A Nod To Three Now Gone

 The past few weeks have brought some losses. Not just on the field, but on the homefront, as several notables have passed.

 

BOBBY JENKS

   The affable reliever who won a World Series with the White Sox was a familiar face in the Southern League, first on the way up in 2005 while with the Birmingham Barons, the same season he would join White Sox postseason legends as the Chicago closer in the fall classic. Bobby Jenks was again in Barons togs in 2008 when he made a rehab appearance, taking the hill in Montgomery against the Biscuits. Talking with Jenks was a pleasure, the babyfaced hurler emanated an aura of joy and youthful excitement, he will be missed by many.

ED MICKELSON

   Ed Mickelson's Major League career spanned three seasons, but included just eighteen game appearances that culminated in 1957 with the Chicago Cubs. Among his most notable achievements was driving the St. Louis Browns franchise final run in 1953. However, he was a prolific minor league hitter and first baseman. While with Montgomery in 1950, Ed had a phenomenal season, posting a .417 average with 21 homeruns and 102 runs batted in. It was such a strong showing that Mickelson was promoted to the St. Louis Cardinals where he made his MLB debut.

  Ed Mickelson chronicled his baseball adventures in the autobiographical book, "Out of the Park: Memoir of a Minor League Baseball Star" which I found to be a wonderful read.

 

HOSKEN POWELL 

   Outfielder Hosken Powell, a Selma native, is perhaps the least recognized name among the three recent passings, but likely had the longest MLB career among them. With four full seasons in Minnesota and two years in Toronto, Powell played in nearly 600 big league games, batting .259 with 17 home runs and 43 stolen bases in his career. 

A first round draft pick by Pittsburgh in January of 1975, he stayed in college at Chipola for another six months until drafted by Minnesota, again in the first round of the June '75 draft (3rd overall). 

Hosken boasted a strong batting average in rookie and A-ball, earning a promotion to triple-A Tacoma in 1977. Powell had no trouble with minor league pitching, batting a robust .326 with sixteen stolen bases. Hoskens made his MLB debut in '78, but found big league hurlers a challenge, batting just .247 as the Twins regular right fielder. Powell's second season was perhaps his best, with career highs in average (.293), doubles (13) and runs batted in (36).

Powell spent two more seasons in the Twins outfield, playing in over four hundred games with Minnesota before being traded to Toronto for Greg Wells in December of 1981. With the Blue Jays, Hosken Powell was the Jays fourth outfielder but got into over a hundred games, batting .275 with three homers and four steals. 1983 was Powell's final MLB season, playing in just forty games before being released. Hosken spent a season with the Brewer's triple-A team and then signed with Saltillo in Mexico for one year. Powell scouted for a time after his playing days, then retired to hunting, fishing and enjoying his family. 

 

 

 Learning to Be a Caregiver to History

 I didn't set out to specialize in baseball history, but I found my local stories were mostly orphaned. When I wanted to know about baseball, there was no answer. Other cities have their totals and dates recorded, losing that information seems nearly criminal to me.

I recognize that a large part of the history I look after does not fully belong to me, requiring much respect and careful handling. These people were family to some, teammates to others, community members and sometimes unheralded stars. Some were also occasionally, or even habitually, involved in questionable situations or events, yet stories of their adventures sometimes distort the character of the individuals. I try to be cautious in how people are portrayed in my work, I try to consider how that person would react to hearing their story as I have told it, and also how their family might react to learning new details about their relations life.

I find being authentic and without judgement the best path, lay out the events and individuals involved and the reader can make their own appraisal on the merits of any certain person, subject or event.

That being said, there were a few folks in my recent studies that I was actively pulling against. Specifically speaking, racists. They stick out badly in society, they can't stay quiet about their opinions, their actions are hateful and often dangerous to everyone around them. Thankfully, describing their activities is usually enough to reveal their nature without the need for applying any labels.

Researching ballplayers is an adventure that develops over time, sometimes hours or days but often weeks or years. One aspect of my study took me deep into old time players and city history, as is often the case. Along the way, an event occurs and a name pops up of another person involved. It was a painful discovery, as I expanded my searching to include this new name, it became obvious they were a flat out rotten person. I did my best, but I am sure longtime readers will notice my lack of tolerance for that. As an author I was unable to resist including their comeuppance in the retelling, which I found truly sweet. And I hope you do too.

Another individual I found hard to stomach was, for a time, a Montgomery sportswriter in the old days. This respected newsman became a prominent mover in the baseball scene in the South, familiar at the time to most newspaper readers but now known mostly among baseball history researchers. I had encountered his name in previous deep dives into local baseball lore, but every time I come across his work it is difficult to interpret due to his racial bias. When a "newsman" won't print stories on Black teams, how do we take his word for it when he says so-and-so is the best player he has seen? Well, we don't. Pass the salt, I need a few grains.

 

The history portion of this post is a video of author Bill Plott speaking at last summers baseball conference. The leading authority on the Negro Southern League, Bill was also a Montgomery Advertiser reporter for decades and has a unique insight on the history of baseball in central Alabama, particularly pertaining to the Negro Leagues.