A Baseball Hall of Fame Pilgrimage
.....Most of the members of Baseball's Hall of Fame were born in very small towns--some of them so small, they no longer exist. A few more were born out-of-town--in farmhouses. Remarkably, few towns make much hoopla about the fact they can claim a home-town boy of such fame. I've only seen about a half-dozen signs on the edges of small towns proclaiming such fame.
.....Travellers on their summer vacations may want to take a more lingering look at the little towns where their favorites played sandlot ball as kids. The ghosts are still there. I passed through Tilden, Nebraska some years ago, and I recalled that it was Richie Ashburn's home town. I felt that the town had changed so little, it seemed that I could still see Richie and his twin sister winning all the foot-races down the few short tree-lined streets. Here is a list of such towns, alphabetical by state, followed by the present population, and location relative to a larger city. Some towns, I am still searching for. I have not listed players whose home-towns now have more than 10,000 inhabitants, such as Babe Ruth, whose Baltimore roots are marked by a monument. Also excluded are a number of players whose birthplaces have been fully assimilated into the suburban sprawl of major cities. I have included several familiar recent players and managers who are not yet in the Hall of Fame.
Key: (X)=Executive (U)=Umpire (N)=Negro Leagues
..........(+)=Not yet in Hall of Fame
......#=Not in Rand-McNally Road Atlas Index.
......##=Not on Rand McNally map in road Atlas.
AL Clio--/--Don Sutton. 1,300; 45 mi n Dothan
AL Columbia--/--Monte Irvin. 900; 20 mi e Dothan
AL Hartford--/--Early Wynn. 2,500; 20 mi sw Dothan
AL Titus #--/--Joe Sewell. 300; 17 mi nw Wetumka, Rte 29, Elmore Co.
AL Tuscumbia--/--Heinie Manush. 8,400; 5 mi s Florence
AL Westfield ##--/--Willie Mays. (See below)
AL Whistler ##--/--Billy Williams. (See below)
AR Ash Flat--/--Preacher Roe (+). 700; 35 mi n Batesville
AR Clifty ##--/--Arky Vaughan. 100; 32 mi e Rogers, Rte 12
AR Lucas ##--/--Dizzy Dean. (See below)
AR Swifton--/--George Kell. 800; 25 mi w Jonesboro
AR Waldo--/--Travis Jackson. 1,500; 45 mi e Texarkana
CA Rodeo--/--Lefty Gomez. 7,500; 20 mi n Oakland
FL Palatka--Pop Lloyd (N) 10,200; 60 mi s Jacksonville
GA Banks County--/--Ty Cobb. 50 mi ne Atlanta See below
GA CAiro--/--Jackie Robinson. 9,000; 30 mi n Tallahassee FL
GA Buena Vista--/--Josh Gibson (N) 1,500; 25 mi e Columbus
GA Demorest--/--Johnny Mize. 1,100; 50 mi n Athens
ID Payette--/--Harmon Killibrew. 5,600; nw Boise, at OR state line
IL Byron--/--Al Spalding (X) 2,300; 10 mi sw Rockford
IL Germantown--/--Red Schoendienst. 1,200; 40 mi e St. Louis MO
IL Granville--/--Red Ruffing. 1,400; bet Rockford & Bloomington
IL New Athens--/--Whitey Herzog (+) 2,000; 30 mi se St. Louis MO
IL Oglesby--/--Jim Bottomley. 3,600; bet Rockford, Bloomington
IL Tiskilwa--/--Warren Giles (X) 800; 45 mi n Peoria
IA Cascade--/--Red Faber. 1,800; 20 mi sw Dubuque
IA Orient #--/--Dazzy Vance. 12 mi n Creston.
IA Van Meter--/--Bob feller. 700; 20 mi w Des Moines
IA Winterset--/--Fred Clarke. 4,100; 40 mi sw Des Moines
IN Danville--/--Sam Thompson. 4,300; 20 mi w Indianapolis
IN Morocco--/--Sam Rice. 1,000; 50 mi s Gary
IN Nyesville ##--/--Mordecai Brown. 200; 3 mi ne Rockville, Parke Co.
IN Oakland City--/--Edd Roush. 2,800; 30 mi n Evansville
IN Princeton--/--Gil Hodges (+) 8,100; 40 mi n Evansville
IN Wawaka #--/--Ford Frick (X) 9 w Kendallville, US-6
KS Humboldt--/--Walter Johnson. 2,200; 90 mi s Lawrence
KS Muscotah #-/--Joe Tinker. 200; 60 mi n Lawrence
KY Ekron #--/--PeeWee Reese. 5 mi s Brandenburg, Meade Co.
KY Pebworth #--/--Earl Combs. 50 mi n London, Rte 30, Owsley Co.
LA Bastrop--/--Bill Dickey. 13,900; 20 mi n Monroe
LA Jamestown #--/--Lee Smith (+). 100; 15 mi s Minden
LA Mansfield--/--Vida Blue (+). 5,300; 35 mi s Shreveport
MA Bridgewater--/--Mickey Cochrane. 7,200; 5 mi s Brockton
MA E. Brookfield--/--Connie Mack. 2,600; 10 mi w Worcester
MD Lonaconing--/--Lefty Grove. 1,100; 15 mi sw Cumberland
MD Snow Hill--/--Judy Johnson (N) 2,200; 20 mi se Salisbury
MD Sudlersville #--/--Jimmie Foxx. 20 mi sw Smyrna DE, Rte 300
MD Trappe #--/--Frank Baker. bet Cambridge & Easton, US 50
MI Fowlerville--/--Charlie Gehringer. 2,600; 25 mi e Lansing
MI Harrisville #--/--Kiki Cuyler. 30 mi s Alpena, US 23
MI Zeeland--/--Jim Kaat (+) 5,400; 5 mi e Holland
MN Brainerd--/--Chief Bender. 12,300; 100 mi w Duluth
MS Calhoun--/--Dave Parker (+) 1,600; 30 mi e Grenada
MO Carthage--/--Carl Hubbell. 10,700; 15 mi ne Joplin
MO Hamilton--/--Zach Wheat. 1,700; 40 mi e St. Joseph
MO Keytesville--/--Cal Hubbard. 500; 50 mi nw Columbia
MO Nevada--/--Clark Griffith (X) 8,500; 60 mi n Joplin
NE Elba #--/--Grover Alexander. 100; 20 m. n Grand Island
NE Harvard--/--Billy Southworth (+) 900; 20 mi e Hastings
NE Tilden--/--Richie Ashburn. 900; 20 m. w Norfolk
NE Wahoo--/--Sam Crawford. 25 mi n Lincoln
NJ Salem--/--Goose Goslin. 6,800; 15 mi se Wilmington DE
NM Santa Rita--/--Ralph Kiner. (See below)
NY Millerton--/--Eddie Collins. 700; 35 mi ne Poughkeepsie
NY Truxton #--/--John McGraw. 10 mi ne Cortland, Rte 13
NY Port Jervis--/--Bucky Haris. 8,000; opp. northernmost NJ.
NC Hertford--/--Jim Hunter. 2,100; 90 mi e Rocky Mount
NC Huntersville--/--Hoyt Wilhelm. 3,000; 10 mi n Charlotte
NC Roxboro--/--Enos Slaughter.7,300; 30 mi n Durham
NC Williamston--/--Gaylord Perry. 5,400; 50 mi e Rocky Mount
OH Blaine #--/--Phil Niekro. 7 mi w Wheeling WV, US 40
OH Clayton--/--Jess Haines. 700; 15 mi nw Dayton
OH Gilmore #--/--Cy Young. 100; 11 mi sw Uhrichsville, Tuscarawas Co.
OH Flat ##--/--Branch Rickey (X) See below
OH Millville--/--Kennesaw M. Landis (X) 700; 30 mi nw Cincinnati
OK Earlsboro #--/--Willie Stargell. 8 mi se Shawnee
OK Harrah--/--Paul & Lloyd Waner. 4,200; 15 mi e Oklahoma City
OK Spavinaw--/--Mickey Mantle. 400; 50 mi n Miskogee
PA Donora--/--Stan Musial. 6,000; 25 mi se Pittsburgh
PA Donora--/--Ken Griffey (Jr. & Sr.) (+)
PA Ellwood City--/--Hack Wilson. 8,900; 45 mi nw Pittsburgh
PA Factoryville--/--Christy Mathewson. 1,300; 15 mi nw Scranton
PA Gettysburg--/--Eddie Plank. 7,000; 35 mi s Harrisburg
PA New Brighton--/--Jack Clark(+) 6,800; 20 mi e East Liverpool OH
PA Pittston--/--Hugh Jennings. 9.000; bet Scranton & Wilkes-Barre
PA Plains--/--Ed Walsh. 4.700; bet Scranton & Wilkes-Barre
PA St. thomas--/--Nellie Fox. 800; 10 mi w Chambersburg
PA Shamokin--/--Stan Coveleski. 9,200; 60 mi n Harrisburg
RI River Point ##--/--Hugh Duffy. (See below)
SC Brandon Mills ##--/--Joe Jackson. (See below)
SD Bridgewater--/--Sparky Anderson (+) 200; 35 mi w Sioux Falls
TX Bonham--/--Joe Morgan. 6,800; 20 mi e Sherman
TX Calvert--/--Bill Foster (N) 1,500; 50 mi se Waco
TX Hubbard City--/--Tris Speaker. 1,600; 20 mi ne Waco
TX Perryton--/--Mike Hargrove (+). 7,600; 50 mi s Liberal, Kansas
TX Refugio--/--Nolan Ryan. 3,000; 50 mi n Corpus Christi
TX Sweet Home #--/--Ross Youngs. 300; 40 mi n Victoria
TX Winters--/--Rogers Hornsby. 3,000; bet. Abilene & San Angelo
VA Culpeper--/--Eppa Rixey. 8,500; 70 mi sw Washington DC
WA Snohomish--/--Earl Averill. 6,500; 10 mi se Everett
WV Glen Dale #--/--George Brett (+). 100; 10 mi s Wheeling
WI Emerald #--/--Burleigh Grimes. 12 mi e New Richmond, St.Croix Co.
WI Juneau--/--Addie Joss. 2,100; 40 mi ne Madison
Special notes:)
A few places do not appear on any map. I have not verified them, but they appear to be as follows:
==AL Westfield (Mays). Westfield is now in suburban Birmingham, Alabama, west of Fairfield. the town of Dolomite now appears on maps at the location where Westfield was.
==AL Whistler (B. Williams). Whistler is a community just northwest of Mobile, at the junction of I-65 and I-165. The freeways now occupy much of the town, but there is still a busy Whistler Street. Similarly, freeways have displaced much of the Texas Street neighborhoods in Mobile that produced Hank Aaron and Willie McCovey.
==AR Lucas (Dean). Lucas should be near the spot at which the name Ione appears on Arkansas maps. This is 10 miles southwest of Booneville, Logan County, on Route 23. Not much left of Ione, either.
==GA Banks County (Cobb). Cobb's birthplace is variously listed as Banks County, and as Narrows, Ga. I cannot find a Narrows Ga. Royston, Ga claims him.
==NM Santa Rita (Kiner). Santa Rita is one of a series of ghost towns that mark the movement of mining companies as ores became exhausted east of Silver City and the miners' families moved on. The nearest mapped town to old Santa Rita is Hanover, about 20 miles east of Silver City.
==OH Flat (Rickey). Flat appears on a gazetteer with coordinates located on Rte 32, 2 mi s junction with Ret 73, in
Adams County. Maps show a `Davis Memorial'--possibly at Flat.
==RI River Point (Duffy). The community of River Point was 2 miles north of West Warwick, Kent County. It may now be absorbed by West Warwick.
==SC Brandon Mills (J. Jackson). I have never been able to find Brandon Mills on any map or place index. However, it must have been near Greenville. which city is often associated with Jackson.
Anecdotes:
===I have seen signposts commemorating the birthplaces/hometowns of Hall-of-Famers at Royston GA (Cobb), Hertford NC (Hunter) Oakland City IN (Roush), Newcomerstown OH (A State Park for Young), St. Paul NE (Alexander). I've passed through many other towns on this list, and seen no signs. They are conspicuously absent in Cairo GA (J. Robinson)
===Keytesville MO has a `General Sterling Price Monument', but no mention of Cal Hubbard, who is in both the Baseball and the Football Hall of Fame. It is typical for a town to be more proud of a soldier who rose to the rank of Major, or a tycoon who seized control of a railroad, than a celebrated athlete.
===Donora PA does not identify itself as the home town of Musial, but 5 miles away, there is as sign marking Monongahela as the home town of Joe Montana. The librarian in Donora can direct you to the old Musial house--and to Ken Griffey's old house.
===I once met a traveller at a rest-area who was from Winters, Texas. I remarked that it was Rogers Hornsby's home town--the man replied that he had never heard of Hornsby.
===A stopover at the Interstate hub of Peru-LaSalle, Illinois, offers a one-hour round-trip to three pilgrimage towns: Oglesby (Bottomley), Granville (Ruffing), and Tiskilwa (Giles). A similar but larger circle can be made around Dothan, Alabama.
===Johnny Mize and Grover Alexander retired in their home towns, and until their deaths, would sit on the front porch and chat with any admirers who passed by. They were probably the last of that breed.
===Helen Keller was also from Tuscumbia AL (Manush). Daryl F. Zanuck was also from Wahoo NE (Crawford). "American Gothic" Painter Grant Wood was also from Cascade IA (Faber). Actor John Wayne was also from Winterset IA (Clarke).
Comments, corrections or suggestions?: Contact:
Jim Turner:::..........jtur88@yahoo.com
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