When I was a young one growing, the baseball teams in the CBAA were called minor and major leagues – not 8-10, 10-12 or junior-midget-midget or midget-midget. There were the Angels, sponsored by Russell Winters Ford, the Mets, sponsored by Food Fair, the Reds, Cubs, Yankees and Astros, among the eight teams in the Minor Leagues. The teams in the Major League were the Moose Braves, the Dairy Queen Pirates, the Dodgers and the BPOE Antlers, were among the teams. I was fortunate enough to play for the Angels and Braves and got a couple of those mice championship jackets. You played your games at Glatfelter, Janson’s Park and the old Vigies, where you felt like a Major Leaguer because there was a fence, dugouts and nice bleachers. You started your season wearing those nice hot wool uniforms up Locust Street to the Vigies for an Opening Night Parade where there were opening ceremonies and a game. Around mid-season, there were all-star games and at the end of the season a World Series. You only got treats if you won and unlike today when there are tryouts ad kids have to play something like $60 to play, all we had to do was fill out a registration form in the old Columbia News and you got drafted onto a team. I know when I was little, I couldn’t wait for that Columbia News to get there and find out what team I was on and who my coaches were. And back in the day, there were some great coaches who were around year after year. For me that was some 44 years ago. And those names were like Coller, Brubaker, Testa, Kratzer, Bigler, Englert and quite a few others. But there was one name that was always there and that was “Duck” Sholl. Not only did he coach the Antlers but also the Bears in football, back when the teams also included the Redskins, Eagles and Steelers. “Duck” also started the annual Joseph Kratzer Tournament, which brought some of the top youth teams in Columbia, a tradition I was proud to carry on until about a dozen years ago or so, when because of all the different leagues that came to Columbia and the fact that summer baseball actually ended before summer started (I won’t get on the soap box about that), it ended. So why the look back? Well, one of those people, passed away this week. “Duck” Sholl died Monday at the age of 81. If anyone was “Mr. Baseball” in Columbia, it was him, He also coached the Pioneers, now called the Midgets; started the Columbia Blazers, which is now Smith’s Hotel, coached at the high school and also coached the former Columbia American Legion team, which won a title back in 1983. I can only imagine the “Columbia Baseball game being played in heaven. With the guys I already mentioned and others, such as my dad, who would probably be umpiring and “Luke” Kise, who be riding the little tractor and doing the field, those were the good, old days. Not that we didn’t have some times after that, but in my mind, because I didn’t know many of those who started the CBAA, in my mind, they were the CBAA and others like myself, Donnie Smith, Bill Keyser, Doug Rhoads, Tony Segro, Mike Halter, John Zercher, Wayne Young (again too many to mention) just carried the torch and in the last decade or so we passed that torch onto others. I really enjoyed my years in the CBAA because I was fortunate to learn from a great group of people like “Duck” Sholl and others and work with a great group of people during my years as president. “Duck,” we will all miss you.
3 comments:
God Bless you Duck, you where a go getter and a hell of of a coach!! Robert
When I was a young one growing, the baseball teams in the CBAA were called minor and major leagues – not 8-10, 10-12 or junior-midget-midget or midget-midget.
There were the Angels, sponsored by Russell Winters Ford, the Mets, sponsored by Food Fair, the Reds, Cubs, Yankees and Astros, among the eight teams in the Minor Leagues. The teams in the Major League were the Moose Braves, the Dairy Queen Pirates, the Dodgers and the BPOE Antlers, were among the teams.
I was fortunate enough to play for the Angels and Braves and got a couple of those mice championship jackets.
You played your games at Glatfelter, Janson’s Park and the old Vigies, where you felt like a Major Leaguer because there was a fence, dugouts and nice bleachers.
You started your season wearing those nice hot wool uniforms up Locust Street to the Vigies for an Opening Night Parade where there were opening ceremonies and a game.
Around mid-season, there were all-star games and at the end of the season a World Series.
You only got treats if you won and unlike today when there are tryouts ad kids have to play something like $60 to play, all we had to do was fill out a registration form in the old Columbia News and you got drafted onto a team. I know when I was little, I couldn’t wait for that Columbia News to get there and find out what team I was on and who my coaches were.
And back in the day, there were some great coaches who were around year after year. For me that was some 44 years ago. And those names were like Coller, Brubaker, Testa, Kratzer, Bigler, Englert and quite a few others.
But there was one name that was always there and that was “Duck” Sholl. Not only did he coach the Antlers but also the Bears in football, back when the teams also included the Redskins, Eagles and Steelers.
“Duck” also started the annual Joseph Kratzer Tournament, which brought some of the top youth teams in Columbia, a tradition I was proud to carry on until about a dozen years ago or so, when because of all the different leagues that came to Columbia and the fact that summer baseball actually ended before summer started (I won’t get on the soap box about that), it ended.
So why the look back? Well, one of those people, passed away this week.
“Duck” Sholl died Monday at the age of 81. If anyone was “Mr. Baseball” in Columbia, it was him,
He also coached the Pioneers, now called the Midgets; started the Columbia Blazers, which is now Smith’s Hotel, coached at the high school and also coached the former Columbia American Legion team, which won a title back in 1983.
I can only imagine the “Columbia Baseball game being played in heaven. With the guys I already mentioned and others, such as my dad, who would probably be umpiring and “Luke” Kise, who be riding the little tractor and doing the field, those were the good, old days.
Not that we didn’t have some times after that, but in my mind, because I didn’t know many of those who started the CBAA, in my mind, they were the CBAA and others like myself, Donnie Smith, Bill Keyser, Doug Rhoads, Tony Segro, Mike Halter, John Zercher, Wayne Young (again too many to mention) just carried the torch and in the last decade or so we passed that torch onto others.
I really enjoyed my years in the CBAA because I was fortunate to learn from a great group of people like “Duck” Sholl and others and work with a great group of people during my years as president.
“Duck,” we will all miss you.
I can hear Luke now yelling at the people to get off the football field.
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