Former writer recalls memories

To the editor:

Kudos to The Gazette for recounting the prodigious fast-pitch softball years in Cedar Rapids. After Gus Schrader hired me as a ninth-grader at McKinley to work part-time for my hometown newspaper mostly on Saturday nights during high school, I covered the fast-pitch league at Ellis Park three summers on break from Cornell College at the behest of Jack Ogden.

Home run hitter Mike Pallesen, Steve Andrew and Cliff Rice were among the stars for Modern Piping, heir to Welty Way's legacy. Al Albers and his cohorts made Eastside Maidrite highly competitive. Pilcher Auto was a tough out, and the Ironworkers played hard for respect.

In addition to writing articles for The Gazette, I was the City of Cedar Rapids scorekeeper and public address announcer. My friend recalls the ire of a player who believed he should have been awarded a hit rather than reaching base on an error. A manager disliked my use of the word 'pulverized” when his team was beaten handily by Modern Piping.

After graduation from college, I became the sports editor for the Keokuk Daily Gate City, followed by ABC television sportscasting gigs in the Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida, and Waco-Temple, Texas markets. But interviewing baseball luminaries such as Tony LaRussa, Roger Clemens, Jim Leyland and Brooks Robinson never overshadowed those formative years of special sports ambience in Cedar Rapids. I enjoyed going extra innings.

Haven P. Simmons

Salisbury, Maryland