IN the summer of 1968, there was a baseball void in the city of Charleston. At that time, our town no longer had minor league baseball. The Class AA Charleston Indians had left in 1964, and the Triple A Charlies would not arrive until 1971.
But there was still some baseball glory, thanks to a bunch of scruffy, scrappy, blue-collar, hard-working baseball kids from the hills, hollows and other neighborhoods of Kanawha County.
This summer is the 40th anniversary of the time that Charleston won a world championship in baseball. It is an accomplishment that should not be forgotten and is an anniversary worth celebrating.
In 1968, a team of Big League all stars from Charleston won the city's first national championship in the Big League World Series, which was played at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.
It was an all-star team of age 16-18 players from several schools in Kanawha County.
At the nationals, Charleston defeated teams from Bartow, Calif., New Hyde Park, N.Y., and Winston-Salem, N.C. They edged New Hyde Park, 3-2, in the championship game.
In the regionals to reach the national tournament, Charleston beat Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on a three-run homer by former Charleston High star Ralph Jean. Former Dunbar pitcher Chuck Johnson struck out 16.
The manager of the team was Don Hill. The Little League district administrator was Kenny Shock.
His son, Kenny Shock Jr., remembers the impact that the team had on the city.
"At that time, there was great high school baseball being played in our area," Shock Jr. said. "But when a team from our city won the Big League World Series, it ignited the passion for baseball in the city.
"For many years there were pictures of that team up all over town, including the lobby of the Civic Center. There is still a picture of that team in the Grille on the West Side."
IN the summer of 1968, there was a baseball void in the city of Charleston. At that time, our town no longer had minor league baseball. The Class AA Charleston Indians had left in 1964, and the Triple A Charlies would not arrive until 1971.
But there was still some baseball glory, thanks to a bunch of scruffy, scrappy, blue-collar, hard-working baseball kids from the hills, hollows and other neighborhoods of Kanawha County.
This summer is the 40th anniversary of the time that Charleston won a world championship in baseball. It is an accomplishment that should not be forgotten and is an anniversary worth celebrating.
In 1968, a team of Big League all stars from Charleston won the city's first national championship in the Big League World Series, which was played at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.
It was an all-star team of age 16-18 players from several schools in Kanawha County.
At the nationals, Charleston defeated teams from Bartow, Calif., New Hyde Park, N.Y., and Winston-Salem, N.C. They edged New Hyde Park, 3-2, in the championship game.
In the regionals to reach the national tournament, Charleston beat Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on a three-run homer by former Charleston High star Ralph Jean. Former Dunbar pitcher Chuck Johnson struck out 16.
The manager of the team was Don Hill. The Little League district administrator was Kenny Shock.
His son, Kenny Shock Jr., remembers the impact that the team had on the city.
"At that time, there was great high school baseball being played in our area," Shock Jr. said. "But when a team from our city won the Big League World Series, it ignited the passion for baseball in the city.
"For many years there were pictures of that team up all over town, including the lobby of the Civic Center. There is still a picture of that team in the Grille on the West Side."
Members of the 1968 team and the schools they attended: Ralph Jean, Hank Adams, Butch Glover, Sparky Johnson and Chaz Stanley (Charleston); Bob Holland, Ray Tabor and Pete Payne (Stonewall Jackson); Chuck Johnson, Howard Greenhowe, Calvin Lee and Charlie Wright (Dunbar); Joe Taschler (Charleston Catholic) and Richard Barnette (DuPont).
Two years later, in 1970, another Charleston team made it back to the Big League World Series, played at Little Yankee Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. The regional tournament was played at Watt Powell Park, and averaged over 2,000 fans per game. Local radio also covered the team's regional and national tournament appearances.
At the national tournament, the 1970 team lost to a team from Lincolnwood, Ill.
Because of the renewed interest in Big League baseball, Charleston was divided into East and West divisions.
The players on that '70 team were from the eastern end of the county and included: Whitey Ferrell, Butch Glover, Duke Haddad, Mike Meeks and Kenny Shock Jr. (Charleston), Billy Joe Hicks, Randy Hodges, Dave Mullins, Larry Newsome, Austin Patrick and Steve Smoot (DuPont); Pete Payne (Stonewall Jackson); and Jim Burati (Charleston Catholic),
The manager of that team was Ron Whitlock.
It is almost 40 years to the day since that summer of 1968. It was a historic summer across the nation. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Bobby Kennedy was assassinated.
Racial tension was high and there were riots in California and Detroit.
But in our city, it was a summer of baseball glory for a team of racially diverse kids who brought a national championship banner back to Charleston.
Kanawha Valley resident and national radio talk show host Frank Giardina is a contributing columnist to the Daily Mail and Sunday Gazette-Mail. Contact him at fgiard...@rbc.org.
