The Pecan Park Eagle

Columbus Red Birds, 1950 Junior World Series Champions. Former Houston Buffs Larry Miggins and Solly Hemus, among others, both played for the club managed by Rollie Hemsley.

Honesty was Larry Miggins’ Policy

By

J.T. Hittoff, Columbus (OH) Dispatch, 2007.

Nobody tells the story quite as well as the old Irishman himself, but that time in Columbus, Ohio back in 1950 when one player’s honesty helped cost his club a game in the Junior World Series between the local Red Birds and the Baltimore Orioles is a story we all need to remember and honor because – chances are – we may be running out of people who are capable of ever reproducing this dilemma for a new story in the future.

J.T. Hittoff gave the Miggins example a pretty good ride in 2007 as the major part of a larger article he wrote for the Columbus Dispatch.  Here’s a link to his original piece:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/pages/sports/clippers/odd-remedy.html

And here’s the excerpted J.T. Hitoff coverage of how a really honest Irishman handled a tough big game situation:

Larry Miggins, LF
Columbus Red Birds
1950

 The right-handed-hitting (Larry) Miggins finished with a team-high 18 home runs, but only four in cavernous Red Bird Stadium.

 “I was a dead pull hitter, and the left-field line was 361 to the corner and it went out to center field, where it was 452,” Miggins said. “I hit two home runs all year at home to left field and by accident I hit two to right — I had 14 on the road and only four at home. I could have had 30-35 home runs in a different park.”

In a best-of-seven league semifinal, the Red Birds won two of three against St. Paul in Minnesota before heading to Columbus for what would be a memorable fourth game Sept. 17.

Columbus led 2-1 in the eighth inning, but a grand slam by St. Paul catcher Jake Early gave the Saints a three-run lead. The next batter, pitcher Bill Ayers, drove a ball to deep left field.

“I went over there and leaned up and missed the ball by about a foot,” Miggins said. “The ball hit a seat in the stands and bounced back and I grabbed it and fired it back to second base.”

When umpire Bill Jackowski called it a ground-rule double, St. Paul manager Tommy Heath rushed out of the dugout to protest. Like most managers, Heath was losing the argument so he tried one final plea to Jackowski: Ask Miggins if it was a home run. Sure enough, Jackowski started walking toward left field toward Miggins, known as one of the more honest players. His teammates tried to keep him away from Jackowski.

“(Center fielder) Harry Walker and I are talking and he sees what is happening and he says, ‘Come on, let’s go,’ ” Miggins said. “I said, ‘Where can I go? We’re on a baseball field?’

Solly Hemus, SS
Columbus Red Birds
1950

 “Jackowski said, ‘I lost the ball in the sun and couldn’t tell if it bounced in or went in on the fly. I gotta ask you man to man: Was it a home run?’ ” Miggins said. “I said, ‘Bill, anybody who hit a ball that far on the fly in this ballpark deserves a home run. Yes, it was a home run — but, for heaven’s sake, from now on you do the umpiring. I have enough trouble trying to play left field.’ “

Columbus lost that game but won the series in six games. The Red Birds followed that up by beating Indianapolis in the championship series when Mo Mozzali hit a home run in the top of the 13th inning in Game 7 to earn a spot in the Junior World Series. The Red Birds defeated International League champion Baltimore four games to one in what was the last Junior World Series title for Columbus — and the last year that Hemsley managed the team.

PPE Postscript: When Miggins tells the story, he paints this vivid word picture of umpire Jackowski marching toward him to get his call on “homer or not.” Behind the umpire, Larry says he can see friend and shortstop Solly Hemus tiptoeing toward him too at a slower pace, frantically waving his arms sideways, and silently making the “shush” sign with the index finger over his lips.

All to no avail. Truth prevailed over team cause or player friendship. Miggins says the Columbus fans almost booed him out of the stadium as he trotted back to the dugout at the end of the inning. His teammates weren’t too warm as welcome greeters either. “Thank God we won the Series,” Miggins concedes. “My life might have been in danger during the cooling off period.”

As it was, people came to appreciate Larry Miggins for what he did that day. It was an ultimate example of integrity.

We will never be able to replace Larry Miggins, but let’s hope we don’t run out of people whose honesty spills from the deepest parts of their souls. Their absence is our big loss in all the tough left field calls that come up in life each day.

Tags: Honest Larry Miggins

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