Justin Daniels Hitting .628: Babe Ruth Baseball Stats, 1958

I am not sure who put together these statistics, but I found them in a pile of my parents papers. One page shows the top batting averages for the 1959 Babe Ruth League. The other page has batting and pitching statistics for the Abshier Bryan team.

It seems that these statistics might be for the entire season: the Abshier Bryan statistics show that the team had won 8 games and lost six.

The names on these two sheets include many players that I looked up to.  At the time I was 12 years old, in Little League, and I had been watching these older players for years. Many of them, I knew from neighborhood games at the baseball field at Jefferson School.

Two of the players with the highest averages were my cousins. Justin Daniels led the league with a phenomenal .628 average. He had three home runs. Jerry Durning had a .500 batting average. Other familiar names on the list of top batting averages, Winston Wheeler, who lived on S. Washington Ave, near my cousins Justin and Morris, had a great record collection and was a fan of Ronnie Hawkins; Kenny Terry, who also lived on Washington Ave not far from Justin and Morris; and J.D. McConnell and George Faucette, who teamed up with Justin to make Fayetteville a formidable basketball team during the 1961-62 season; and . Several on the list were only a year or so older than me, and i played baseball, basketball and/or football with them in coming years, including Robert Wilkes and Harold Downum.

Mr. Hankins, 5th Grade Teacher, Jefferson Elementary School

The picture is taken behind the Jefferson Elementary School. Probably, it was snapped at the end of a recess.  The man in the picture is Mr. Hankins, the sixth grade teacher. Behind him are Judy Schnofner and Melba Henderson. The blur of a boy may be Larry Moore. the girl nearest to the camera on Mr. Hankin's left is, I think, Loretta Lane. I am not sure who the girl with the hula hoop and the most distance girl are.

McIlroy Bank Little League Baseball Team, 1959

Front row
Jackie Smitherman, Tony Adams, Willy Bryant, Charles Crittenden, ??, ??, ??
Back row
Dean Halliday, Steve Halliday, Louie  Bryant, Pete Benton, Danny Durning, Mike Fitzhugh, Larry Parnell

Touch Football on Lower Field of Jefferson Grade School

Jefferson School Lower Field with Larry Stout (carrying ball),
Jimmy Hawkins ("tackling") and Mike Yarboroough (walking toward the camera)

During the time I was in elementary school, the lower field of Jefferson was a busy place place for recess, after school, and weekend recreation. It had a backstop and infield for baseball, wide expanses for touch football, plus ample room for marbles and generally running around. The upper playground had paved areas with playground equipment on south end of the school  (nearest Hanna's Grocery Store) and shortened basketball goals on the other end.

The picture above shows Larry Stout (with the ball), Jimmy Hawkins (with arms stretched for the tackle), and Mike Yarborough in the near background facing the camera.

During baseball season in the late 50's, the lower field was used for pickup baseball games. The Washington Street area had some good athletes who were several years older than me, including Justin Daniel, Winston Wheeler, Jerry Durning, Kenny Terry, and several others. They were the best players for these games, while younger kids like me and my cousin Morris Daniel would be allowed to play but were not to get in the way.

When I knew a game was coming, I tried to escape going to church, or at least to leave after Sunday school, to make it to the game on time. The games were a highlight of the week.

As I recall, the main concern was that some of the big hitter, such as Justin or Winston, would hit a ball that would go through the trees in left and center fields over the fence into the big picture window of the auto repair shop at the corner of 5th and Washington. That would have been expensive.