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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016
Ground rules
Commerce head coach Michael Brown (left) lays out the rules to an Oklahoma drill held at the Tigers’ joint padded
practice with East Jackson last week. Photos by Cameron Whitlock
Clamping down
Making room
Chase Forrester sheds a blocker and pusues a
ball carrier at the Tigers’ joint practice with East
Jackson last week.
Cole Chancey moves an East Jackson defender aside,
creating a running lane for Lane Sorrow (back) during a joint
paractice with the Eagles last week.
Jackson ... Cont. from IB
“Nobody has ever done that
(playing on consecutive South
western Conference title winners
for two different teams),” Jack-
son advised.
He also played three seasons
of baseball in college, batting
.500, .438 and .400, which got
the attention of a scout for the
Chicago Cubs, who invited him
at age 24 to a tryout, after which
the Cubs offered him a two-year
contract paying $6,000 a year.
He played in the minor leagues
but soon joined the Cubs, start
ing a 10-year career during which
he mbbed shoulders with some
of baseball’s greatest legends.
As for the nickname, “Hand
some,” that came from legend
ary Cubs play-by-play broadcast
er Jack Brickhouse.
“I didn’t give it to myself and
none of my girlfriends did,” Jack-
son explained. “It was the thing
to do. Everybody had to have a
nickname. So all of the sudden
I was Handsome Ransom Jack-
son. There was nothing I could
do about it. It was there.”
After his baseball career, Jack-
son had plenty of stories to tell
family members and friends,
who urged him to write a book,
saying, “You need to put these
in a book to be preserved, if
possible. If you’re gone, they’ll
be gone.”
“Finally, about two years ago,
I decided to write,” Jackson told
the Kiwanis Club.
He recounted filling four
78-page legal pads with his
memories, which he gave to his
wife, Terry, who typed them up.
They ran into an author who had
written a book about another
baseball player and gave him the
manuscript, which he edited,
them, confirmed the informa
tion in the stories and submitted
it to his publisher.
“In a week and a half they
called back and said ‘We’ll take
it,’ he said.
The cover features a picture of
Jackson and Jackie Robinson.
Jackson said the publisher want
ed to put just Jackson’s photo on
the front, but Jackson insisted
on having the photo with his
former teammate and the first
African American player in the
Major Leagues.
“If somebody walks into a
bookstore or wherever and just
sees me, they may pick the book
up or may not,” he reasoned. “If
they see me and Jackie Robin
son, then they’ll probably grab
hold of it.”
Jackson competed against
Robinson for over five years and
was then traded to the Brook
lyn Dodgers to be Robinson’s
replacement.
In writing the book, Johnson
was surprised to find his name
in a couple of historic notations.
He was the last person to hit a
home mn at Ebbets Field before
the Dodgers departed for Los
Angeles and was the first player
in either league recorded for
receiving an intentional walk.
“It turned out they did not
keep track of intentional walks
until 1953 or 1954,” he said.
“Then they decided they need
ed to keep track of them. I found
out I was (first in) both National
League and American League.”
Jackson also touched on his
friendship with mafia kingpin
Sam “Big Nose Gaincana,” with
whom he played golf and social
ized.
“He went to prison about six
to eight years later, but he was
a nice guy,” Jackson said. “In
Georgia, there probably are not
many people who were friends
with a Mafia king, but
I was.”
Jackson didn’t play
in the game, but he
was on the Brooklyn
Dodger bench in the
1956 World Series when Don
Larsen of the New York Yankees
tossed the perfect game — the
only one in World Series history
— to beat Jackson’s Dodgers
He entertained his audience
with stories about Yogi Berra,
Chuck (The Rifleman) Conner,
Don Drysdale and Roberto Cle
mente, among others.
“These stories and many
many more are in the book,”
Jackson said. “It is kind of like
a beach book —nobody gets
shot.”
After his presentation, he
signed and sold 17 books.
Play Fore Eric
golf tourney
set for Aug. 6
Eric “Radio” Redmon, whose life
changed on June 12, 2003, in a horrif
ic car accident, will host the second
annual Play Fore Eric Golf Tournament
on Saturday, Aug. 6, at Deer Trail Coun
try Club, Commerce. The tournament
benefits the “Team Radio Room” at
Peachtree-Dunwoody Ronald McDon
ald House at Scottish Rite, the Teen
Room at the Commerce Boys and Girls
Club, and families dealing with brain
injuries.
This year’s event also features a Brit
Jones concert and steak dinner.
The tournament begins with check-in
at Deer Trail Country Club at 8 a.m. with
tee-off at 8:30; and check-in at 12:30
p.m. and tee-off at 1.
The entry fee is $225 for each
three-person team. Hole sponsorships
are available at $50 per hole.
The dinner will cost $15 per person.
Golfers will be admitted at two for $25.
For information, contact Tre Spear
at 706-338-1108, Gerald Spear at 706-
335-3987, or email angredmonl@gmail.
com.
Eric Redmon’s Story
When his vehicle flipped sever
al times, Redmon was life-flighted to
Grady Memorial Hospital for emergen
cy surgery to repair collapsed lungs
and internal bleeding. He remained in
a coma for over two weeks, suffering
from a traumatic brain injury.
The status of his recovery was in
question. After three weeks at Grady,
Redmon, the son of Angie and Bobby
Redmon of Commerce, was transferred
to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
at Scottish Rite. He was beginning to
come out of the coma, but had no con
trol over his body.
Redmon spent two months in thera
py, after which doctors allowed him to
go home. Two days after coming home,
he spoke for the first time, but the recov
ery process had just begun. Therapists
and teachers came to his house every
day to teach him everything he’d lost
due to the injury.
Eventually, the doctors decided it
was time for more intensive therapy.
Redmon came back to Scottish Rite and
entered the Day Rehab program. At the
time, he was in a wheelchair, and the
goal was to get him back in high school.
While he was in Day Rehab, Redmon
and his family stayed at the Ronald
McDonald House in Atlanta during the
week, going home to Commerce on
weekends.
Redmon graduated from Day Rehab
in March 2004, able to walk with a
walker and to effectively communicate
with others. He returned to Commerce
High School with an assistant who
helped him, and continued his therapy
at home.
One of the biggest challenges with
school was his short-term memory,
which was greatly impaired by his inju
ries, but Redmon overcame that and
graduated with his class on May 25,
2005.
Happy Birthday
EDDIE MALOCH!
July 27, 1970
Pieces of us live in
Heaven with you!
We love & miss you!
Mama, Daddy & Family
Athlete of the Week!
sponsored by:
How many churches did
Christ build?
Matthew 16:18
Acts 2:47
1 Corinthians 1:10
Ephesians 1:22-23
Ephesians 4:4-5
Please read these verses
and let us know what you think?
Email us at:
thegospeltruth@windstream.net
HYMAN BROWN
INSURANCE
AGENCY, INC.
SOUTHERN TRUST
INSURANCE
COMPANY
it, A. sP
Cole Chancey
Senior
Commerce High School
Chancey rushed for over 1,000
yards last season and will likely
be a key player for the Tigers this
season.
* f t
HYMAN BROWN
w 1
INSURANCE AGENCY, INC.
£r
11 State Street • Commerce
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(706)335-3900