Field of Dreams - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Field of Dreams

On this day in sports history 101 years ago, eight Chicago White Sox players were indicted for throwing the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Although they were never criminally charged, they were banned from baseball for life. The players were upset at Club owner Charlie Cominsky because near the end of the season, he ordered his manager to not play their top pitcher Eddie Chicotte, who had accumulated 29 wins and would have earned a $10,000 bonus had he won 30 games. It was said Cominsky was so cheap he seldom had the team’s uniforms washed and the accumulated dirt and sweat turned their sox more black than white. So the incident has become known as the Black Sox Scandal. Pitcher Chicotte and their best hitter, Shoeless Joe Jackson, led the uprising to throw the series.

The 1989 movie Field of Dreams was adapted from the 1982 book entitled Shoeless Joe. The story is about Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner), a husband and father who is tending to his cornfield when he hears a mysterious voice intone, "If you build it, he will come.” one of the most famous quotes in movie history.

The farmer turns the cornfield into a baseball field and as a result, out of the corn comes the banned White Sox players (in clean uniforms!) to play in a final game. It was thought the famous quote meant if the field of dreams was built, he, Shoeless Joe Jackson, would come, but in the final scene of the movie the real meaning of the quote becomes clear as Kinsella's estranged and deceased father shows up allowing the pair to reconcile over a game of catch.

By the way, then-teenagers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were extras in one of the scenes!

Recently, Major League Baseball hosted a game at the actual Field of Dreams field for the very first time. The game saw the White Sox defeating the Yankees with a walk-off score of 9-8. Kevin Costner even personally made an appearance at the game and threw out the first pitch to make things even more official. Because the broadcast of the game was the most-watched regular season MLB game since 2005, it stands to reason that all of the positive attention in revisiting Field of Dreams helped to convince NBCUniversal to move forward with a TV series adaptation on the Peacock Network. May have to sign up on Peacock once that show premiers.

Keep dreaming, Fish Report readers.

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Uncle in the Furniture Business - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Uncle in the Furniture Business

When we first moved to Michigan in 1973, I recall a catchy ad for a local furniture store by the name of Joshua Doore, whose theme was “You’ve got an uncle in the furniture business”, implying you’d get family pricing on the home furnishings being offered. Well, coincidently, my Dad’s brother was co-owner of Ft. Loramie Furniture located on Main Street in the same building where the hardware store is located today. See building circled in blue on this 1960’s era aerial photo.

The furniture store’s founder was Elmer Dapore, who had two cute young daughters, the oldest of whom, Irene dated my uncle Frank after WWII. They were married in 1947 and shortly thereafter, my uncle Frank started working at the furniture store for his father-in-law. Eventually, Elmer's younger daughter Miriam also married and her husband Jerry worked at the store as well, allowing Elmer to retire. 

About the same time, my mother-in-law Hilda served as the store's bookkeeper-secretary until she got married in 1951. She apparently must not have been too busy working at the furniture store because in letters to her sister while in nurses training at the time, she wrote that Frank was coming so she had to quite writing for the moment!

So fast forward to about 1967, while I was in college at General Motors Institute. GMI was a co-op college, which meant we would work at a GM plant one quarter and go to school the next, alternating that way for all four years of college. I worked at Frigidaire in Dayton, which at the time was owned by GM, but now owned by Electrolux. That meant there were 1500 students at school (termed A section) while 1500 were away working (termed B Section). The income from working allowed us co-op students to pay our tuition and living expenses while on campus and while working, still have some money left over for fun stuff like partying, girls and cars. Some past blogposts expand on those adventures.

Anyway, it was always a challenge finding short term housing during our work sections in Dayton, so 6 of us students, three from A Section and three from B, leased out a three bedroom apartment that we shared. When it came time to furnish the place, needless to say, we went to see my uncle Frank in Ft. Loramie. Each of us threw in $200 towards furnishing, so I recall asking uncle Frank if he could help us furnish the 3 bedroom place for $1200.I remember him laughing heartily, but said we’ll have to see. So he showed us around the store to pick out some furniture. After about an hour or so, we had selected twin beds, mattresses, dresser, nightstand and lamp for each of the three bedrooms as well as a fold-out couch (for crashers to sleep), two end tables, two lamps, a lounge chair, a coffee table, a dining room table with 4 chairs and a console TV, including delivery to Dayton, for just under our $1200 limit. We enjoyed that place till graduating, then sold each of our shares to younger students for $200, getting our money back! Thanks uncle Frank; it really does pay to have an uncle in the furniture business! 

Our story ended much better than 'ole Joshua Doore, as the owner, Harvey Leach, was murdered mob style on the day of his wedding at age 35. Although never proven, the mob kill was directed by notorious Detroit gangster, Tony Giacalone, aka Tony Jack, the same mobster who likely ordered the hit of Jimmy Hoffa a few years later.

The mob was probably trying to shake down Leach and he wouldn’t cooperate, or he owed them money and wouldn’t pay. Joshua Doore soon went bankrupt, with Tony Jack’s lawyer buying it for pennies on the dollar, changing the name to Robinson’s Furniture, still in business today. Read the whole story here.

Fast forward to today, Irene, uncle Frank’s wife Irene and my mother-in-law Hilda, both in their 90’s, are residing at the Landings assisted living facility in Sidney. A wonderful feature about the Landings is the residents can outfit their living quarters with furnishings from their homes to help them feel more comfortable.

So who knows, but I’m betting some of those old furnishings may have originated from my uncle in the furniture business.

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Baba O’Riley - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Baba O’Riley

While driving and listening to the radio recently, one of my favorite songs from The Who came on and I was surprised to learn that the title displayed on the screen was "Baba O’Riley". After enjoying that song ever since it was recorded 50 years ago, I had always thought the title was "Teenage Wasteland", because that term was prevalent in the lyrics. Unlike most songs, the lyrics did not include any reference to the title, so it had escaped me over the years. My curiosity piqued, after returning home, I googled "Baba O’Riley" and learned The Who's legendary guitarist Peter Townsend had named the song after his two musical and philosophical mentors, Terry Riley, an American musician and Meher Baba an eastern Indian guru.

According to Townsend, at the end of the band's gig at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival the field was covered in rubbish left by fans, which inspired the line "teenage wasteland”. In another interview Townshend stated the song was also inspired by "the absolute desolation of teenagers he observed while playing at Woodstock, where audience members were all wasted on drugs!"

For me, it was an anti-war protest song against the Viet Nam War being waged at the time.

Speaking of wasted, Townsend himself was notorious for “wasting his guitar” during the group's early concerts. He’d smash his guitar during the playing of My Generation at the close of every concert to the delight of fans.

Baba O'Riley is recognized by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland as one of the best 500 songs of all time, and of course, The Who were Hall of Fame inductees in 1990. That’s about the time my wife and I attended one of their concerts to celebrate our wedding anniversary at the Windsor Casino, just across the river from Detroit. We stayed overnight at the casino hotel because the concert started around 10:00, which gave us time for a nice dinner at a favorite restaurant in Windor's Little Italy and some gambling in the casino trying my infamous betting system described in this past blogpost.

About that time the TV show CSI was popular, with The Who theme song “Who Are You”. Marge Helgenberger was my favorite crime scene investigator!

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50 Years of Title IX - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

50th Anniversary of Title IX

For those of you who may not know what Title IX means, it represents the 9th amendment of the 1964 Federal Civil Rights Bill. The amendment was passed on September 2, 1971, 50 years ago and stated "No person in the United States shall, based on sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance”. This amendment assured equal rights for both men and women to participate in athletics at public schools and colleges.

Renowned Minster coach Katie Horstman exemplifies the spirit of the Title IX legislation. Starting in 1972 as a coach and teacher in the Minster school system, she lead the transformation of girls sports. Earlier in her career, during the 50’s, Katie was a star baseball player in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League commemorated in the 1992 Tom Hanks and Geena Davis movie “League of Their Own”. Katie played catcher, third base and also pitched, just like modern day player Shohei Ohtani. In 1954, the final year of the AAGPBL, she batted .328, hit 16 home runs and pitched to a 10-3 record with a 2.85 ERA. The team finished in first place with a 54-40 record.

This photo shows Katie throwing out the first pitch in Yankee Stadium on August 11, 2018 when the All American Girls Professional Baseball League was recognized on the 75th anniversary of its founding.

After playing for the Fort Wayne Daisies in the AAGPBL, Katie received her college degree and became a Franciscan nun, but after five years, decided it was not her calling. She then became a teacher and coach, earning many championships and honors. Katie lived and taught in Illinois and Indiana before returning to her hometown of Minster, Ohio in 1972 to teach and coach as girls programs were just being recognized by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

Minster’s First Girls Track & Field State Championship in 1976

In 21 years as a coach along with 25 as a teacher, Horstman led Minster to seven state track & field championships, a state cross-country championship, six state runner-up finishes in those two sports and another state runner-up in volleyball. Selected to the National Federation of State High School Associations Hall of Fame in 2014, Hortsman, last week on the 50th anniversary of Title IX, was named a trailblazer of women’s rights by the OHSAA.

OSHAA Interview with Katie Horstman

Q: Why was it important for you to push for girls sports participation when you returned to Minster in 1972 as a coach and teacher?

A: When I was teaching in Illinois prior to returning to Ohio, they had everything. And the same thing with Indiana when I lived there. So when I came back here, I was very disappointed that they didn't have any girls sports. I thought that was odd, and I thought maybe I should do something about it. I thought “why not have girls sports when the other states have it?” I always loved it and was very happy that I got to play.

It was rough because the boys had extracurricular activities and we didn’t at all. I played baseball with a lot of girls from California, and they were so ahead of us, I could not believe it. I just thought we should be able to do it if other states could.

Q: How were you able to get the girls programs started at Minster?

A: There was a superintendent there – he only stayed for two years – but I was lucky in that he was very interested in having girls sports. His name was Mr. Knapke. He was great. I had a really hard time convincing the other ones who replaced him to give girls opportunities. The more they were against it, the more I went for it.

And I was on a state committee that helped push for girls sports. I was the only woman that was on that committee. But they were so nice to me and we just really hit it off. Because I had experience in Illinois and Indiana, they were receptive to me and what I was talking about.

My dad always said that if you’ve got something that you really want to do, do it, no matter what. My dad was really behind me when I first started.

Q: Do you remember when Title IX became a law?

A: I do remember Title IX becoming a law because 1972 was when we really got started (at Minster).

Q: What do you remember about the beginning days in the early ‘70s when Title IX was enacted and the enthusiasm of the girls and their parents?

A: The parents were all for it. Mr. Knapke was all for it, but the others (that followed him) were against it and said we could only have the gym after nine o’clock because of the boys using it. And I said “I’ll take it!” They didn’t think that I was going to do that, but I did. We only had one gym at the high school. Now they have like three or four.

It was OK for a sport like track. There was only one track, and they wouldn’t let us on it unless the boys were first. But that only lasted until like six o’clock. So I got it at six o’clock, and that was better than nine o’clock (for the indoor sports).

And the girls ... they had the talent. And why not use the talent you have, and what was so bad about playing sports? It kept them out of trouble. I had sports when I was a kid. I had five brothers. I played ball with two of them, and I wanted to make sure that I was good. Otherwise, they would have probably told me to go back into the house and do some housework. And I hated housework.

Q: Did you think if you were successful with your programs, there would be more support for girls sports?

A: Oh, definitely. I felt that if we can do better (than the boys), I knew the people would be behind me.

Q: Did you ever imagine you would have the success that you did at Minster when you first started?

A: I did because I knew the girls were really good. There was talent there. They wanted it probably more than I did. I was from here, so I knew most of the people, even though, when I moved back, I lived in New Knoxville. But I knew the families, their backgrounds and work ethics ... they were the same as me.

Q: Did you take pride in starting the girls programs at Minster?

A: At the time, I didn't really think about it. I had my own glory playing pro ball, and things like that, but later on they were very, very thankful, especially after I was out of teaching and coaching. (Current) Coach (Robb) Hemmelgarn of the Minster softball team thinks I was the greatest thing on earth, and he still has me come back and throw out the first pitch each year and hit.

Q: What are your thoughts on female athletes today and how far they have advanced compared to your early days?

A: It’s unbelievable. I watched the Summer Olympics, and I couldn't believe it. That volleyball team ... wow! They could really pound that ball. It was tremendous. I watched everything from the time it started until the time it ended. We’ve come a long way, believe me.

86 year old Katie Horstman is indeed a legend and a trailblazer.

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