IL1 Columbus Clippers

To Absent Friends

Published on January 4, 2008 under International League (IL1)
Columbus Clippers News Release


The Columbus baseball family lost ten former coaches and players in 2007. They were wonderful men and they enriched our lives.

Clete Boyer - Clippers coach 2005

A golden glove third baseman, Boyer played for the Kansas City Athletics (1955-57), New York Yankees (1959-66) and Atlanta Braves (1967-71). Boyer was the first major league ball player traded to Japan, where he played four seasons in the Central League with the Taiyo Whales (now the Yokohama BayStars).

Boyer was one of 14 children who grew up in a house with no plumbing and no electricity in the southwest corner of Missouri. He and four of the brothers played professional baseball, with Ken, also a third baseman, and Cloyd, a pitcher, also making the majors.

Clete made his major league debut with the Kansas City A's at the tender age of 18, in 1955. He played third base for on New York teams that won five consecutive American League pennants from 1960-1964.

After his playing days, Clete coached for the Oakland Athletics and the Yankees and a minor league infield instructor for the Yankees. He also owned the Clete Boyer's Hamburger Hall of Fame restaurant, located about three miles south of Cooperstown, N.Y.

Boyer had two sons, Brett and Mickey and four daughters Valerie, Stephanie, Colette and Jerran and ten grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

Clete always said his only regret in baseball was never playing on the same team with his brother Ken. The brothers did play against each other in the 1964 World Series and each homered in the dramatic seventh game. Clete passed away on June 4th due to a stroke.

Heroes of the 1962 World Series Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Clete Boyer

Mike Coolbaugh - Clippers infielder/outfielder 1999-2000

Mike Coolbaugh was the sad note of the 2007 season. The former Clipper was killed when hit by a foul ball while coaching first base for the Rockies' Double-A Tulsa squad on July 22. He was just 35-years-old.

Coolbaugh came from a baseball family. His older brother, Scott, was also a former major leaguer.

Mike was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 16th round in 1990.

He played in the minors for a decade before reaching the major leagues for the first time in 2001 with the Brewers. He played 39 big league games that season and five for the Cardinals in 2002. He hit two home runs in 82 major league at-bats.

As a Clipper, Mike hit 15 home runs, with 66 RBIs and a .276 average while playing third base and the outfield in 1999. The following season, Coolbaugh played every infield position and the outfield and was hitting .271 with 23 HRs and 61 RBIs when he left to play for on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team.

In the class act of the year, the Colorado Rockies voted a full Playoff and World Series share to Amanda Coolbaugh, Mike's wife.

At the time of the accident, the Coolbaugh's had two children, Joseph, 5, and Jacob, 3, and they were expecting their third child.

Dick Kryhoski - Jets first baseman 1955

Dick Kryhoski was a first baseman, who played for five different major league teams between 1949 and 1955. Kryhoski batted and threw left handed.

Kryhoski was born in Leonia, New Jersey and attended at Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey. He served in Great Britain during World War II.

H had a promising baseball career before injuries and frequent trades forced his premature retirement. Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1946 and joined the Yankees late in 1949. The Yankees won the 1949 World Series when Kryhoski (.294 in 54 games) was a rookie.

During the off-season, he was traded by New York to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Dick Wakefield.

Kryhoski played with Detroit from 1950-1951, before joining the St. Louis Browns (1952-53), Baltimore Orioles (1954) and Kansas City Athletics (1955). One of his most productive seasons came in 1951 with the Tigers, when he hit .287 with 12 home runs and 57 RBI, batting third in batting order. Then, in 1953 he shared with Roy Sievers the first base job for the Browns in the last year of the team's existence.

On December 1, 1954, Kryhoski was involved in a 17 player trade between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees. The Orioles sent Bob Turley, Don Larsen, and Billy Hunter, Mike Blyzka, Darrell Johnson, Jim Fridley and Kryhoski to the Yankees for Gene Woodling, Harry Byrd, Jim McDonald, Hal Smith, Gus Triandos, Willy Miranda, Bill Miller, Kal Segrist, Don Leppert and Ted Del Guercio.

A wonderful story teller, Dick loved to tell tales. Like the time he made a putout for the Orioles in the ninth inning of a close game. He tossed his glove in the air and ran to the mound to congratulate his pitcher, only to find out there were only two outs!

Kryhoski replaced Lou Limmer at first base in 1955 for the Jets and hit 16 home runs with 59 RBIs during the second half of the season.

After his playing days, Dick became a branch manager for an engineering company in Cleveland.

Kryhoski died at his home on April 10th, in Beverly Hills, Michigan, just 17 days after his 82nd birthday.

1955 Columbus Jets

Back row: Jake Theis, Frank Verdi, Cal Van Brabant, Bill Stewart, Lou Sleater, Dutch Romberger, Hal Bevans. Middle row: Eric Roden, Al Lakeman, Ted Del Guercio, Leroy Wheat, John Gray, Contantine Keriazakos, Al Pinkston, Dick Kryhoski, Carl Duser. Front row: Trainer Randy Alfano, Charlie Haak, Jim Miller, Coach Red Barrett, Manager Nick Cullop, Spook Jacobs, Joe Erautt, Russ Sullivan. Batboys: Rodger Corbin, Harry Sykes, Howdy Lewis.

Max Lanier - Red Birds pitcher 1937-39

Max became a lefthander when he broke his right arm twice as a kid. He was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1937. Lanier pitched for the Columbus Red Birds in 1937-39.

Lanier was the top-winning southpaw for three consecutive Cardinal pennant winners, 1942-44. His 1.71 ERA in seven World Series games is one of the lowest in history.

After he was discharged from the service after WWII, Max got off to a hot start. The southpaw won his first six games, all complete games, in 1946 when he jumped to the Mexican League. Baseball commissioner Happy Chandler suspended Max and a number of fellow major league jumpers for five years. They were reinstated in 1949 after the threat of law suits. Max won 11 games for the Cardinals in both 1950 and '51. Lanier wrapped up his 14 year major league career with stints with the Giants and Browns.

After his playing career, Max worked as a major league scout.

Lanier's son, Hal, had a promising career as the Giants shortstop curtailed by a serious beaning in 1965, which left him with epilepsy. Hal was named Manager of the Year in the National League with the Astros in 1986.

Lou Limmer - Jets first baseman 1955

Born in the Bronx, New York, Limmer graduated from Manhattan High School of Aviation in 1943. Upon graduation, he joined the Army Air Corps, where he served until 1946. Signed by the Philadelphia A's when he was discharged, Lou was a first baseman for 13 years (1946-58). He spent two seasons with the A's (1951, 1954)

Limmer became a minor league legend, winning two minor league home run titles, falling one shy in a third season ,and was in the top five, seven times.

Lou holds the distinction of having hit the last home run and last base hit for the Philadelphia Athletics before the team moved to Kansas City.

Limmer started the 1955 season with the Columbus Jets. But Lou and manager Nick Cullop did not see eye to eye. But Nick was 'old school' and Limmer was one of the 'new breed'. After two months of feuding, Limmer was dealt to Toronto. He had hit eleven home runs with 30 RBIs in the first 82 games.

Shortly after the trade, the Maple Leafs visited Jet Stadium. After an inning, Cullop was walking back to the dugout from the coaching lines when Limmer crossed Nick's path. Nobody knows what Limmer said to Nick, but everyone saw what happened next. With one punch, the old manager decked the first baseman!

Both benches emptied onto the field as the worse fight in Columbus baseball history broke out. The sheriffs finally had to break up the battle. Old Timers at The Coop still talk about the fight to this day!

The fight!

Limmer was survived by his wife Pearl and his sons Daniel and Craig. After his playing days, Limmer served as the president of his synagogue, the Castle Hill JCC in the Bronx, for five years. He also volunteered at Pine Brook School. He suffered from COPD later in life.

Lou died Sunday, April 1 in Boca Raton, Fla. He was 82.

Art Lopatka - Red Bird pitcher 1944-45

After graduating from Chicago's Austin High School in 1938, Art Lopatka attended the University of Chicago and was a 1942 graduate. He signed with the St. Louis Cardinals organization in 1942.

Lopatka broke into Organized Baseball in 1942 at age 23 and played for Columbus Red Birds of the American Association in 1944 (11-9, 3.49) and 1945 (10-13, 4.82).

The southpaw was 26 years old when he was called up to the St. Louis Cardinals at the end of the season. He was selected off waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies on April 5, 1946 and played his final MLB game on July 1. On February 27, 1948 he was released by the Phillies.

Lopatka had his career cut short when he hurt his hand after Del Ennis hit with a line drive in batting practice. Art would later sue the Phillies for failing to treat his injury correctly and asked for the princely sum of $250,000. The Phillies settled out of court.

Lopatka ran the Chicago Hornets franchise in 1949 in the All-American Football Conference. Later in life, he was an auto salesman.

He died on March 10 in Elk Grove Village, Illinois at age 87.

Orlando McFarlane - Jets catcher-third baseman 1962-63

Orlando McFarlane was a golden glove boxer in Cuba before turning his talents to baseball. He played a number of different positions during his minor league career, as the Pirates tried to find a spot for McFarlane's potent bat. For the 1962 Jets, he hit .308 with 11 home runs and 60 RBIs splitting the catching duties with Ron Brand. The following year he hit 21 home runs, with 60 RBIs as he tried to learn the third base position for Columbus.

McFarlane played five seasons as a backup catcher for the Pirates, Tigers and Angels. Baptized Orlando dejesus, McFarlane was the first ball player to be named Jesus to play in the major leagues. When this caused friction among conservative broadcasters, McFarlane went by Orlando instead.

Charlie Marshall - Red Bird catcher 1951

Like the character Moonlight Graham in the movie Field of Dreams, Charlie Marshall (born Charles Anthony Marczlewicz) got to fulfill his dream of being a major leaguer by being a defensive replacement in the ninth inning of a game on June 14, 1941, for the St. Louis Cardinals. He had one putout in his only fielding chance. He did not have a batting appearance and never played a major league game again.

A career minor league receiver, Charlie was the backup catcher for the 1951 Red Birds, hitting .263 in 67 ball games.

Marshall died where he was born in Wilmington, Delaware on April 15th at age 87.

Willard Schmidt - Red Bird pitcher 1952-53

Born in Hays, Kansas, Schmidt was a starter, middle reliever and closer during his pitching career. The right-handed hurler pitched for the Red Birds in 1952 (2-1, 2.89) and 1953 (5-11, 3.02) and reached the majors in 1952, with the St. Louis Cardinals. He spent part of six years with them (1952-53, 1955-57) before moving to the Cincinnati Redlegs (1958-59) in the same transaction that brought Curt Flood to St. Louis. His most productive season came in 1957 with the Cardinals, when he set a 10-3 mark and led the league in winning percentage (.769).

In a seven-season career, Schmidt posted a 31-29 record with 323 strikeouts and a 3.93 ERA in 194 appearances.

Schmidt was the first player to get hit by a pitch twice in the same inning by two different pitchers. It happened on April 26, 1959, when Bob Rush and Lew Burdette of the Milwaukee Braves hit him. Later in the same game he was struck by a line drive hit by Johnny Logan and he had to leave the game.

Following his playing career, Schmidt was a car dealership in Norman, Oklahoma, where he and his wife, Margaret Schmidt, raised their family of six children, all of whom attended and graduated from the University of Oklahoma, before retiring to a small farm in Newcastle, Oklahoma.

He died on March 22, 2007, at the age of 78.

Bobby Sturgeon - Red Bird shortstop 1939

Bobby Sturgeon was a lanky, slick fielding shortstop, who could also play second and third base. The Clinton, Indiana native was purchased by the Chicago Cubs from the St. Louis Cardinals after the shortstop hit .297 in 151 games for the 1939 Columbus Red Birds.

The right-hander played in the majors between 1940 and 1948 for the Chicago Cubs (1940-42, 1946-47) and Boston Braves (1948). He helped the Braves to the World Series in his final season, backing up Eddie Stanky.

A severe leg injury and three and a half years of military service interrupted his career. Sturgeon joined the US Navy during World War II (1942-45). His most productive season came for the 1946 Cubs, when he posted a career-high .296 batting average.

While playing shortstop against the Dodgers in 1947, he hit rookie Jackie Robinson in the chest with the throw. About six weeks later, Robinson reached base and ran on the first pitch. Not sliding, Robinson threw a block at Sturgeon and knocked him halfway into left field. Sturgeon suffered two broken ribs.

Sturgeon died in San Dimas, California, at age 87.

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International League Stories from January 4, 2008


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