Chapter 17
S-Braves (1968-70)
After six years without professional baseball (1962-67), Shreveport returned to the game -- and to the Texas League -- in 1968 when the Atlanta Braves moved their Class AA franchise from Austin to Shreveport.
Bonneau Peters no longer was involved with the ballclub, but Shreveport's main baseball man for almost 2½ decades observed, "We are back where we belong [Texas League]."
During the interim, the old ballpark in Shreveport had been used primarily for high school, American Legion and the Shreveport Parks and Recreation (SPAR) department's "Junior A" baseball games and also for African-American high school football games.
The Braves operated the new ballclub -- Dick Morris was the first general manager -- and the Atlanta team management combined with the City of Shreveport to provide the funds for an $45,000 improvement to the stadium.
That included new lights, new press box (at the top of the grandstand, replacing the decayed press box on top of the also-decaying roof), outfield fence -- single decked to replace the rotten double-decked one -- and a paint job for the grandstand seats in various gaudy colors.
The Shreveport team nickname became the Braves and the ballpark was renamed Braves Field. An attempt to rename it Bonneau Peters Field did not stick; it was opposed by many in the African-American community who felt that Mr. Peters, in the 1950s/early 1960s, had been instrumental in keeping Shreveport's team from integrating and keeping opposing teams' black players from playing in Shreveport.
The Atlanta Braves, with two legendary baseball men as key figures, (Paul Richards as general manager and Eddie Robinson as farm director), kept their Double-A team in Shreveport for three seasons, but declining attendance led to a franchise move to Savannah, Georgia.
Top players from the era
RALPH GARR -- He was popular, the first African-American to play regularly for a Shreveport team in Organized Baseball, and he was almost playing at home. With blazing speed, "The Road Runner" from Ruston, La. (Lincoln High), and Grambling College (where he hit .585 as a senior), he was the Shreveport Braves' left fielder in 1968 (converted from second base that spring). He batted .293 that year, tied teammate Angel Hermoso for the league lead in stolen bases (32), and made his major-league debut at the end of the season. After three end-of-season stints with the Atlanta Braves, he started in left field for them in 1971 and hit .343. He won the National League batting title in 1974 (.353, 214 hits, 17 triples) and in nine-plus full major-league seasons (most with the Braves and Chicago White Sox) was a .306 hitter. After retiring as a player, he was a longtime pro scout.
GEORGE STONE -- A star in baseball and basketball at Ruston High School and Louisiana Tech University, he started the 1968 season with the Shreveport Braves, commuting to home games while going to school at Tech. The left-hander pitched in five games (four starts) and was 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 28 innings. The school semester finished, he was promoted briefly to Class AAA and then joined Atlanta (7-4, 2.76 ERA in 17 games, 10 starts). He stayed in the majors for eight seasons (five with Atlanta, three with the New York Mets), had a 60-57 record and 3.89 ERA in 203 games (145 starts). He was 13-10 for the Braves' 1969 National West champs and 12-3 for the NL champion Mets in 1973 (a team that included superstar Willie Mays, above with "Stoney," in his last season as a player). George earned one World Series save (Game 2) and also pitched in Game 7. An arm injury cut short his career -- after he rehabbed from rotator-cuff surgery, returning following a year's absence to pitch in the 1975 season -- and he came home to Ruston to live, coach and teach.
WAYNE GARRETT -- The redhead from Sarasota, Fla., at age 20, was Shreveport's second baseman in 1968, his fourth year as a pro, and hit .239 in 131 games. The next year he was in New York with the "Miracle Mets," alternating at third base (with veteran Ed Charles) for the 1969 World Series champions. A left-handed hitter, in the National League Championship Series, he went 5-for-13 (.385) with one home run against the organization (Atlanta Braves) that traded him. He started at third for the Mets in 1972-75, including the 1973 World Series when he hit two solo homers, then went on to play for Montreal and St. Louis, and then two final seasons in Japan. In nine MLB seasons and 1,092 games, he batted .239 with 61 home runs and 340 RBI.
CLARENCE "CITO" GASTON -- Maybe the biggest name to play for the Shreveport Braves in 1968, best known as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays' World Series champions in 1992 and 1993. A center fielder for Shreveport, he arrived early in the season, played in 96 games and hit .279 (95 hits, 15 doubles, six homers, 57 RBI). It was his fifth pro season; he had played nine games for Atlanta the year before. The Texan (he grew up in San Antonio and Corpus Christi) was the last pick (30th) by the expansion San Diego Padres after his year in Shreveport and, boosted by two strong winter-league seasons in Venezuela, blossomed into an All-Star in 1970 when he hit .318 with 26 doubles, 29 homers and 93 RBI for the Padres. He stayed in the majors through 1978 (back with Atlanta in '75-'78), then became a longtime hitting coach. Promoted to manager in 1989, the Blue Jays won division titles in four of his first five seasons. He managed through 1997, came back as hitting coach for two years and then again as manager in 2008-10.
CARL MORTON -- The red-haired right-hander from Tulsa, Okla., was by far the Shreveport Braves' best pitcher in 1968 with a 13-5 record, tying for most wins in the Texas League. He had 2.72 ERA, 26 starts, 179 innings, 130 strikeouts, four complete games, two shutouts), then was claimed by the Montreal Expos in an expansion draft. An outfielder at the University of Oklahoma, the Atlanta organization had converted him to a pitcher. With the last-place Expos, he was the National League "Rookie of the Year" in 1970, going 18-11 with 10 complete games and four shutouts. He was traded back to Atlanta before the 1973 season and posted records of 15-10, 16-12 and 17-16 for the Braves before his career faded. MLB totals: 87-92, 3.373 ERA, 255 games (242 starts). He died April 12, 1983, in Tulsa from a heart attack while jogging. He was 39.
TOM HOUSE -- He is now known as the "Father of Modern Pitching Mechanics," an author, instructor, teacher, lecturer on pitching, and as a former major-league pitcher and coach. He also is known as the reliever who caught Hank Aaron's 715th home run on the fly in the Atlanta Braves' bullpen in 1974 and carried it to home plate to present to Aaron. For Shreveport, he had this distinction: In the city's first game in Organized Baseball in 1968, after a six-year gap, he was the Opening Day pitcher, combining with the bullpen for a shutout at Dallas-Fort Worth. The Southern Cal graduate started only three games for Shreveport with a 2-1 record and 1.00 ERA in 18 innings, then was promoted to Triple-A. He reached for the majors for good in 1973 with Atlanta, had 22 saves in 1974-75, then moved on to the Boston Red Sox in '76 and the expansion Seattle Mariners in 1977-78 (made 20 of his 21 MLB starts for them). His totals: 29-23 record, 33 saves, 3.79 ERA, 289 games, 536 innings. He became a pitching coach for, among others, the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers (where he worked with Nolan Ryan), then developed his own web site and business in pitching mechanics (and also worked with NFL quarterbacks).
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April 8, 1974: Tom House, right, who caught Hank Aaron's record-breaking
715th home run ball on the fly in the Atlanta Braves' bullpen, ran to home
plate and presented the ball to the new home-run king of baseball.
(Corbis-Bettmann photo) |
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| photo from FenwayParkdiaries.com |
WALT HRINIAK -- The Shreveport Braves' No. 1 catcher in 1968 had one of his best seasons as a pro, hitting .313 with 108 hits in 107 games, 11 doubles, six home runs and 47 RBI. At age 25, he was a team leader and was influenced by manager Charlie Lau, who became one of the major league's most respected hitting instructors. So did Hriniak. He had transformed, from a star kid hockey player and all-around athlete from Natick, Mass., signed as a shortstop by the Milwaukee Braves in 1961, to eighth-year minor-league catcher -- four in Double-A, including a car wreck-interrupted 1964 Texas League season in Austin. At the end of his Shreveport season, he played nine games with Atlanta. He also was in the majors briefly in 1969. But in 47 MLB games, he went 25-for-99 (.253), all singles. He became a major-league coach for 21 years (through 1995) -- 12 with Boston, where he first was a batting coach in 1985. Then he opened his own hitting school and was a private instructor.
AL SANTORINI -- His numbers pitching as a third-year pro for Shreveport in 1968 weren't special: 6-5 record, 2.69 ERA, 19 games (18 starts), 104 innings, 93 strikeouts. He pitched one game, three innings, for Atlanta that season. But the right-hander from Union, N.J., where he had been one of New Jersey's top all-time high school pitchers (35-1 record), impressed the expansion San Diego Padres, who drafted him out of the Braves’ organization after '68. He was in San Diego's rotation the next year and went 8-14 with a 3.95 ERA in 184⅔ innings, starting 30 of his 32 appearances. After three years with the Padres, he was traded to St. Louis and was 8-11 in 30 games (19 starts) in 1972. But he was out of baseball two years later. MLB totals: 17-38, 3 saves, 4.29 ERA, 127 games (70 starts).
RON SCHUELER -- A three-year pitcher for the Shreveport Braves (1968-70), he would go on to a long career in baseball. He was 20, a second-year pro out of Hays, Kansas, and Fort Hays State, when he came to Shreveport. For the S-Braves, the 6-foot-4 right-hander had a 16-20 record, ERAs of 5.95, 3.13 and 4.46, and worked 269 innings in 76 games (35 starts). One stood out: a no-hitter on Sept. 7, 1970. He reached the majors with Atlanta in 1972 and stayed for eight seasons (four teams, 40-48 record, 4.08 ERA, 291 games). In 1979 he became the Chicago White Sox pitching coach as successor to Fred Martin (Shreveport Sports' pitcher, 1953-56), who died that season. After years as a pitching coach and front-office executive, he returned to the White Sox as general manager for 10 seasons (1991-2000), then moved on as an assistant and scout with other clubs.
HAL BREEDEN -- A first baseman-outfielder from Albany, Ga., he played in 78 games for Shreveport in 1968 and batted .274 with 16 doubles, 14 home runs and 50 RBI. He was a Double-A veteran by then, having spent three full seasons (1964-66) in Austin with the Braves' organization. In 1971, he reached the majors with the Chicago Cubs for 23 games, then moved to the Montreal Expos in 1972-74, hitting .275 with 15 homers and 45 RBI in 105 games in '73. His MLB totals: 273 games, .243, 21 homers, 76 RBI. He played three years in Japan later in the '70s.
DALE "BLADE" ROBERTS -- By the time the slender veteran left-hander reached Shreveport and was a workhorse pitcher, he had appeared in two games in the majors with the woeful 1967 New York Yankees (he had a 9-4 record in 50 games with Triple-A Syracuse that year). Sent to the Atlanta organization, he pitched three years and 124 games for the Shreveport Braves -- a total record of 16-23 with ERAs of 3.84, 2.29 and 2.80. He started 17 games in 1968, then worked 94 games and 163 innings -- all in relief -- in 1969-70. He died Oct. 8, 2010, in Lexington, Ky., age 68.
ED PACHECO -- The Shreveport Braves' regular third baseman for most of the 1968 season, he batted .250 in 113 games with 15 doubles, three triples, six home runs, 46 RBI and 16 stolen bases. A solid player, he was already with his third MLB organization that year and played for three more in a 14-year minor-league career, most of it in Class AA.
SKIP GUINN -- A left-handed pitcher from Los Angeles and Santa Monica College -- full name Drannon Eugene Guinn -- “Skip” began the 1968 season with Shreveport, but stayed for only three starts (1-2 record, 4.76 ERA in 17 innings). He pitched in three games for Atlanta late that season, then worked in 28 games, 27 innings, for the Houston Astros in 1969. But his MLB career was brief: 35 games, all in relief, 1-2 record, 5.40 ERA.
ANGEL "REMY" HERMOSO -- The Shreveport Braves' shortstop in 1968 at age 20, he already had been in the big leagues. He had shown promise (8-for-26, .308 average) in 11 games with Atlanta at the end of the 1967 season (after most of the year at Double-A Austin). He had a good season for Shreveport -- 139 hits in 129 games, .296 average, 77 runs, 17 doubles, 37 RBI, 32 stolen bases (tying teammate Ralph Garr for the TL lead). He was taken in the expansion draft by the Montreal Expos and got in 28 games with them in 1969 but only four in 1970, and did not return to the majors until 1974 for 48 games with Cleveland. He hit only .211 in MLB, but was a star in winter ball in his native Venezuela.
MIKE MCQUEEN -- A left-handed pitcher from Houston (Spring Branch area), he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1968 (first round) and pitched in four games for Shreveport near the end of that summer (two starts, 1-0 record, 3.21 ERA, 14 innings). Injured most of 1969, he again came to Shreveport for four starts (0-1, 1.93, 14 innings), then pitched three innings in one September start for Atlanta. He stuck with the Braves in 1970 and, through an injury-plagued career, made 18 starts in 1970-72, then pitched in 10 games for Cincinnati in '74. MLB totals: 73 games, 19 starts, 5-11 record, 4.66 ERA, 3 saves. He died Oct. 9, 2017, in Batesville, Ark., age 67.
GEORGE "SONNY" KOPACZ -- A left-handed first baseman-outfielder from Chicago, he had been in the majors briefly in 1966 with Atlanta. In 100 games for Shreveport in 1968, he batted .239 with 14 home runs and 39 RBI. He was 27 that year, a ninth-year pro (four previous seasons with the Braves' AA, then in Austin). He also began the 1969 season in Shreveport (21 games, .257 average), then went to Triple-A and was traded to the Pittsburgh organization. In 1970, he was the MVP in the International League for Columbus (.310, 29 homers, 115 RBI) and got a call-up to the Pirates late that season. But in those two MLB stints, he was 3-for-25 (.120), all singles, one run, no RBI. He was a 14-year minor leaguer.
DUSTY BAKER -- The best-known and longest-lasting baseball name from the Shreveport Braves era. Johnnie B. was a 19-year-old outfielder from California -- born in Riverside, moved to the Sacramento area while in high school -- when he started the 1969 season for the S-Braves and his numbers did not reflect what was to come (73 games, 68 hits, five doubles, nine home runs, 31 RBI, .257 average). It was his third pro season and came after his MLB debut with Atlanta for six games in 1968. His career turned spectacular -- 15 full major-league seasons (starting in 1972 with Atlanta), two All-Star Games, a Gold Glove, 2,039 games, 1,981 hits -- including 320 doubles, 23 triples, 242 home runs -- 1,013 RBI, a .278 average) plus four postseasons (40 games, .282 average, five home runs). Three of his World Series were with the Los Angeles Dodgers; he hit .320 in the 1981 season when LA won the Series. Then his MLB managing career: 2017 was his 22nd season (San Francisco 10 years, including the 2002 NL pennant and World Series), four with the Chicago Cubs, six with Cincinnati and two with the Washington Nationals. Three times he was selected “Manager of the Year” in the NL. Through 2017, his teams won 1,863 regular-season games (.532 percentage). Not bad for a 1967 26th-round draft pick.
JIM BREAZEALE -- Mostly a first baseman and outfielder (and a catcher when needed), he was just a bit player for the 1969 Shreveport Braves -- 18 games, 19 hits (three doubles, two homers, seven RBI), .317 average. He was only 19, a year after he was a first-round Atlanta Braves draft pick in January. He made it to Atlanta for 64 games (52 in 1972) and with the Chicago White Sox (25 games in 1978), but hit only .223 in the majors with nine homers and 33 RBI. He spent most of seven seasons with the Braves' Triple-A team in Richmond.
OSCAR BROWN -- He was a promising outfield prospect for the Shreveport Braves in 1968-69, perhaps more highly regarded than Dusty Baker. But he proved to be an enigmatic player who did not succeed in the majors. A first-round Braves' draft pick in 1966 out of Long Beach, Calif., and the University of Southern California, he hit .326 for Shreveport in 1969 -- his fourth pro season -- with 85 hits in 68 games, 12 doubles, four triples, one homer, 24 RBI. Promoted to Triple-A, he made his MLB debut with Atlanta late that season. Back in Shreveport to start 1970, he again was superlative (.351 average in 30 games, 40 hits, seven doubles, two homers, nine RBI). He was with Atlanta for 28 games in 1970, 27 in 1971 and most of the 1972 season, but for only 22 games in 1973 -- and that was it. His MLB totals: 160 games, .244 average, four homers, 28 RBI. Died June 3, 2020, in Carson, Calif., age 74.
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Darrell Evans, left, and Ralph Garr went from the Shreveport
Braves to stardom with the Atlanta Braves. |
DARRELL EVANS -- What he did in 24 games -- 16 at third base -- for Shreveport late in the 1969 season indicated what was to come. He hit .278 with 22 hits (five doubles, four triples, two homers) and 14 RBI. His major-league debut, 12 games with Atlanta, also came that season. Two years later, 1971, he stuck for good in the majors and the left-handed hitter became a star for almost 20 full seasons (seven with the Braves, eight with San Francisco, five with Detroit). His significant numbers: 20-plus home runs in 10 seasons, 414 career home runs (41, with 104 RBI, for Atlanta in 1973, and 40 -- with 94 RBI -- in 1985 for Detroit, making him at age 38 the oldest American League home run champion), 2,223 hits, 329 doubles, 36 triples, 1,354 RBI, 2,687 games, five seasons with 100-plus walks. A two-time All-Star, he helped Detroit win the 1984 World Series and make the postseason again in 1987.
CHARLIE VAUGHAN -- A left-hander from Brownsville, Texas, he pitched in 22 games for Shreveport in 1969, starting all but one, with a 5-10 record, 4.91 ERA, 110 innings, 82 strikeouts. He was back with the S-Braves the next year for 13 games (eight starts), with a 2-4 record and 6.75 ERA in 40 innings. His career, finished after 1970, had an odd twist: He pitched in two games for the Atlanta Braves -- one in 1966, a start he won with seven innings (gave up two runs), and one in 1969 (one inning in relief, two earned runs).
ADRIAN GARRETT -- He was already a veteran, 26 years old and a ninth-year pro, when he was the Texas League home-run champion with 24 for Shreveport in 1969. A left-handed hitter, he played mostly in the outfield that season (84 games of the 107 he appeared in); he also was used at first base and occasionally was a catcher. For Shreveport, he batted .261 and drove in 75 runs. The older brother of 1968 S-Braves second baseman and future MLB regular Wayne Garrett, Adrian had bits of eight major-league seasons, starting 1966 on the Atlanta Braves' roster. But his longest stint was 53 games in 1975 for the Cubs and Angels, and while he had some big moments (11 home runs, 37 RBI), he batted .185 in 163 games. In addition to Shreveport in 1969, he was a league home-run champion in 1970 (Texas League, 29 for San Antonio), 1971 (Pacific Coast League, 43 for Tacoma) and 1974 (American Association, 26 for Wichita). Finally, in three seasons (1977-79) with the Hiroshima Carp in Japan, he hit 102 home runs and had 247 RBI. He then managed and coached in the minors, with one MLB hitting coach stop, for almost 30 years.
AUBREY GATEWOOD -- He was 30, a major leaguer earlier in the decade and by then mostly a knuckleball pitcher when he joined the Shreveport Braves in the 1969 season. He was their most reliable starter -- 7-6 record, 3.27 ERA, 21 games (14 starts), 110 innings -- and returned the next season for 13 games (10 starts) with a 2-6 record, 4.88 ERA and 59 innings. The right-hander from North Little Rock and Arkansas State threw much harder early in his career and was on the Los Angeles Angels' staff in 1963-65, appearing in 46 games in 1965. But after arm trouble, he was a minor leaguer except for three games and two innings for the 1970 Atlanta Braves. His MLB totals: 68 games, 13 starts, 8-9 record, 2.78 ERA, 178⅓ innings. Died June 5, 2019, in North Little Rock, age 80.
JULIO NAVARRO -- In 1969, he was an even older pitcher (33) for the Shreveport Braves than Aubrey Gatewood, and was in his 15th pro season. A native Puerto Rican who went to school in the Virgin Islands, the right-hander had a brief, effective stay in Shreveport -- eight games (five starts), four complete games, 5-1 record, 1.96 ERA in 46 innings. He had first made the majors in 1962 with the Los outings and 20⅓ innings. His MLB totals: 7-9 record, 3.65 ERA, 130 games (one start), 212⅓ innings, 17 saves. Died (complications from Alzheimer’s) Jan. 24, 2018, in Orlando at age 84.
MONTE SHARP -- A left-handed pitcher from Decatur, Ala., and Auburn University, he pitched in 41 games (three starts) for Shreveport in 1968 and 42 games (all in relief) in 1969 and his S-Braves totals were 14-11 record, 2.80 ERA, six saves, 157 innings. After four seasons in Double-A (two with the Braves' team in Austin, 1966-67), he was out of the game.
DON SPAIN -- A right-handed pitcher from Decatur, Ill. -- same home city name as Monte Sharp, different state -- his Shreveport Braves' seasons were similar to Sharp's. He was with them in 1968 and '69, for 59 games (30 starts), 12-15 record, 3.07 ERA, 240 innings. He was traded to the San Francisco Giants' system and went to his hometown to pitch two final seasons in the Midwest League.
SANTIAGO ROSARIO -- A veteran first baseman-outfielder, he was 29 in his ninth pro season when he played in 15 games for the Shreveport Braves in 1969, hitting a robust .360. He was back for a full season in 1970, playing 122 games with 130 hits (25 doubles, five triples, four homers), 45 RBI, 16 stolen bases and a .291 average. That was five years after his only major-league stay -- 81 games for the 1965 Kansas City Athletics (.235, two homers, eight RBI). He began his career with four seasons in the St. Louis system and four with Kansas City before the Atlanta Braves picked him up in 1968 for two years in Triple-A, then in Double-A with Shreveport and Savannah (1971). He finished his playing career with four years in Mexico, then coached in his native Puerto Rico.
LEO FOSTER -- He was a shortstop with great range, drafted out of Covington, Ky., in the second round by Atlanta in 1969. At age 19 the next year, he played 69 games for Shreveport and had 66 hits (nine doubles, five triples, four home runs) and 15 RBI, 16 stolen bases and a .263 average. He had short stays with Atlanta in 1971 and 1973, played in 72 games for the Braves in 1974, but hit only .196 and, traded to the New York Mets, was in 60 games for them in 1976-77. He was overmatched at the plate, hitting .198 in 144 MLB games, and was out of baseball after 1979.
SAM BOWENS -- By the time he played for the Shreveport Braves in 1970, his last season of pro ball, he was 32 years old, a former major league outfielder (Baltimore Orioles for a bit in 1963, full seasons in 1964, '66-'67 and with the Washington Senators in 1968-69). His only season as a regular was 1964. His MLB totals: 479 games, .223 average, 45 home runs, 143 RBI. He did not do much in Shreveport: .252 average in 34 games.
TOM KELLEY -- A relatively short stay and dominating showing with the 1970 Shreveport Braves helped the right-handed pitcher return to the major leagues. In 11 games (10 starts, four complete games), he had a 7-1 record, 2.61 ERA, with 98 strikeouts in 76 innings. After a promotion to Triple-A, he was in the Atlanta Braves' rotation in 1971 and '72: 34 starts, 14-13 record (9-5, 2.96 ERA, 259⅓ innings, five complete games) in 1971. His earlier MLB experience was with Cleveland: four starts in 1965 (after a 16-3 record for Triple-A Portland) and the entire 1966 season (4-8 record, 4.34 ERA, 31 games, seven starts, 95⅓ innings), then arm surgery sidelined him. But his career faded again after '72; he was in only seven games for Atlanta in '73 and pitched in Triple-A his last four years.
EARL WILLIAMS -- Playing third base for the 1970 Shreveport Braves at age 21, he was the team's biggest offensive threat -- .318 average, 105 hits in 89 games, 21 doubles, 19 home runs and 63 RBI, and some of his home runs were mammoth ones. The next year, he was the National League "Rookie of the Year" -- the first Braves player to earn that honor in 21 years -- with 33 home runs and 87 RBI. He began that season as Atlanta's third baseman, but was replaced by Darrell Evans and, after a time at first base, was converted to a catcher. More power in 1972 (28 homers, 87 RBI), but then was included in a big trade with Baltimore. He helped the Orioles to 1973 (22 homers, 83 RBI) and 1974 division titles, but declining power numbers, defensive liabilities and attitude problems prompted a trade back to Atlanta for the 1975-76 seasons and after two more moves, he was out of baseball after the '77 season. He was 29. His MLB totals: .247 average, 138 homers, 457 RBI. Died Jan. 28, 2013, in Somerset, N.J., at age 64, leukemia.
FABIEN MANG -- The left-hander was a well-known Louisiana athlete, the star of Jesuit (New Orleans)' Class AAA state championship basketball team in 1966, the school's third title in a row, a high school/American Legion pitching and outfield star. After his senior year, the Atlanta Braves drafted him in the second round and signed him. In his fifth season, he was with the 1970 Shreveport Braves for 51 games, but hit only .225 (two homers, 12 RBI) and that ended his pro career.
JOE MOOCK -- Like Mang, he was well-known in Louisiana -- as the Class AA All-State quarterback for Lee High (Baton Rouge), he led his team to the state championship game, then was recruited by LSU for football and baseball. He played LSU football only as a freshman, but was a star third baseman, a third-round draft pick by the New York Mets in 1965. In 1967, he had his only major-league stint -- 13 games for the Mets in which he hit .225 (9-for-40) with two doubles and five RBI. In 1969, he went to the expansion Montreal Expos' organization, but by the next year, he was in the Atlanta system and his career wound up in Shreveport, where in 20 games, he hit .306 (two doubles, one homer, six RBI).
