Some storytelling and thoughts from the mind of Mark Maynard.
Author: Mark Maynard
Managing editor of Kentucky Today, the digital newspaper of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, since July 2017. Worked 42 years for The Daily Independent in Ashland, Kentucky, the last 12 as managing editor and editor and the previous 30 in the sports department, including 17 years as sports editor. President of Amy For Africa, a faith-based Christian ministry serving Uganda. I'm a husband to Beth and father to Stephen and Sally, grandfather to Brooks and Addy.
Joe Conley, left, and Charlie Reliford at the CP-1 Hall of Fame ceremonies in 2015 when Reliford was inducted in the first class. Conley is among 13 in the 2017 class.
ASHLAND, Ky. – Looking over the 2017 CP-1 Ashland Baseball Hall of Fame class it’s clear this bunch has a little bit of everything.
You want pitchers? We have some of the best.
Hard-throwing Jim Speaks and John Mullins, dominating lefties Tim Huff and J.D. Browne and the incredibly steady Bo Carter makes for an incredible staff.
Browne owned the mound during his day and he picked off everybody in his generation at least once.
Nard Pergrem and Mike Smith or Kevin Gothard make for a dandy shortstop-second base combo. Gothard also played in the outfield some as did Joe Conley, who turned in some spectacular plays for the 1968 state champions.
Catchers? We’ve got three great ones with Mike Gothard, John Thomas and Steve Hemlepp. That trio brings the power to a lineup that would be hard to beat.
We even have umpires. Two of the greatest umpires in CP-1 history are on the field with us in Dale Griffith (also an outstanding player in the 1950s) and Conley (a member of all three Tomcat championship teams).
Try this lineup on for size:
1.Nard Pergrem, ss
2.Mike Smith, 2b
3.Kevin Gothard, rf
4.Mike Gothard, 3b
5.John Thomas, cf
6.John Mullins, lf
7.Tim Huff, dh
8.Steve Hemlepp, c
9.Bo Carter, 1b
Pitchers, J.D. Browe and Jim Speaks
Umpires, Joe Conley and Dale Griffith
Every one of this year’s honorees has a story to tell and they (or a representative) will have the opportunity to do it from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday in front of the big diamond in Central Park.
We will also be dedicating the historic marker recognizing Baseball in Central Park and have some special recognitions planned.
Come in casual dress and enjoy The Show.
And be sure to bring a hanky because it’s going to get emotional.
A few years ago, I shared a lunch with Gene Bennett, the Cincinnati Reds amazing scout of 58 years, at the invitation of major league umpire Greg Gibson.
Bennett held court with us by telling baseball stories, basketball officiating stories and many more. Gene was 86 but could recount people, places and dates like few others.
He was part of the Cincinnati Reds family for almost 60 years, from when he was signed as a player in 1952. He moved into scouting in 1958 and was promoted to scouting supervisor in 1975. His notable signings include Reds Hall of Famers Don Gullett, Barry Larkin and Chris Sabo along with Jeff Russell, Charlie Leibrandt and Paul O’Neill.
Bennett, who lived in Wheelersburg, was a treasure for the entire area for years. He died on Wednesday at the age of 89 in Portsmouth. His wife Loretta preceded him in death.
If baseball was the subject — and it almost always was if Gene Bennett was in the room — then the clock was turned back.
Bennett’s life was certainly an amazing one. He met two presidents — President Jimmy Carter and President George W. Bush — and was known throughout the baseball world for his scouting prowess.
He met President Carter in Atlanta while chatting it up with Bobby Cox and met President Bush in the Astrodome.
He also had a secondmeeting with President Bush when he came through Portsmouth on a campaign swing.
Bennett recounted that story during that lunch a few years ago, telling us it was when the Portsmouth Mural project had just started. Al Oliver’s portrait was going up but not quite finished. The socks he was wearing were still white.
President Bush took notice that it was indeed, Oliver, who had also played for the Texas Rangers when Bush was a minority owner there. He also noticed the uncompleted socks.
“He pointed that out right away,” Bennett said. “But he knew who Al Oliver was.”
He met President Carter and to his amazement the president actually remembered his name on a later trip to Atlanta when they met again.
“What a memory!” Bennett said.
Of course, he probably remembered Bennett because he has that kind of effect on people.
He was a warm person from top to bottom.
I didn’t know Bennett’s college basketball officiating background but it included stints with the Ohio Valley Conference, Missouri Valley Conference and Mid-American Conference. He called games until 1991.
His first game was between Morehead State and Western Kentucky University in Laughlin Gymnasium.
Bennett said he never called a game involving the University of Kentucky or Ohio State, so he never dealt with the wrath of Adolph Rupp.
Baseball has always been Gene Bennett’s calling card.
In January 2009 he received the Legends In Scouting Award from the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation and at the December 2009 Winter Meetings he received the Midwest Scout of the Year Award.
More recently, Bennett penned a book My 58 years with the Cincinnati Reds and donated the proceeds to the Wheelersburg Little League baseball program.
He was also in the inaugural class of the CP-1 Ashland Baseball Hall of Fame three years ago. Bennett spent more than a few days watching baseball in Central Park.
Ashland American’s John Mullins (on ground at left) tries to get teammate Mike Griffith into home plate against Houston in 1963. Griffith was called out at the plate with pitcher Mike Smithey tagging him.
ASHLAND, Ky. – Every year at this time, there is a television force that draws me right into it. What is it about the Little League World Series that makes it must-see TV?
Part of it is how the games are covered by ESPN with the backstories of the players and the shots of their mothers and fathers in the stands who are like cats in a room full of rocking chairs.
I’m not sure if any of the mothers really ever watch their sons play. They are usually sitting with their hands covering their faces when their son (or daughter) comes to the plate.
I can understand that. There’s so much pressure on these young boys to perform. You feel it as a parent in a regular season Little League game. Multiply that times about a million.
When the Little League World Series rolls around, it always reminds me of 1963 when Ashland American nearly made it to Williamsport. That’s right, almost to Williamsport. They fell one game short, losing to Houston, Texas, 6-3 in the Southern Regional championship game in Norfolk, Virginia. I’m sure those players who were on that team have special memories of that time. Mine have come from writing stories and doing research about the ’63 Boys of Summer, including a chapter in my book Tomcat Dynasty (shameless plug).
Several of those boys will have a mini-reunion on Saturday during the CP-1 Hall of Fame ceremony as part of the class of 2017. Tim Huff, Johnny Mullins and Bo Carter were part of those all-stars and will all be enshrined Saturday.
Here is the 1963 Ashland American roster with their regular-season team in parenthesis: John Mullins (Indians), David Staten (Twins), Tim Huff (Yankees), John Brislin and Jocko Greening (Angels), David McPeek and Mike Griffith (White Sox), Robert Ison and Mike Johnson (Orioles), Ricky Dixon, Mike Tackett, Charles Jackson, Joe Mantle and Jackie Daniels (Tigers). There was some diversity – Johnson and Jackson are black – during a time when race riots were raging, but not in Ashland.
Jim Stewart was the manager and George Riffe his assistant. Stewart was hard-nosed, a taskmaster who demanded perfection but who loved his players like his own sons.
Back then the tournament was one-and-done. You win or you go home. So you had to be perfect. Early in tournament play, Ashland faced a young lefthander pitcher from Greenup named Don Gullett and escaped with a 2-1 victory.
Mullins and Huff were starters and stars, pitchers and home run hitters. But the best player was Ricky Dixon. They rode their stud in a 3-1 win over Louisville Buechel in the state championship game in Lexington with 15 strikeouts and then in the Southern Division championship game he was the winning pitcher against St. Albans, West Virginia, 4-2 in a game that was played in Central Park.
That victory advanced Ashland to Norfolk where Florida, Mississippi and Texas awaited.
Ashland blanked Sarasota, Florida, 2-0 as Dixon and McPeek crushed back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning to break a scoreless tie. Mullins almost made it three in a row as his long blast curved foul in the same spot in right field where the other homers had gone. Mike Griffith pitched a three-hit shutout.
Houston belted Biloxi, Miss., 11-1 and looked invincible. It would be Texas vs. Kentucky in the championship game.
Ashland gave them a battle, leading 3-2 before a three-run rally put it away for Texas in the fifth inning. Ashland had only one hit, a single by Dixon that scored two runs in the third inning.
Houston was on the way to Williamsport the next day and Ashland was on its way home.
Can you imagine if Ashland had been the team going to Williamsport instead? How much would we have celebrated them over the years? Legendary wouldn’t begin to describe it. Yet they lost, just once, and they’re just another team.
Kind of sad isn’t it?
Houston, by the way, fell to Granada Hills, California, 3-2 in nine innings in the first game of the 1963 Little League World Series. The California team went on to win it all.
The historic marker at Central Park will be dedicated on Saturday.
ASHLAND, Ky. – Saturday is going to be an emotional day in Central Park.
The third class of the CP-1 Ashland Baseball Hall of Fame will be enshrined beside the big diamond where these men and their families spent countless hours.
We started this three years ago and it’s become a summer highlight. And I know it’s going to be emotional because the first two years certainly had their moments.
Watching “Big” Ed Hughes be wheeled up to the podium and hold the bat that he used to hit one of the longest home runs in park history and then watching even bigger Juan Thomas fight back tears while talking about his mother who had recently died.
The thread between all of these classes is interesting to watch unfold. J.D. Browne, a 1961 Holy Family graduate, even has a tie to our oldest honoree, Nard Pergrem, who officiated basketball and baseball games when he played.
Nard isn’t with us anymore but his family is coming out in full force to represent him.
Browne also played with Jim Speaks in the early 1960s. Don Frailie, a schoolmate and teammate of Browne, said he first heard Speaks threw hard when he pitched for Charles Russell Elementary’s team. That’s right, in the 1960s, even the elementary schools had baseball teams.
Ashland has such a rich baseball heritage and this Saturday is the day to celebrate it. We will be dedicating the Kentucky historic marker recognizing Central Park.
I know how special the park is to everybody because the fundraising for the marker took about two days. Everybody wanted to contribute to the cause. Well, your marker is up already and we’ll put the official touches on it before the Hall of Fame ceremony.
Every one of this year’s honorees has a story to tell and they will have the opportunity to do it from 1 to 4 p.m. in front of the big diamond. Come with casual dress and enjoy The Show.
MARK MY WORDS 2 