, the Phil Robertson and Bradshaw years at quarterback).
      When he was coaching and afterward, Butch was a cooperative media source. But not always a happy one. I remember a young coach not being enamored with a few stories or columns -- slanted, he said -- written by a young sportswriter. Oh, well. But ... always friends.
      In early December, when he did not reply to phone and Facebook messages and an e-mail we sent him, seeking info on Tech's 1969 football bowl game, it was unusual. And not a good sign.
      So, it was a pleasure -- a treat -- to see Butch and Ki at Tech's pregame Frisco Bowl gathering in late December.
      It was nice to be with our son and two oldest grandsons that evening, but to visit with Butch for a few minutes -- twice -- was even better than Tech's rout of SMU.
      He was feeling good that night and that week, and detailed his health issues. He apologized for not getting back to me and assuring me that rumors that the seniors on Tech's  football team in 1969 did not want to play in the Grantland Rice Bowl in Baton Rouge -- Bradshaw's last Tech game -- were not accurate, that as team captains, he and center John Harper urged their teammates to relish the experience.
      (It was a long day for Tech, especially for the offensive line and Bradshaw, sacked 12 times by East Tennessee State. Butch, for one, played, although he was needing surgery on an injured knee.)
      Plans for us to talk about this prospective blog piece did not develop after that, as he again met physical challenges. But with his family's permission, here is the tribute to Our Man in Minden.
---
      A recap of his sports career: 
      -- He was a starting linebacker and end as a junior on Minden's talented, unbeaten Class AA state championship football team in 1963; he was the best player as a senior on the '64 team. 
     -- He was a good and versatile baseball player. He became an all-conference offensive tackle at Louisiana Tech.
     -- He was a dedicated, hard-working football assistant coach for a decade at Minden High. 
     -- More significantly, he was a state championship-winning coach in baseball (1972) and, for a couple of decades, spent summers coaching Minden's American Legion baseball team; twice his team made the North Louisiana finals.
     -- As principal at Sibley High (10 miles south of Minden), he helped start the football program.
      How good an athlete was he? In researching for this piece, we came across these highlights:
      -- In the spring of 1964, the eventual Class AA state champion Jesuit (Shreveport) baseball team beat Minden 7-0 as super pitcher George Restovich gave up one hit. Butch got that hit.
      -- He was the placekicker for Minden in 1963 and 1964. The '63 team eased to most of its victories, but in 1964, Butch's PAT delivered a 7-6 victory against Airline (Bossier City), a first-year school. His PAT late in the game saved a 20-20 tie for Minden in a bitter rivalry game with Jesuit.

       (About that game: Jesuit's sensational junior running back Tony Papa was badly injured early that night when a Minden player hit him from behind long after Papa had handed off the ball on a trick kickoff return. Jesuit faithful always thought it was a "cheap-shot" hit -- that's what we heard -- and the Minden player who did it, they recalled, was Butch Williams. He swore to me it wasn't him ... but he knew who it was.)
      -- In his greatest '64 game, he scored 29 points in a 35-20 victory against Homer on four touchdowns (two short runs, a 42-yard pass reception, a 52-yard run with a fumble).
      -- Against North Caddo in '64, he intercepted a pass and ran it back 60 yards for a touchdown on the last play of the first half. Minden went on to win 41-18.
---
      Butch, as like many of us, was a great admirer of Louisiana Tech's legendary head football coach-athletic director Joe Aillet, and he recalled these moments:
      As an eager freshman linebacker during a controlled scrimmage in the fall of 1965, Butch made the mistake of tackling QB Billy Laird, who that fall would be all-conference for the third year in a row. Coach Aillet -- soft-spoken, polished and polite, a professor-type coaching football -- rushed up (he was past age 60) and practically yelled, "No, no, no, we don't hit Billy."
      Another day, leaving the field after practice, Butch had his head down when Coach Aillet walked past. "He stopped me and asked, 'How are you doing, Wayne?' -- he always called me Wayne. I said, 'I don't know, Coach; I'm doing a lot of things wrong.' He said, 'Wayne, when we correct you, it means we think you have a chance to be a very good player. So keep at it.' "
      Two years later, Butch Williams was a regular in the Tech offensive line.
---        
      The highlight of Butch's coaching career, no question, was the 1972 Minden baseball season. It was one of the most dramatic, and surprising, events we covered in prep athletics.
      The 3-0 state-championship victory spoiled a perfect season for Bossier, a team that had gone 26-0, including three victories against district rival Minden. But junior pitcher Ronald Martin no-hit the Bearkats that day.
       It was Butch's second year as the Crimson Tide baseball coach and his team, tied for second in the district with Jesuit, had to be voted into the playoffs by a district committee.
        Reading back over the two stories we wrote that day, the funniest quote was Butch, finally greeting his pitcher after the title celebration and telling him, "You did a goooooood job."
---
     More Williams family history: Wayne Sr. and Rene met in Dayton, Ohio, where he was stationed just after World War II when he was a captain in the US. Army Air Corps. By 1947, when Butch was born in Haynesville, La., his dad was principal at Shongaloo High School. He also had coached there.
     After the family's move to Minden in 1950, he became principal at Minden High, from 1952 to 1961, took a supervisor's position and then became superintendent. In honor of his 44 years of service, the Minden High football stadium -- "The Pit" -- was named for him in 2009.
     When Mama Rene retired from Minden High in May 1986, the city honored her with a "day." 
      The Williams family influence in Minden and the parish extended into business. For 4 1/2 decades, Butch and Ki  have owned Minden Athletic Supply in the old downtown, and younger brother Jimmy Williams helped manage it. Even Wayne Sr. worked there after his retirement from the education field.

      Butch's career took him from coaching and teaching biology and chemistry at Minden High to assistant principal there, then moving to Sibley as principal and staying on when that school consolidated with several others in the area to become Lakeside High.
       After 21 years as principal, in June 2003, he moved to his father's old job -- superintendent of Webster schools.
       Two contracts extensions followed. So did financial challenges in the schools and a controversial plan to consolidate several parish high school/middle schools.
       The superintendent has to make tough decisions and needs school-board support. It was waning. And so if Butch was beloved by most people in parish schools, he also has to take the heat. And he did ... until his surprise announcement on March 7, 2011, that he was ending his 38-year career in education.
       "I have had about all of this fun I can stand," he said at that school board meeting, then took his accrued vacation/sick time ... and left the building.
       He did consulting work in area schools for a short while, and took the time with Ki, the kids, grandkids, Tech athletics, Facebook, his garden and his friends.
       And, unfortunately, with many doctors, nurses in hospitals and clinics. Cancer is a brutal opponent.
       The last couple of times we talked -- his voice obviously weakened -- or traded messages, he told me how blessed his life had been, how grateful he was for friends and especially Ki and his family.
       The old offensive tackle is still battling, trying to block cancer. Our friend Wayne Williams Jr. -- Butch -- never backed down. He has done a goooooood job. 

Butch and his three sons

The grandfather always was a gamer.

An inspirational story: Connie Smith has made his life meaningful

          Connie Smith has been an inspiration to anyone who knows him, and the story linked below bears that out.

     He has been partially paralyzed since a swimming accident in 1971 -- the first two vertebrae in his neck were crushed -- but he has made a life for himself.

     It is a story much like that of Kenneth Harvey (Logansport), subject of a series of stories/posts on my blog and on Facebook. Their courage, and faith, and the lives they have lived since each had a horrific moment as  young men are testaments to strong will.

     Both were outstanding high school athletes, and Connie went on to compete in college for three years. But their dreams of athletic fame were shattered.

     Researching baseball history in North Louisiana brought a reminder of Connie Smith, who starred at Spearsville (La.) High School and in American Legion baseball for the T.L. James Contractors of Ruston, and then at East Texas Baptist College.

     He was a versatile baseball player, a leader, an All-State catcher in high school (Class B, 1968, .427 average, four home runs in 15 games) who played first base in Legion baseball, and then after a year at Louisiana Tech in which playing time was more sparing, a pitcher and shortstop after a transfer to ETBC.

     He also was a good high school basketball player, helping Spearsville into the state regionals, and was one of the top scorers on the La. Tech freshman team in 1968-69 (my senior year there). 

     "But baseball was my passion," he said. 

     His talent was impressive enough that he was selected in the 1971 Major League Baseball draft by  the San Francisco Giants. 

     MLB at that time did make the draft-pick lists public instantly, nor did we at The Shreveport Times cover it closely. So, unless you were around Spearsville and Ruston then, the news of his being drafted did not make The Times until three weeks later. 

     His accident occurred two weeks later, seven days after his 21st birthday. Life changed forever.

     After a long rehabilitation period, Connie -- in his wheelchair -- worked in law enforcement for some 35 years.

Connie and Linda Smith (from his Facebook page)

     And then he had a calling to serve the Lord. For the past 15 years, he has been pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in rural Dubach, La. -- 13 miles north of Ruston. It is another 19 miles north to Spearsville (also rural), which is in upper Union Parish near the Arkansas border.

     Spearsville -- many familiar with North Louisiana athletics know this -- is a basketball/baseball town. Among my friends from there, athletes all, were the late Cecil Upshaw, Ike Futch, R.V. Lockwood, Joey Barron and James Smith (Connie's older brother).

     James is back living in Spearsville after 25 years as a women's basketball coach at Northwestern State University, where he became a legend. After eight seasons as top assistant coach, he was the Lady Demons' head coach for 17 years, and his teams won 340 games and played in four postseason tournaments (two NCAAs). 

      And you know he is as proud of his younger brother, as Connie is of him.

      Connie and wife Linda built a home with a Farmerville address and lived there for 35-plus years. When he turned to his second career -- as a pastor -- they moved to a home a quarter-mile from the Fellowship church.

      "I love it here," Connie said Monday when we talked by phone. "This is one of those things God just opened up for us."

---

      Here then is a story written by Brian Blackwell in July 2006 and posted online on  baptistmessage.com.:

     Wheelchair not a handicap for this pastor

     DUBACH -- Pastor Connie Smith may be confined to a wheelchair, but his congregation has never considered his disability a hindrance to their leader's ministry.

      "Since Brother Connie has been here, we don't even notice that he has a limitation," Deacon William Green said of their pastor, who was called to Fellowship Baptist Church in Dubach last month. "His good qualities outweigh that."

     Before Smith became pastor at Fellowship Baptist, Connie Ward said the congregation was struggling with transition. Since then, Fellowship Baptist and Smith have been the perfect fit for one another.

      "The people's attitude toward Connie (Smith) is what Fellowship Baptist is all about," explained Ward, pastor of Zion Hill Baptist Church in Farmerville. "To see God bring these two together has been a joy to my heart."

The Shreveport Times story, Aug. 1, 1971

     Smith's journey to Fellowship Baptist is an amazing story, indeed. If not for an accident on July 11, 1971, Smith may never have entered into the ministry.

     A former draft pick of the San Francisco Giants, Smith was spending that afternoon in 1971 with some friends at an East Texas lake before he was scheduled to report to camp in a week-and-a-half to play for the baseball team's A farm club.

     But in the blink of an eye, the Spearsville native's life changed.

     Smith attempted to skim just beneath the top of the water. However, in what Smith calls a "freakish accident," his forehead hit the bottom of the lake, three feet deep, leaving him paralyzed.

     Smith's next one-and-a-half years were spent in Denver and New Orleans hospitals and rehabilitation centers.

     Soon after he completed his rehabilitation in 1971, Smith married his high school sweetheart, Linda, and entered the workforce.

      "I couldn't have made it without Linda," Smith said. "She has been such a help to me as a spouse and pastor."

     After working as a dispatcher at the Union Parish Sheriff's Office, he moved to the Lincoln Parish Detention Center to become the control room operator. By the time, he retired from the detention center, Smith had worked himself to the position of assistant warden.

     Since he was retired, Smith devoted more time to service at Zion Hill Baptist. It was there that Smith discovered his need for Christ and, in 1995, he made a profession of faith.

     For the next eight years, Smith was an active member of the church, serving as a deacon. Eventually, his heart for Christian service led to a call to full-time ministry in 2004.

      "I had been feeling God dealing with me for some time," Smith said. "For years I had run from salvation. But I told Connie Ward that I wasn't going to run from this call to preach."

     One year later Zion Hill Baptist called Smith as its associate pastor.

      To support his call to preach, Zion Hill Baptist allowed Smith to preach monthly one Sunday there and two Sundays at other area churches. One church he preached at, Fellowship Baptist, extended a call to serve as its interim pastor in August 2005.

     For three months, Smith struggled with the decision.

     "Each day my family, which now included a God-given 15-year-old daughter, Heather Elizabeth Meredith, and I passed by Zion Hill as I was on my way to preach at Fellowship," Smith said. "It hit me that the Lord was leading me away from Zion Hill to be the pastor of Fellowship. We felt like if it was God's will, I wanted to be at the center of His will."

     In December 2005, Smith accepted the call as interim pastor. Six months later, the church called Smith as its pastor by unanimous secret ballot votes.

     "I had struggled with the possibility of 'no' votes," Smith recalled. "For my assurance that this was God's leading, I wanted there to be unity among the members.

     "When I found that 100 percent of the congregation voted to call me as pastor, it reassured me that this was the place for me to serve."

     For Smith, Fellowship Baptist has been like a second family.

     "God couldn't place me in a better situation and church," Smith said. "From the time I was here, I felt at home immediately."

---

     He is still serving today.

     "God has truly blessed me," Connie said Monday. "A lot of people died from accidents like what happened to me. I was able to work all my life, and I have not had any major health problems.

     "It was definitely a change [in lifestyle, after the accident," he said. "But it has been a blessed life."

     And the kid baseball player -- who was a player -- added this: "When spring is near, I can still feel the spring of the ball coming off the wooden bat."