Hometown Heros

[bigtrain]

Two guys from my hometown, Scotch Plains, N.J. "Skeets" Nehemiah was a freshman when I was a senior in high school. My brother played baseball and football with Jeff Hammonds, who played for the Orioles, Brewers and Rockies.

[z28jd]

My hometown is Kearny, NJ, birthplace of Dots Miller. His niece married into my family, so six of my relatives are also related to him. Ownie Carroll used to live in town too, so I have a couple cards of him, as well as Sam Dente.

[GaryPassamonte]

Mount Morris NY- hometown of Ross Barnes, 19th century great.

[bigtrain]

Originally Posted by GaryPassamonte

Mount Morris NY- hometown of Ross Barnes, 19th century great.

Gary,
Somewhere in my collection, I have a picture of a Mt. Morris (high school?) baseball team from 1929.

[slidekellyslide]

Players from my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska include: Alex Gordon, Joba Chamberlain, Ted Easterly, Al Bool, Lyman Lamb, Les Mann, and Bob Cerv who was a former neighbor of mine and a nice guy.

[kdixon]

My hometown of Hamilton Missouri, birthplace of Zach Wheat. Sorry about the size of some of these pictures, have a new computer trying to get things figured out.

[GaryPassamonte]

Tom- I would like to see your picture. I would know if it was Mount Morris NY as I do local sports research occasionally. I don't believe I have seen an image of the 1929 baseball team. 1931 is as far back as I've seen.

[keating3620]

Robin Roberts, the pride of Springfield, Illinois

[jerseyjoe]

Ken,

Fantastic Zach Wheat collection!

[kdixon]

Thanks Joe.

[johnmh71]

Originally Posted by jerseyjoe

Ken,

Fantastic Zach Wheat collection!

I'll second that. How did you accumulate so many personal items of his?

[kdixon]

Purchased from his family.

[bigtrain]

Originally Posted by GaryPassamonte

Mount Morris NY- hometown of Ross Barnes, 19th century great.

Gary,
Here is my photo from Mt. Morris, 1929.

[sycks22]

Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) is the pride of Mound, MN. He played football in high school so this kinda fits.

[RGold]

University City, Missouri. A suburb just west of St. Louis.

Bud Black, major-league pitcher
Bing Devine, General Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals
Bernard Gilkey, major-league outfielder
Ken Holtzman, major-league pitcher
Ed Mickelson, major-league first baseman
Art Shamsky, major-league outfielder
Lew Wolff, co-owner of the Oakland Athletics

Bob Gale, co-writer Back to the Future
Nelly, rapper
Tennessee Williams, playwright

I really did have an english teacher, who said on the first day of class, "If I could flunk Tennessee Williams, I can flunk you too".

[Steve D]

Santee, California (a suburb east of San Diego)

Terry Forster (pitched for the White Sox, Pirates, Braves and Dodgers)
Jim Tatum (played for the Rockies and Padres)
Stephen Strasburg
Also Lon Hinkle (pro golfer)

Others who went to high school in the same district as me:

Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR)
Bill Walton (NBA HOFer)
Greg Louganis (Olympic diver)
Bill Anders (Apollo 8 astronaut)
Mark Malone (QB for the Steelers and Chargers)
Reggie Bush (Heisman Trophy)
Dennis Hopper (actor)
Brian Sipe (QB for the Browns)
Barry Zito (pitcher for the A's and Giants)

Steve

Ellensburg, WA - James Ferguson pitched for the Ellensburg Deathdealers in 1891. His son, Lester "Stump" Ferguson, played in the minor leagues for many years with the Kittitas Sluggers (1920), Ellensburg Hawks (1921-26), San Francisco Seals (1926-27), Minneapolis (1928), and Denver (1929-30). His career was cut short by injuries.

The Ferguson family is legendary in Ellensburg. They once held amateur rodeos at their ranch in the teens/twenties. These "Sunday rodeos" were popular events and later became the Ellensburg Rodeo, held every Labor Day weekend since 1923. Stump passed away while training horses at LongAcres Race Track in Renton (ca. 1970).

Unfortunately, no images available. Here's a photo of James' younger brother Ben (co-founder of Ellensburg Rodeo).
http://www.washingtonruralheritage.c...nsburg/id/2921

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by bigtrain

Two guys from my hometown, Scotch Plains, N.J. "Skeets" Nehemiah was a freshman when I was a senior in high school.

I had not thought about Renaldo Nehemiah in years, but I will always have a soft spot for him. I was around 10 or 11 when my father took me to a Nehemiah autograph signing at a local mall here in eastern PA. At the time, Nehemiah was in the football portion of his athletic career. In hindsight, having an autograph session with a 49er with no playing ties to the Philadelphia market was only going to be so successful.

As result, maybe a dozen people showed up for Nehemiah's autograph. Even as a kid, I knew it was a sad turnout. I am sure it had to be a disappointment for Nehemiah to show up for such a small gathering, but he could not have been nicer. Thirty years later, I can still remember him asking me what sports I played and expressing sincere interest in my answers.