Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2B
BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2011
IN MY OPINION
Paying tribute to ‘The Killer’
When I was a young boy, I would spend one
or two weeks each summer with my cousin,
Don (known as Donny back then), and his fam
ily in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
After I had stayed with him, he would then
usually come home with us and spend
one or two weeks with me in Atlanta.
Don was a couple of years older than
me but we enjoyed the same things
making our time together so enjoy
able for each of us. The reasons we
enjoyed being with each other during
the summers were opposite in nature.
Don, you see, came from a big fam
ily. He had three older brothers and
an older sister and even though they
were already out of the house, they all
had children of their own who stayed
at my aunt and uncle’s house most of
the time. And I was an only child with no close
relatives living near us. So, he liked to come
down to Atlanta to get away from all the noise
and activity that was constantly going on at his
house, and I enjoyed being with him because of
all the noise and activity.
Don’s house was near a local drug store. This
was long before the days of the mega-pharma-
cies that we have now. The store had two great
draws. You could get the best cherry colas
I’ve ever had — made with RC Cola instead of
Coca-Cola — and they always had a large sup
ply of baseball cards. Donny and I would walk
to the store to get us a cherry cola and I would
stock up on several packs of baseball cards.
I’d immediately tear open the pack to see if I
had been lucky enough to get a special treasure
like a Willie Mays, Stan Musial, or Mickey
Mantle card and if I was especially lucky, there
just might be a card of my hero — an Eddie
Matthews card.
It is a wonder that all my teeth didn’t fall out
from chomping on that rock-hard bubble gum
that came as a by-product of the cards because
I spent all the money my folks had given me
on those cards. I was supposed to buy Donny
something with that money but never seemed to
remember that fact.
Looking back on those days, one sum
mer particularly stands out in my memory
because that was the summer I was driven to a
Chattanooga Lookouts ball game by none other
than the future Baseball Hall of Famer, Harmon
Killebrew.
Don had a buddy who had a paper route and
it just so happened that several of the Lookout
players lived on his route. One day one of them
gave him three tickets to the game. He told him,
with the best sad face he could, that we didn’t
have a way to get to the game, which was true.
The player told him to meet him at 5:30 that
afternoon and he’d take us. I was especially
excited because the Lookouts were playing the
Atlanta Crackers that night.
We met the player and he introduced himself
to all of us. The name, Harmon Killebrew,
didn’t mean anything to me at that time other
than the fact that this guy played professional
baseball, my dream at the time, so I was in awe
from the moment I met him. For those of you
who are old enough to remember those days
and the names of some of those guys, another
Lookout player by the name of Ernie Orvitz,
a speedy outfielder, went with us.
Killebrew and Orvitz in the front seat
and three excited kids smushed into
the back seat of Harmon’s car going
to the ballpark. It didn’t get any bet
ter than that for a 10 year-old.
This was 1957 and Killebrew was
still a few years away from making
his official major league debut. He
would spend most of the year in the
minors and be called up late in the
season but even then, you could see
his potential. The Lookouts beat the
Crackers that night and Harmon was
in a good mood driving home because he had
cracked a long home run and drove in four runs.
During the trips to and from Engel Stadium,
Harmon constantly talked to us, seeming to
be genuinely interested in us. He asked me if
I played baseball and I told him I wasn’t big
enough to hit the long ball so I just went for sin
gles. Obviously, from that point on, I followed
Killebrew’s career closely because I considered
him a personal friend. After all, he had told me
“Good luck and keep hitting singles.’’ when he
let us out of his car at Donny’s house.
Harmon Killebrew, of course, would go on
to have a great career. Playing mostly with the
Washington Senators who would later move to
Minnesota to become the Twins and finishing
his career with Kansas City, Killebrew ham
mered 573 career home runs and drove in 1,584
runs. He was a 13-time All-Star selection and
won the American League MVP Award in 1969.
He led his league in home runs six times and
RBI’s three times. He was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.
Harmon “The Killer’’ Killebrew died from
esophageal cancer on May 17, 2011 at the age
of 74. It seems that this is happening more and
more now that I am in my mid-60’s myself.
Heroes from my childhood are slipping away
at a rapid rate. It’s funny how time and youth
distorts our images but I did the math and
since I was 10 in 1957, that would have made
Killebrew a young man of only 20 himself.
The difference between 10 and 20 seemed far
greater back then than 64 and 74 does now.
Harmon Killebrew never knew the influence
he had on that 10 year-old boy but because a
real player told me to stick with it and keep
hitting singles- I did. And because I did, the
joy and love for the game of baseball continues
today because of the wonderful memories it has
provided.
Memories like my evening with the great
Harmon Killebrew.
Thanks “Killer’’. RIP
Randy Blalock is a columnist for The Barrow
Journal. Send comments about this column to
rblalock@mindspring.com.
randy
blalock
SUMMER CAMPS
Basketball, baseball camps planned for June
Apalachee High School will host a summer
baseball and basketball camp for boys entering
first through ninth grades June 6-9.
The basketball camp will be $50 with the base
ball camp costing $60. Attendance for both camps
is $100. Instruction will be provided by AHS
players and coaches.
Baseball instruction will include batting, throw
ing and fielding. The basketball camp will focus
on dribbling, shooting, defense and fundamentals
of the game.
Contact Kevin Morris at kevin.morris @barrow.
kl2.ga.us or Mike Cavey at mike.cavey@barrow.
kl2.ga.us.
HALL OF FAME
Nominations
The process for selecting the
members of the next Winder-
Barrow High School Athletic
Hall of Fame class is now
underway.
Anyone who played sports at
WBHS or has made significant
contributions to athletics at the
school is eligible for nomina-
RECREATION
accepted for
tion. Athletes are chosen on
what he or she accomplished
at the high school level as well
as in the collegiate and profes
sional ranks.
Nominations may be made
at any time. The next selec
tion will be in the fall of 2011.
Nomination forms may be
WBHS honor
obtained from the WBHS web
site or in person at the school
office. Those who have been
previously nominated remain
on the list for three years and
are still eligible to be selected.
Once three years has passed
without selection, they may be
re-nominated.
Paper to publish recreation team photos
The Barrow Journal will publish your team’s
recreation photo free of charge.
Pictures can be e-mailed to cbridges@bar-
rowjournal.com or brought by our office at 77
East May Street in Winder. E-mailed pictures
should be high resolution.
Do not send thumbnails images as they can
not be published.
Please indentify the team name, the league in
which it competes and everyone in the photo.
Pictures will be published in the order they
are received throughout the summer. For more
information, contact Chris Bridges at 770-867-
6397.
All recreation teams that are based in Barrow
County are eligible to be printed.
SUMMER CAMP
WBHS to host youth softball camp in June
The Winder-Barrow High School Lady
Bulldoggs varsity softball team will host a
youth fast-pitch camp in June.
The camp will be for girls ages 6-12 at the
WBHS softball complex June 13-15.
The camp will be from 9 a.m. until noon
each day.
The cost is $60 for those who register before
June 1 and $75 after that date.
For more information, contact coach Monty
McClure at monty.mcclure@barrow.kl2.
ga.us.
LOCAL RACING
WBHS to host youth softball camp in June
Winder-Barrow Speedway
will host a Memorial Day
weekend event with more laps
and more prize money for the
drivers.
Qualifying and heat races
will be Friday with gates
opening at 5 p.m.
The racing main events will
be Saturday.
The green flag is scheduled
to drop at 7 p.m.
SOCCER STANDOUT
Casey Burnett, a recent graduate of Winder-Barrow High School, will continue
his soccer career at Atlanta Christian College. Burnett was the goalkeeper for the
Bulldoggs and was also a member of the WBHS football team.
Photo by Jessica Brown
Local star
EYES ON 2011
Christian Hodge fires a pass during the Bulldoggs’ spring scrimmage last week.
Photo by Jessica Brown
WBHS Football continued from IB
“For spring we keep things basic,’’ Wagner
said. “We put in our base offense and base
defense. We mainly look to see who can
compete for us.”
While wins were tough to come by last
fall, Wagner said he believes things are on
the right track.
“You just look at how much stronger we
are,” the coach said. “That’s such a key to
being successful in high school football. We
have seen night and day improvement in that
area.”
Wagner, who has always pushed strength
and conditioning as part of his program’s
success, said being strong as a team will help
when it comes to generating victories on the
football field.
“It’s all part of the process,” the coach
said recently. “We are taking the neces
sary steps during this process to get better.”
A LOT THAT CAN HELP
COMPANIES MAKE THE
RIGHT DECISIONS.
The people of Winder and the local community
banks have always supported and depended on
one another. Business owners especially tend to
look for a community bank where decisions are
made locally by bankers who understand them and
their market.
That’s where Paul Rice comes in. As a Commercial
Lender at Verity Bank, he’s glad to share useful
from his extensive experience as a local community
banker in the Winder-area market. Plus he has
established, tried-and-trusted contacts in
the community that can be a value-
added resource to business owners
as they plan for the future.
Call 770-867-3444 and
let Paul help position your
company for a solid future.
WHAT DOES PAUL
RICE KNOW ABOUT
COMMUNITY
BANKING?
MEMBER
FDIC
Verity
\ BANK.
▼ Making a Difference
94 W. ATHENS STREET IN WINDER
770-867-3444 • WWW.VERITYBANK.NET