Friday, June 3, 2011

Fans Flock to Browns Luncheon; Over 286 Attend from Across the Country

Here are just a few of the Browns fans who attended the May 25, 2011 luncheon.

Fred Buchholz - Batboy for St. Louis Browns
Fred served as a batboy for both the St. Louis Browns and Cardinals, as well as every visiting AL team.  He was recently featured on the Bob Costas narrated program, "MLB Network Remembers: The Eddie Gaedel Story.”

Bob Bokern - Ushered all 6 games of the 1944 World Series of Browns versus Cardinals.

Joe Cunningham - Played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1954-1961), Chicago White Sox (1962–1964), and Washington Senators (1964–1966). The best season for Cunningham was in 1959, when he batted .345 to finish second to Hank Aaron for the National League batting title. He finished his career with a .291 batting average over 1,141 games spread over a 12-year career.

Kerry Clift, Grandson of Harlond Clift, St. Louis Browns
Harlond Clift played for the Browns from 1934 -1943. He finished his 12 year career with a .272 batting average.

Charlie Hopkins * - Browns Minor League System
Charlie Hopkins was a standout catcher for the San Antonio Missions during the early ‘50s. Catching future major leaguers such as Ryne Duren and others.

Greg Marecek - Founder/President, St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame
The St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame became a reality in 2009. The HOF will tell the stories with artifacts and presentations on the great tradition of sports in St. Louis.

Ron Paul * - New York Yankees, 1956-’61.

Bill Purdy - Batboy for St. Louis Browns, Batting Practice Catcher
Browns batboy in ‘52 and batting practice catcher in 1953. He also traveled with the team in this role.

Bob Radomski * - New York Giants/St Louis Browns - 1948-51.

Jean Robbins - Worked in the Browns front office in the 40s for Bill & Charlie DeWitt along with Traveling Secretary, Bill Durney. Also worked for Bill Veeck from 1950 - 53.

Ed Schmulbach - Batboy
Batboy for a Hannibal, MO minor league team when he was a “little squirt” in the 1940s.

Jim Smith * - Browns, 1948-52

Dale Vineyard * - Baltimore Orioles, 1972-73

Jack Litzelfelner * - Browns, Washington, Yankees, 1947-52

Browns Fans From Across the Country Came From:
Dumont, NJ
Fraser, CO
Ellensburg, WA
Olympia, WA
Paducah, KY
Dallas, TX

From the Metro area, Fans Came From:
St. Louis Metro, MO
Kansas City, MO
Fairview Heights, IL
Columbia, IL
Gillespie, IL
Springfield, IL
Strasburg, IL
New Athens, IL
Mascoutah, IL
Alton, IL
Granite City, IL