Barry Baker with glasses (son of Roy Baker, president of college) and Tommy Campbell in a photograph made in 1950 or 1951.

Part 2 of 4-part series

In the McKenzie Little League’s second year in 1951, the VFW completely dominated by going 15-0 under new manager Morris Beadles Sr. Three games were rained out and never rescheduled. The original VFW manager had drafted well the previous year by not picking so many 12-year-old players, so the VFW had a lot of good players returning.

Another reason the VFW won so handily was that it picked up a new pitcher, Allen Sutton, a hard-throwing 11-year-old right-hander who struck out a lot of batters. With Sutton and Tommy Campbell on the mound, the VFW easily had the best pitching staff in the league. Nobody seems to know where Sutton came from or where he went following the only year he lived in McKenzie, but the VFW players were certainly glad that he showed up.

In a game against the Legion, Sutton had a no-hitter and perfect game going with two outs in the sixth and final inning. In other words, he hadn’t allowed a base runner, and all he had to do was retire Stanley Patterson, a pinch hitter. Patterson hit a hard grounder up the middle, and what happened next is a matter of debate. Tommy Campbell said the ball was hit just to Sutton’s left, and the hurler deflected it with his glove. Joe Roberts was playing deep at second base because Patterson was a left-handed hitter, so Tommy came across from his shortstop position, fielded the ball cleanly but threw wildly to first base. Patterson was safe at first base, and waltzed into second because of the wild throw.

Sam Campbell was the official scorer that day and ruled it a hit. He said the ball was hit to Sutton’s right, which means he had to backhand it. On a backhanded play, the scorer is more likely to rule it a hit. But Tommy contends that if he had thrown the ball more accurately, Patterson might have been out at first base. Sutton easily retired the next batter to get the one-hitter.

Sam and Tom have “discussed” that play a few times over the years, but not surprisingly neither one has yet convinced the other to change his mind.

Tommy cracked a home run in the first game of the year, and he and Joe Roberts each ended the season with two round trippers. Roberts batted well over .500 that season to lead the league, and Tommy finished at a .470 clip.

Some of the players that year for the Legion were Herbert Blumenthal, Bobby Jack Cantrell, Harold Crocker, Keith Johnson, Stanley Patterson and Tom McGlocklin. The Rotary featured Bobby Gwaltney, Buddy Elinor, Red Lawrence, Donald Richardson, Kenneth Brannon and Lonnie Stoner Jr. The Rotary’s manager was Clifford Gwaltney. Members of the Lions team included Roland Argo, Ray Cunningham, Eddie Freeman, Joe Morris, Larry Connell, Charlie Herron and Richard Miller.

Naturally the VFW dominated the all-star team with six players, including Campbell; Roberts; infielder Billy Webb; James Wallace, an outstanding catcher; Sutton; and possibly Phillip Beasley. Tommy was upset that Barry Baker, his buddy from across the street, didn’t make the all-star team. Douglas Dillard, a fleet centerfielder, also wasn’t selected. Neither Tommy nor myself remember very many of the other all-stars except for Joe Morris and Lonnie Stoner Jr.

In the Little League All-Star Tournament at Jackson, I recall that McKenzie, with Sutton on the mound, defeated Camden in a low-scoring contest, something like 2-0 or 2-1. Things didn’t go as well in the championship game against Jackson, with Tommy on the mound (a player was allowed to pitch only six innings per week, so Sutton wasn’t eligible to pitch the second game). Jackson racked up more than 20 runs while only three or four McKenzie players crossed home plate. Of course, Jackson was a much larger town and had been playing Little League for several years.

Everything went wrong, including one inning in which Tommy Campbell got picked off first base. He recalls one play in which a popup was hit near second base. On such a play it was the pitcher’s responsibility to call out who should catch it, so Tommy yelled, “Joe, Joe, Joe.” The only problem was, Joe Morris, of the Lions, was the shortstop and Joe Roberts was the second baseman. As a result, both Joes continued to get under the ball and try to catch it. They collided, and the batter reached first base, and maybe second, before the play was over.
That loss represented the first time a VFW player had been on a losing team in at least 16 games.

Rosters for the 1951 teams were: AMERICAN LEGION – Jerry Brooks Bannister, Herbert E. Blumenthal, Kenneth Allen Brevard, Bobby Cantrell, Harold Thomas Crocker, James Ralph Crocker, Ben Franklin Dill, Reba Ray Dunn, Kenneth Jerry Esch, Edward Gardner, Jr., Jimmy Hutchison, Keith Johnson, Tom Kenneth McGlocklin, Byron Pate, Stanley Martin Patterson, Thomas William Putman, Jerry Lee Scott; LIONS CLUB – Charles Roland Argo, Randy Bouldin, Larry Kenneth Connell, Ray Cunningham, Tommy Fields, Eddie Freeman, James A. Glenn, Charles Herron, Bill Kelley, Jr., Richard Allen Miller, Billie Bruce Moore, Joe Morris, Kelley Patterson, Thomas Blake Reynolds, Hugh Scarbrough; ROTARY CLUB – James Everett Blackburn, Kenneth Brooks Brannon, James Luther Brewer, Jr., Larry Crawford, Thomas Curtis Elinor, Samuel Harris Finley, Ronnie Griffith, Bobby Gwaltney, Joseph Harry London, Ronny Lawrence, Donald Richardson, Billy Joe Roberts, Lonnie Jacobs Stoner, Jr., William H. Stoner, Charles S. Weller; V.F.W. – Barry Baker, Morris Beadles, Jr., Morris Dale Beasley, Glen Phillip Beasley, James David Boaz, Tommy Dishman Campbell, Douglas Dillard, Joe R. Houston, John Kirby King, B.M. Montgomery, Joe Roberts, Jimmie Leonard Smith, Allen Sutton, James Veltman Wallace, and Billy D. Webb.

(Next week: Paul Campbell finally is old enough to play, Tommy becomes official scorer and oldest brother Sammy is manager of the Rotary. Paul is editor and general manager of the Buffalo Reflex, a weekly newspaper in Buffalo, MO., and can be reached by email at paulc@buffaloreflex.com)

Part 1 Little League Baseball Fever Claims McKenzie in 1950
Part 2 VFW Goes Undefeated in Second Season
Part 3 Author finally gets to play Little League in 1952; brothers are manager, scorekeeper
Part 4