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Washburn, a native of Caratunk, pitched four years for Solon High before hurling for Great Northern Paper in Madison. He signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1921, but made it only to Portland upon assignment to Lynn, Mass, of the New England league. Maine meant too much to Washburn, whose brother, the late George, entered the hall in '77. Vern Putney PPH 8/16/1980

Watson, an outfielder for 12 seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies system, sparkled for the Portland Pilots from '47 to '49. He died last May. Vern Putney PPH 12/79 From Wikipedia The Portland Pilots were a Class-B minor league baseball team in Portland, Maine out of the New England League. Created in 1946 as the Portland Gulls, the Pilots lasted until 1949, when the New England League collapsed. The Pilots were affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1948-49. Until the Portland Sea Dogs expanded into the minor league Eastern League as the Florida Marlins' AA affiliate, the Pilots were the last professional baseball team in Portland.

Royce “Tom” Watson was taught the game of baseball as a youngster by his father, Royce “Pinky” Watson, a former star of the Portland Pilots. “We would play Pepper for hours,” said Tom. “My dad could really place the ball.” Tom learned well as he went on to star, first, for Portland Little League Three in Riverton, Lincoln Junior High School, Deering Babe Ruth, Deering High and Ralph D.Caldwell Post. Watson signed a free agent contract by the Atlanta Braves out of high school and played one season in the Class A Pioneer League in Twin Falls, Idaho. Taught and coached by his father with their careers both reaching the professional, level, it’s only fitting that Tom joins his late father today as members as of the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame. Growing up in Portland, Watson was a star player for Little League Three. In 1966 playing for the Deering Babe Ruth League All-Stars in the New England Tournament, Watson went 2 for 3 against future Baltimore Orioles pitcher and Cy Young Award winner, Mike Flanagan of Manchester, N.H. At Lincoln Junior, Watson showed the dominance on the mound and at the plate that would continue at Deering. At Lincoln, Watson struck out Lyman Moore Junior High 14 batters in a game. Watson was an outstanding pitcher and hitter at Deering in the 1968- 69-70 seasons. He was a two-time All-Telegram League selection as a utility player his junior year and then as a pitcher his senior year. Had there been all-state teams back then, Watson would have been a shoo-in for selection. Watson pitched and batted the Rams to the Telly title in 1970 with an 8-3 playoff win over South Portland at Presumpscot Field (now Harlow Field). Spectators were two to three rows deep down both lines as Deering added another of several league titles. In the first year of the Maine Principals’ Association that spring, Deering beat Edward Little, 6-5, in nine innings for the Western Maine Class A title. The Rams were poised to face the Eastern Maine winner (Fort Fairfield) for the state title, but never got a chance to play the game because the MPA forfeited Deering’s win because they played nine innings instead of seven innings mandated by National Federation guidelines. Some of Watson’s achievements at Deering: Breaking Ricky Swan’s Telegram League home run record as a junior in 1969 when he hit six round-trippers. Swan, playing for Westbrook, hit five homers in 1964. Watson, was a two-time All-Telegram League selection as a junior and senior. His junior season, Tom went 5-4 on the mound and as mentioned, broke the league home run record. In a key game against Westbrook in the 1969 season, Watson struck out 17 Blue Blazes in tossing a four-hitter. Later in the season, Watson fanned 14 Portland Bulldogs, pitching a six-hitter in a 9-2 win. His senior year, Watson had a 7-1 pitching mark leading Deering to a 12-4 record and the league championship. In the playoff game against South Portland, Watson pitched a six-hitter, struck out nine and slugged a home run and a double. Mixing a good fastball and a curve, Watson struck out 84 batters in 56 and two-thirds innings his senior year. “Tom was a dominate figure on the mound and at the plate,” said teammate Steve Merrill, a Maine Baseball Hall of Fame inductee in 2006. “He was a hard throwing right-hander and powerful left-handed hitter. The Atlanta Braves signed Tom out of high school and sent him to their rookie league affiliate in Idaho. Later that summer, a promising career ended when Tom dislocated his right shoulder sliding into third base. Tom returned to Portland and married his high school sweetheart, Patti Caminiti. They raised three children. Their son, also Royce, played baseball at Deering and later at St. Joseph’s College. “Tom, his dad, and his son kept the Watson baseball legacy alive in Greater Portland for over half a century,” said Merrill. Said Mike Ladd, another multiple All-Telegram League selection who caught Watson for three seasons: “Catching Tom allowed me to learn more about my position. Tom made it easy to work a batter by working the corners, high, low, inside and outside. Tom had a vast complement of pitches - curve, slider, change-up and even a rare knuckleball. But most importantly, and the pitch he threw the most, the fastball, was very effective. There was always an errant pitch or two, but that made it fun - we could play with the batter’s psych. Tom’s enthusiasm toward his position made his game very successful. I think our team felt more confident when Tom was on the mound. Of course, we were confident anyway.” Tom Watson has many fond memories playing baseball locally in Portland. Watson and his Deering teammates loved playing for “Fearless” Freddy Harlow. And now Tom joins his former Deering coach and his Dad in the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame. A fitting tribute to an outstanding career.

Henry P. Weaver, York Beach, held such prestigious positions as chief of Maine State Police, but the former general managers of the Augusta Millionaires with a lifetime attachment to baseball regards as perhaps his most memorable Maine moment the signing of Haywood Sullivan. Sullivan, then a promising catcher, now is Boston Red Sox executive vice president and general manager. Weaver, 86, and as firm a friend of Little League, Babe Ruth League and Pony Baseball as of the fst Down East League ball which groomed a husky University of Florida receiver for major league ball, will be inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame at 6 PM Sunday April 27th at South Portland Boys Club. York county companions entering that elite group will be Ray Seaward, Kennebunkport; Joe Goss, Limerick, and posthumously, Joe Driscoll, Sanford. Weavers first attachment to baseball was as a player in Portsmouth NH Sunset League. As law enforcement responsibility increased, he put close baseball connection in the background while retaining a keen fan interest. A veteran of both world wars, the second with intelligence in Italy, where wounds ended military duty, returned to police duty in Augusta. Baseball mushroomed in the postwar period. Weaver became associated with Ben Houser, former Bowdoin College baseball coach, and Sylvio "Turk" Gilbert, Augusta mayor and crack semipro infielder, bout hall of famers, in Millionaire operation. Weaver and Gilbert were instrumental in formation of Pony baseball in the Augusta area, and Weaver was in on the ground floor in Little League activity in 1951. He has long been prominent in the Babe Ruth and American Legion programs.

Ray Weed led the University of Maine in batting average for three consecutive seasons after hitting .451 as a freshman. In 1958, Weed was team captain as the frosh completed a 9-0 season. His slugging percentage of .903 established a freshman record. He scored 18 runs and contributed a game-winning hit to preserve Jack Holmes’ no-hit 2-1 win against MCI. But it was Weed’s three-year career on the Black Bear varsity that earned the Stonington native his lasting reputation as one of Maine's elite hitters. Weed led Maine in hitting for three consecutive seasons: .395 in 1959: .411 in 1960; and .321 in 1961. He was named an outfielder on Maine’s All-Time College Team by the Maine Sunday Telegram in 1989. How good was Weed at the plate? John Winkin (HoF’75) who coached at Colby College 1959-74 and Maine 1975-1996 was selected as coach of the All-Time College Team. He coached against Weed. “In all the years I was at Colby, he was the toughest hitter we faced, "said Winkin. “He was a wicked line drive hitter and had an uncanny eye. If I had to name an all-opponent team, he'd be on It.” Weed, who had several opportunities to sign professional baseball contracts, made his career as a public school teacher in Maine. In 1989, Weed said he occasionally had second thoughts about his decision to turn down the pros, but doesn't dwell on it. He said he preferred to remember playing under the late Jack Butterfield (HoF’80) and his experience at Maine. Butterfield’s brother, Jim, who coached Ithaca College to three NCAA Division Ill football championships, was Weed’s freshman coach in 1958. “Ray was a very quiet competitor,” remembers Butterfield. “He certainly was not a holler guy, yet he was one of our real leaders. He was first in line for a drill and the last to leave the drill. Ray made better bat contact that any other player I coached.” Teammates also recall Weed’s talent. “It should not go unmentioned that Ray was also an outstanding student,” said Deane E. Deshon who played with Weed for two seasons and was a longtime coach at Salisbury (Md.) College. “He had a good eye, great reflexes and literally “crunched” the ball. Ray ran well and was a very good fielder. He was probably one of the few of the 1950’s and 1960’s players who would compete favorably with current Maine baseball players.” Phil Curtis, teacher and coach at Thornton Academy, was a teammate of Weed’s in 1959 and 1960. “Ray’s statistics clearly show his value,” said Curtis. to me, what separates Ray from other quality players was his hitting talent and especially his dynamite swing. In game after game he would hit “ropes” each time at bat. The only way teams got him out was when he lined one right at them.” Raymond H. Weed, Jr. March 21, 1940 - April 22, 2003 Weld, Maine

Sanford's Weeks' memories include a couple of seasons in catching competition with Darrell Johnson in Texas' Big State League. Weeks, playing for Paris in the '47 - '49 period out hit and outfielded Johnson, but thought nothing of it until Johnson later became manager for the Boston Red Sox

From The Society for American Baseball Research This article was written by Charlie Bevis https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/55ed84b0 William Franklin Weir Born: 2 / 25 / 1911 at Portland, ME (USA) Died: 9 / 30 / 1989 at Anaheim, CA (USA) William Franklin Weir was born on February 25, 1911 in Portland, Maine. He was the oldest of four children of Leon and Florence Weir, both natives of Maine, growing up with two brothers (Leon Jr. and Herbert) and one sister (Elizabeth). Weir's father, whose parents were born in Canada, worked for the telephone company. In 1924 Weir's father moved the family from Maine to Massachusetts to become the telephone company's general employment supervisor in the Boston office. The Weir family lived in Melrose, a town ten miles north of Boston. Weir initially attended Melrose High School, where he played varsity baseball during the 1929 and 1930 seasons. In May 1929, the "sophomore star pitcher," as the Melrose Free Press tabbed him, pitched a no-hitter against Wakefield High School, striking out three and walking three in the 4-0 victory. The newspaper also printed a picture of the left-handed pitcher in his Melrose High uniform. Forsaking his senior year at Melrose High, Weir attended the Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire during the 1930-31 school year. Weir was a three-sport star at Holderness, being a leading scorer as quarterback for the football year and center lineman on the ice hockey team in addition to continuing his pitching exploits for the baseball team. Weir compiled a 4-2 record, highlighted by a 9-2 victory on May 2 over Kimball Union Academy in which he struck out 21 batters. After his one year at Holderness School, Weir attended the New Hampton School during the 1931-32 school year. He was a three-sport star also at New Hampton, which was located about ten miles south of Holderness School in New Hampton, New Hampshire. Weir continued his education at the University of New Hampshire, where he played baseball for four years, one year on the freshman team (1933) and three years on the varsity (1934-36) under the tutelage of Coach Hank Swasey. During his three years as a varsity pitcher, Weir never lost a game for the Wildcats. In 1936, Weir led UNH to a 12-1 record. Two victories in his senior year were memorable ones for Weir. A 9-2 victory in April over Bates College inaugurated UNH's new baseball diamond, Brackett Field. In attendance that day was UNH President Ted Lewis, himself a former major league player with the Boston Nationals in the 1890s. It was the last baseball game that Lewis ever saw, though, as he died four weeks later. On May 28, Weir pitched a no-hitter against Northeastern University, with Boston Bees president Bob Quinn attending the game played at Huntington Field in Brookline, just outside Boston. Weir struck out 15 batters in the 17-0 rout. Several major league teams approached Weir to obtain his pitching services, including the World Series champion Detroit Tigers. In June when the Tigers were in Boston to play the Red Sox, Detroit manager Mickey Cochrane watched Weir work out at Fenway Park. But when Weir finished his collegiate pitching career on June 13, he waited just three days before signing with the Boston Bees, as a result of the efforts of scout Jack Onslow. On June 25, Weir made his National League debut with the Bees in the second game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs. "Billy Weir, late of the University of New Hampshire and a Melrose lad, left-handed for the Bees the last three innings. It was Billy's big time debut and he did finely," the Boston Herald reported. After the Cubs reached Weir for two unearned runs in the top of the ninth inning, the Herald noted that "Weir showed he had the proper intestinal fortitude in the face of this atrocious support and got the dangerously thumping Gill on called strikes for the last out in the first of the ninth." As a batter in the bottom of the ninth inning with runners on first and second, Weir "walloped a hit off the right field pavilion wall" to score one run, but was later tagged out in a rundown between second and third bases. After pitching exclusively in relief for two months, Weir made his first start for Boston on August 20 (no decision in five innings against Philadelphia) and moved into the starting rotation in early September. While his record was unimpressive in his next four starts, at one win and three losses, Weir had held Brooklyn scoreless for eight innings in his lone victory on September 7 before yielding one run in the ninth and had shutout Cincinnati for six innings on September 13 before succumbing to a 2-1 loss. In his last two starts in 1936, Weir pitched shutouts against Philadelphia and New York. On September 19, Weir limited Philadelphia to four hits and struck out seven in a 5-0 win, as no runner reached second base until the ninth inning. Five days later, in the second game of a doubleheader, Weir yielded just six hits in a 4-0 blanking of New York, after the Giants had clinched the National League pennant in the first game. Weir was clearly an up-and-coming pitcher for the sixth-place Bees, a team that had recently emerged from bankruptcy when Emil Fuchs was ousted as president in 1935 and Bob Quinn installed as the new president. As a left-handed pitcher on a team loaded with right-handed hurlers, and resident of the local town of Melrose that would attract spectators to the ballpark, Weir had a bright future ahead of him with Boston. Boston manager Bill McKechnie sang the praises of Weir at the Boston Baseball Writers Association dinner in February 1937. "Billy Weir is one of the most talented pitching prospects I have ever seen in my experience in the major leagues. He is a strong youngster, learns quickly and has plenty on his fast ball," McKechnie told the audience. "If he continues to show the improvement this year that he showed in the short time he was with the Bees in 1936, I wouldn't trade him for Dizzy Dean!" Following his impressive debut with Boston, Weir returned to UNH in the fall of 1936 to complete the course work needed to obtain his degree. Weir's going back to school, while admirable from an educational perspective, seemed to derail his baseball career, however. Weir put on an extra fifteen pounds over the winter and reported overweight to the Bees' spring training camp in Bradenton, Florida. The newspaper writers took to calling the 5' 8" pitcher "stocky" rather than the more benign "little" or "diminutive." Weir injured his arm in the spring of 1937, probably the result of two factors. First, he tried to pitch his way into shape, which may have been the wrong approach to dropping the extra pounds. Weir's desire to develop a better curve ball may also have exerted unneeded pressure on his arm. In an October 1936 interview in The New Hampshire, the UNH student newspaper, Weir said that he had been a power thrower in his college days and needed to develop more as a pitcher in the major leagues. Weir acknowledged that he needed a better curve ball to complement his fastball. Although Weir made the Bees team in spring training, he didn't start a game until two weeks into the 1937 season, when on May 3 he six-hit the New York Giants in a 3-1 victory. "Weir's performance was particularly pleasing to McKechnie because the youngster reported to spring training camp many pounds overweight and in no condition to deliver effectively," the Christian Science Monitor reported on May 4. "Hard work since the arrival of the Bees in the North, however, has whipped Billy into fine shape, and if yesterday is an indication of his condition, his rivals are due for a troublesome summer." After a loss and a no-decision, Weir didn't getting the starting call again until May 30. Although yielding just two hits in four innings, Weir left the game in the fifth inning "suffering from a sore arm," the Boston Globe reported the next day. The arm condition had been festering for several weeks, according to a June 10, 1937 account in The Sporting News. "This clever youngster, who looked undefeatable at the season's start, began to suffer from severe pains in his pitching arm a couple of weeks ago and twice was taken out of a game at his own request, when he notified Manager McKechnie he would not be able to finish." After medical attention to his arm, the doctors determined that he had bursitis. Weir sat out the summer before rejoining the Bees to pitch three games in relief during late August and early September. The highlights of the 1937 season for Weir came in early June with his left arm in a sling. On June 5, he was honored on Bill Weir Day at National League Field between games of the Sunday doubleheader. At a ceremony at home plate, he was presented with a watch and fob by Dr. C.L. Martin of UNH. A week later, on June 14, Weir was awarded his Bachelors of Science degree at the UNH commencement ceremony. Weir staged a comeback in spring training in 1938, making the Bees team now under the direction of manager Casey Stengel. "Little Bill Weir, who was handicapped during nearly all of last season with a sore arm, reported here entirely cured and may duplicate the sensational pitching he showed in 1936," The Sporting News optimistically reported in its March 10, 1938 issue. Stengel, unlike McKechnie, was not enamored with Weir. After just five relief appearances during the first two months of the season (the last on June 6), Weir was optioned to Hartford of the Eastern League where he pitched the rest of the 1938 season, with less than stellar results (2-8 record in 14 games with a 4.92 earned run average). With his stock clearly down, Weir failed to make the Bees in spring training 1939 and was optioned to Toronto of the International League. Weir had bouts of impressive pitching, compiling an 8-11 record for the last-place Maple Leafs, including a five-hit shutout over Newark on April 29 and a no-hitter against Baltimore on May 16. Recalled to the Bees in September, Weir made two mop-up relief assignments, for a total of just two and two-thirds innings. His last major league appearance occurred on October 1, 1939, when Weir, looking much like the promising pitcher he was back in 1936, pitched near-perfect ball against the New York Giants in the last two innings of the Bees' 1939 season. Because Boston was out of minor league options on Weir, he needed to make the Bees in the spring of 1940 or be released. "I'm in great condition," Weir told reporters on an early train from Boston to Bradenton for spring training, with Weir the only player among a corps of newspaper writers. "My arm feels strong again. Before the snowstorm I'd been running from three to five miles every day. When the snow came, I was still able to get in plenty of hard work." Weir went north with the Bees from Bradenton, but Manager Stengel had no inclination to keep him on the roster. As was the custom in the 1930s, Boston did not make its final roster cuts during spring training in Florida but rather once it finished its exhibition tour on the way north to Boston. Weir didn't pitch after March 30, including any of the five-game series with the Senators in Washington or in the annual city series with cross-town rival the Red Sox. Three weeks into the regular season, Boston sent Weir to the Philadelphia Athletics on a 30-day trial, but he was soon returned to Boston for his release. Newspapers generally attributed Weir's inability to succeed with the Bees to his lack of control of pitches. Weir did, indeed, finish his major league career with more walks (50) than strikeouts (42). Weir posited another explanation in a March 1940 interview published in The New Hampshire. "Weir declared that his auspicious debut in the majors was a handicap rather than an asset to his chances. He claimed that his early success erased his thirst to improve. He expected to be batted all over the field and when that particular situation did not materialize, he felt his success and he slipped." An overlooked facet of Weir's early success was that he was at least two years older than many of his peers while in high school and college. Weir was 21 years old when he entered UNH and was 25 years old during his senior year in college. By throwing baseballs against younger competition, Weir's major league potential was overstated. Weir actually played at a "baseball age" two years younger than his actual age. Newspaper accounts of his major league days consistently understated his age by two to three years, such as the Boston Globe account on February 25, 1937 that declared, "Mr. Weir was observing the 24th anniversary of his natal day." In fact, it was his 26th birthday. A third element that hindered Weir's baseball success was his perspective that there was life after baseball. As a college graduate, if he didn't make it in major league baseball, he could leave the game for a good-paying job back home. By the late 1930s Weir's father was an executive with the telephone company, having been promoted several times since moving to Boston, and could easily arrange a job there for his son. Because Weir often made statements to the newspaper writers about a post-baseball life, many baseball people no doubt believed that Weir lacked the drive to be a major league pitcher. "I could begin right now applying the knowledge passed along to me in college," Weir told the Christian Science Monitor in February 1937. "And I'd follow that course without hesitation if I didn't think that baseball held a future for me." In a March 1938 article the Lowell Courier-Citizen wrote that if he should "find that he has lost his stuff and will have to struggle in the minors, you may be sure he'll sever the bond which binds him with Organized Baseball." Weir told the newspaper: "Unless I stage a comeback next year, I'll get right out of baseball." When Weir was demoted in mid-1938 to the minor leagues, the Hartford Courant reported upon Weir's arrival in the city, "Weir's case is one of the few in baseball where the player, if he fails to make good in major league baseball, will retire. Weir Sr. has a spot for his son in his business, and Weir's baseball after that will be in the role of a spectator." Indeed, following his transfer to the Athletics, the Christian Science Monitor reported on May 9, 1940, "Weir could step into a well-paying position with his father, but will not do so until he is positive that baseball is not his career." After his 1940 release by the Bees, Weir stayed in sports for a while, working for Horace Partridge Sporting Goods in Malden, Massachusetts. When the United States entered World War II, he enlisted in the Navy and became a gunnery officer. After the war, Weir availed himself of his father's influence and worked for New England Telephone. He eventually moved to the Chicago, Illinois area, where he made a home in Arlington Heights with his wife and two children, William H. and Pamela. In 1973, Weir retired at age 62 from Illinois Bell after 25 years of service to the telephone company. In retirement, he was head of public relations for the Lake Shore Club in Chicago for three years. Weir relocated to Anaheim, California in 1976, where he died on September 30, 1989. Weir was posthumously inducted into the UNH Athletic Hall of Fame in the fall of 1989. He is one of just four inductees that played major league baseball, the others being Steve Slayton (three games in 1928), Carlton Fisk (1969-1993), and Rich Gale (1978-1984). https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/weirro01.shtml

. Veteran sportscaster from Farmington coached baseball at Bowdoin College

Harold S. (Bud) White, Jr., an All-American schoolboy and collegiate swimmer, was an all-star baseball pitcher at every level short of the major leagues — and he may well have made the big top but for four years of WWII military service that short-circuited his promising professional career. Member of a prominent Auburn sports family, White followed a standout swim-diamond career at Edward Little High School with a heap of honors at Bowdoin College. where he was an all-state pitcher in 1938 and 1939 and helped Bowdoin to state baseball titles in °36 and °38. In summer ball, he was an all-star member of the East Auburn team of the Heart of Maine League and also pitched for the famed Worumbo Indians. The strapping fireballer was signed by the Boston Red Sox and compiled a 38-19 record in three years in the Sox farm system. His best mark was 21-6 for Class B Oneonta as he earned an all-league selection and promotion to Triple-A Louisville = but his ‘army stint prevented him from moving up. After the war, Bud was baseball coach and athletic director at Thornton Academy, 1946-52. he was undefeated in schoolboy and collegiate dual competition as a record-breaking freestyle sprinter, posting a slew of records. He was New England champion for three straight years and record holder at 50, 60 and 100 yards and New England’s outstanding swimmer in 1938, and he was j also a crack javelin thrower at Bowdoin, was state champion in ’38 with a Bowdoin record throw of 186-14. White was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of fame in 1983 and the Lewiston-Auburn Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. Bud's son Harold III was also a top pitcher who hurled in the Baltimore Orioles system.

White began gaining recognition as a premier ballplayer at Brewer High School, where he played for Coach Dennis Kiah. In 1989, White’s senior year, Kiah was quoted in the Bangor Daily News as saying, “Chad is someone who has been kind of overlooked before. He’s always been laid-back and just gone out and done his job. After being elected captain, he’s gone right to the forefront, stepped right in, and shown his leadership.” White also represented the Witches on the gridiron and the basketball court, earning all-conference recognition in both of those sports in addition to baseball. In 1989, his senior year, White capped off his career with the Witches with an impressive batting average of .530 and a pitching record of 6-0, and led Brewer High School to the Eastern Maine finals. A litany of awards subsequently rained down upon him, including the Maine Gatorade Player of the Year and the Maine Sunday Telegram Baseball Player of the Year. That summer, White played for the Brewer American Legion team. The team went 26-5 that season and White hit .514 with 31 RBIs on his way to All-Zone 1 First Team selection. As a pitcher, White went 5-1, with his only loss that season coming in a heartbreaking Northeast Regional Final, in which he tossed a complete-game nine-hitter that Brewer lost to Hamden, Connecticut. White went on to play for four very successful years at UMaine Orono for legendary coaches John Winkin (MBHOF 1975), Mike Coutts (MBHOF 2009), and Jay Kemble. White’s outstanding speed on the base paths was an immediate asset to the Black Bears, such as in a 1990 victory over Central Connecticut State where the 6’2” White scored from second on a 6-4 fielder’s choice. In 1991 White was the starting left-fielder as the team finished the season 48-18, a school record for the most wins in a single season. That fall, White approached Coach Winkin about becoming a switch hitter, since White had always been a strong hitter from the left side in wiffleball, and Winkin agreed. During his senior season, in 1993, White posted a batting average of .354, which is particularly impressive as it was just his second season hitting from both sides of the plate, with 38 RBIs. The fleet-footed White stole a whopping 35 bases that season, a school record that he held until 2009, and set another UMO record with 11 career triples over his four years of playing. Not surprisingly, White received numerous accolades for his achievements, including 1993 North Atlantic Conference Player of the Year and All-Tournament Team, All-New England First Team, and Second Team All-American. When he was signed by the Houston Astros in 1993, White joined the ranks of 11 other UMO players who were also drafted from 1990-1993, including fellow Maine Baseball Hall of Famers Jim Dillon (2002) and Mike D’Andrea (2005). White played professional ball for five years, first in Class A for the Auburn Astros (New York-Penn League, 1993), the Osceola Astros (Florida State League, 1994), and the Quad City River Bandits (Mid-West League, 1995). He batted .244 in 75 games with the River Bandits before he was promoted to the Astros’ Double A affiliate, the Jackson Generals of the Texas League, in July of 1995. White also played two years (1996-1997) for the Bangor Blue Ox in the independent Northeast League, before retiring from professional baseball. Today White lives in Bangor and owns CMJ Construction, Inc. For his many accomplishments in playing baseball at every level of the game, both in the state and beyond its borders, we congratulate Chad White and enthusiastically welcome him to the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame. From Brewer High School Hall of Fame https://gobrewerwitches.com/hall_of_fame/class_of_2014/chad_white/white-_chad?view=bio Chad White graduated from Brewer High School in 1989 and brings with him an impressive resume from his baseball playing career at Brewer High, the University of Maine and beyond. His former coach at Brewer, Dennis Kiah says Chad White was “one of the best baseball players to ever play for Brewer High.” White was the first winner at BHS of the “Gatorade Player of the Year” for the State of Maine in 1989. In 1989, he was also named the Maine Sunday Telegram Baseball Player of the Year as well as the USA Today Athlete of the Year https://goblackbears.com/news/2019/4/18/baseball-heroes-get-remembered-but-legends-never-die-finale.aspx

Although he was born and raised in Reading, Massachusetts, it is altogether fitting that Norman White’s accomplishments be recognized by the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame, for it was in the close-knit towns of Central Maine that Norm had lasting impact as a player, coach and teacher in his all-too-brief career. After graduating in 1939 from Wentworth Institute in Boston where he was a standout running back and catcher, Norman was recruited by several merchants in Dover-Foxcroft to play for the Sebec Lakers, the local semi-pro town team in the Tri-County League. Norman led the team to a 26-0 record and the league championship that summer and was named to the Eastern Maine All-Star team. Norman returned to the Lakers for the 1940 season. At that time the team was coached by University of Maine star Hal Woodbury and boasted the likes of Wilson Francis, Jim Dyer and Ray Fucillo on a roster loaded with talent. While playing in Dover-Foxcroft, Norman met and courted Priscilla Hathorn, the granddaughter of Clair Runnals, one of the merchants who sponsored the team. The two were married on December 21, 1941 and Norm, who had enlisted in the Army earlier that year, left a week later to serve his country in the Pacific Theater. Norman rose to the rank of Captain while seeing action in the Philippines and New Caledonia. Baseball was a big deal in all the service branches during the war and Norman took every opportunity to play against the fast competition. A photo from that era shows a shirtless Norman White swinging from his heels in a ball game between the American and 37th Divisions witnessed by 3,500 service men in the Southwest Pacific. Upon returning from the war and his discharge from the Army, Norman returned to Dover-Foxcroft and his family to resume his baseball career. On Sunday, September 2, 1946 Norman participated in one of the more memorable afternoons of baseball in Dover and Guilford. Backed by huge crowds from both towns, Dover beat Guilford 4-1 in Dover in the first game of the doubleheader. Norman was behind plate with his battery mate Wilson Francis on the mound. The teams then traveled to Guilford for the night cap, and after 11 scoreless innings, with Francis and White again the battery, Dover pushed across a run in the 12th for the win and the Penquis League championship. Shortly after that game Norman entered Colby College where he handled the Mules catching duties for four years, being named captain his senior year and winning the coveted Ed Roundy Trophy as the team MVP. Upon graduation from Colby in 1950, Norman and Priscilla landed teaching positions at Hartland Academy and the couple spent two years in Hartland. Norm taught English and math and coached cross-country, basketball and baseball while Priscilla taught English and coached prize speaking. In 1952, the Hartland Academy baseball team, under Coach Norman White, won 18 straight games and the Class M State championship. In the fall of 1953, Norman and Priscilla moved back to Dover-Foxcroft where he taught history at Foxcroft Academy and again coached cross-country, basketball and baseball. In 1954, Norman coached the Ponies to a Class M State championship in baseball, beating Lubec 4-3 in 11 innings. Norman White died suddenly on March 31, 1955 from complications arising from an asthma attack. He was 37. In his memory, Colby College established the Norman White ‘50 Award given for inspirational leadership and sportsmanship. The Maine Baseball Hall of Fame is pleased to add the gentleman Norman White’s name to the lofty pantheon of individuals who played, coached and taught their way to a prominent perch in Maine sports history.

From The Society for American Baseball Research https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/1cd9a765 Carl Willey This article was written by Will Anderson Carlton Willey was a Down Easter all the way, born and raised in Cherryfield, Maine (on June 6, 1931), where he lived out his life until his passing on July 21, 2009, in nearby Ellsworth. “We played baseball every chance we could get – every day in the summertime – when we could get enough to play,” Carlton told me when I visited him in his Cherryfield home in early April of 1991. He was talking about his youth, in the 1930s and 1940s, but I have a strong suspicion that he’d join in a game on that day given any sort of an opportunity. At the age of 59 he yet maintained the tall, lean look of a man who can play ball. The right-hander stood an even 6 feet tall and was listed as weighing 175 pounds. In his early playing days, in the makeshift fields (“We’d use rocks for bases”) around Cherryfield and for Cherryfield Academy, Carlton was both an outfielder and a pitcher. Heck, with only 13 kids – seven girls and six boys – in his entire Academy graduating class he most likely could have played half the infield and done a little catching, too, if he’d been so inspired! Upon his graduation from Cherryfield Academy (a public school), his dad asked Carlton what he planned to do with his future. “You know, Carlton, you can’t play baseball for a living,” were his father’s words of advice. Decades later, Carlton still chuckled at that. It was the Braves who gave Carlton his shot to do just that: play baseball for a living. They were the Boston Braves then. Carlton, after a tryout at a Braves camp in Brewer in the spring of 1950, was placed on the Bangor club, one of four teams the Braves had placed in Maine and stocked with prospects. The four teams would play one another all summer long and then, at season’s end, the Braves would invite three top prospects down to Boston for a full tryout. Carlton was one of the three. At Braves Field his fastball – later to be clocked at 93 mph – and his keen sense of competition so impressed the Braves’ brain trust that they signed him to a contract. First stop was with the Quebec Braves in the old Provincial League in 1951. There Carlton was 15-5 and led the circuit in earned-run average (1.96) and won-lost percentage (.750). In 1952 he moved up to Atlanta, then in the Southern Associa­tion, where he was 10-6. Stop number three, however, was the United States Army. Called into the service in 1953, Carlton spent two years in Germany. But those two years set his career back four years. As Carlton explained it: “After I got out [of the service], it took me two years to get back [in the groove]. Honest to God, I couldn’t do anything right. I’d pitched while in the military but I didn’t stay in shape. I didn’t run like I should have. And I didn’t exercise. When I got out I weighed 198 pounds, the most I ever weighed in my life. I wasn’t long losing the weight, but I was wild. I couldn’t get the ball over the plate.” Carlton’s record the first two seasons he returned to Organized Baseball certainly bespoke his problems. With Toledo in 1955 he was 8-10; with Wichita in 1956 he was worse, ending with a 5-10 mark. In 1957, however, things began to click again. Really click. Carlton’s rhythm re­turned. So did his winning ways. Still with Wichita, he tore up the American Association, leading the loop in innings pitched (247), games won (21), and won-lost percentage (he was 21-6, which works out to .778). He also struck out 174, while walking only 94. To top it all off, he was selected the American Association’s Most Valuable Player. Coming off his marvelous 1957 season with his parent club’s top farm team should have guaranteed Carlton star-of-the-future treatment at the Braves’ 1958 spring-training site. It didn’t. The problem was that the Braves – who’d moved to Milwaukee after the 1952 season and who had prospered immeasurably in the en­suing years – already possessed a fine pitching staff. With Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, and Bob Buhl they’d swept the National League in 1957 and then went on to humble the mighty New York Yankees in the World Series, too. Willey’s only role was to close out Game Five with one full inning in the 7-0 loss. He faced three Yankees and struck out two of them. The Braves kept Carlton on their roster as the 1958 season began. After letting him sit idle the first month of the season, though, they farmed him back to Wichita. Frustrated, to say the least, Carlton nonetheless re­solved to make it back to Milwaukee to stay. It took a no-hitter – against Louisville on May 22 – to get the Braves to recall him. But they did. And this time Carlton did stay. It took another month of inactivity before Willey got his first start in the bigs, but when he did start he certainly made the most of it. On June 23, he checked the hard-hitting San Francisco Giants, 8-0, on a six-hitter. It was a historic game in another way as well: One of the Giants’ six hits – all of which were singles – was Willie Mays’ 1,000th major-league hit. Carlton’s second shutout came against Mays, Cepeda, and company, too. Before a jubilant crowd of 34,770 at Milwaukee’s County Stadium on August 2, he again blanked the Giants, this time in a 10-0 rout. He gave up but four hits. The Associated Press described Willey’s per­formance as “sparkling,” further noting that the lanky rookie from Maine “mowed down the Giants with machine-gun regularity.” Carlton notched two more goose-egg games before the season was out, giving him a total of four. Now four shutouts may not sound like a whole lot, but in 1958 it was more than teammates Spahn (who had two) or Burdette (three) had. It was more than Robin Roberts (one). And it was more than 22-game winner Bob Friend (one). In fact, it was more than anyone else in the league had. Carlton Willey – as a rookie who was with Milwaukee only part of the season – led the National League in shutouts in 1958! After that impressive season, Willey never really blossomed with the Braves the way it was hoped he would. The reason was basic: With a strong and experienced staff in place, a newcomer just doesn’t get the chance to work on a regular basis. Timing slips. That’s what happened with Carlton. After his first season, he was used infrequently for the next four. In what should have been his prime, he’d get an occasional start. Mostly he sat. Finally, after the 1962 season – in which he started but six games – the generally reserved Willey demanded to be traded. He got his wish. On March 23, 1963, he was sold to the New York Mets. For Casey Stengel’s crew, in their second year in the league in 1963, Carlton saw work. He started 28 games, led the staff with an ERA of 3.10, and struck out 101 batters while winning nine games (on a team that won only 51.) The 101 K’s has special significance: With the Mets as hapless as they were in 1963, if you didn’t fan a hitter you were likely to be in trouble. To say that the Mets’ defense was porous was to be charitable. As teammate Jim Hickman reflected: “Heck, Carlton threw better than half the pitchers in the league back then. But we were a bad team, too. And it’s tough to throw knowing you can never make a mistake.” He enjoyed his time with the Mets. “Oh, God, I loved ’em. I lived the Mets. It was a great club to play for. I didn’t want to be traded to New York. But now I’m glad I was, because it’s the best place to play in the world. The fans are great. The fans know baseball. We were all a good family. We’d just go up to the ballpark and see how we were going to lose. Somebody’d make an error or somebody [on the other team] would hit a home run. We were kind of loose about it. We had to be; there’s not much we could do about it.” Willey’s career batting average was .099, but he had the occasional big hit, including a grand slam on July 15, 1963, one of his two home runs. Many expected in 1964 that Willey would be the stopper that the Mets so desperately needed. The chances are excellent that he would have been, too. He hadn’t allowed an earned run all during spring training when, unfortu­nately, tragedy struck: Pitching against the Tigers in an exhibition game on April 3, he was walloped in the jaw by a vicious line drive off the bat of Gates Brown. Jim Hickman remembers: “The whole thing was a shame, because it was time for Carlton to blos­som, and that finished his career. Nobody realized Carl was hurt that bad because he never showed the pain. He just stood there dazed after the ball hit him.” Carlton’s jaw was broken. Oh, he recovered. But he’d lost weight; a wired jaw is not conducive to hearty eating. Next he hurt his arm a couple of times. The first time it was tendinitis. Then it was a torn muscle in his forearm. Carlton still winced when he talked about the pain he went through that season, a season in which he pitched but 30 total innings. After yet another disappointing season in 1965, Willey decided it was time to pack it in. He scouted for the Phillies for the better part of a decade, first in the Midwest and then throughout New England. But the solitude and constant travel got to him. He came back to Cherryfield. In his later years, Carlton worked for the state as a probation/parole officer, managed a blueberry-freezing plant for Jasper Wyman & Son, and raised Christmas trees. He did a little painting and a little light hauling, and spent as much time as possible with his son, Richie, and his daughter, Jill. When I asked him why – after the bright lights of Milwaukee and New York – he returned to Cherryfield, Carlton paused a second and then replied: “This is home, I guess. It’s hard to get away from.” It was a good answer. Sources This biography originally appeared in Will Anderson’s self-published 1992 book Was Baseball Really Invented in Maine? and is presented here with the author’s permission. Bill Nowlin has added new material and slightly revised the original version. Willey pitched only one inning in the 1958 World Series, notching two strikeouts - of Bill Skowron and Gil McDougald - in the eighth inning of a 7-0 Game 5 loss. The Yankees won in seven games. The online Baseball Almanac related Willey's experience in that Series. "That was my first year up, and that was quite a thrill," Willey told Hugh Bowden in The Ellsworth American in 2007. "When I walked from the bullpen to the mound, my legs were so weak I didn't know which way I was going. "When I got to the mound, a kid ran out onto the field and came right to the mound where I was. He said, 'How do you think you'll do?' 'Well,' I said, 'I don't know, but I'll find out.' . . . The cops came and took him away." https://www.newsday.com/long-island/obituaries/carlton-willey-early-mets-pitcher-dies-at-78-1.1350209 In July 1963, he hit his grand slam off Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt 45's. Carlton Willey, the first Mets pitcher to hit a grand slam, A friend of Willey's, Steve McLain, recalls when Willey hit the grand slam, at the Polo Grounds in 1963, despite a lifetime .099 batting average. "His father was at the game that day," McLain says. "And the boy who caught the ball somehow found Carlton's dad and gave him the ball . . . His friendship was one I will always cherish. He was a real gentleman." https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39953865/carlton-francis-willey Carlton Willey was a Down Easter all the way, born and raised in Cherryfield, Maine (on June 6, 1931), where he lived out his life until his passing on July 21, 2009, in nearby Ellsworth. “We played baseball every chance we could get - every day in the summertime - when we could get enough to play,” Carlton told me when I visited him in his Cherryfield home in early April of 1991. He was talking about his youth, in the 1930s and 1940s, but I have a strong suspicion that he’d join in a game on that day given any sort of an opportunity.