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G.L. “Gus” Carmichael A native of Monticello, Maine, Garth L. “Gus” Carmichael grew up in South Portland, where his family had moved when his father got a job in the shipyard during WWII. Also playing football (two years) and basketball (four years), he was a star pitcher for South Portland High School, with occasional duty at first base for his batting. In his junior year (1952), Carmichael was the best pitcher in the Telegram League (All-Telegram Team) with an 8-2 record. Also batting .426, Gus led the team to the Telegram League title, and beat Augusta’s Cony High in the state championship game for Class L (Large school). Although hampered by a knee operation early in his sophomore year because of a childhood injury, he compiled a 19-4 record in the Telegram League in his South Portland career, as well as two tournament wins including the 1952 state championship game.Vern Putney, a local sports writer, asserted that Carmichael possessed “a good fastball and a curve with enough wrinkle to fool most batters.” While in high school, Gus also pitched in summer semipro ball for Falmouth in the Casco Bay League, the Farmington Flyers in the . Downeast League, and Wholesale Tire Company in the Portland Twilight League. After graduation in June 19534, he signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, who outbid the Milwaukee Braves, two of four teams which had courted him.The scout who signed him declared that Carmichael had a “live fast ball.” Gus was assigned to Granby, Quebec in the Provincial League, where he led the team to a championship with a 12-4 record. Drafted in to the army after that season, Carmichael missed the 1954 season while in the service. At the start of the 1955 season, Gus was again assigned to the Provincial League with Trois Rivieres (Three Rivers), Quebec, although he initially heard he would go to the AAA Miami Marlins, which had Satchel Paige on its roster. After posting a 3-1 record for Three Rivers, Carmichael sought his release from the Phillies, and signed late in the summer with the Washington Senators organization. Gus was assigned to Erie, Pennsylvania of the New York-Penn League, where he was 4-1 in five games. Again requesting his release, Carmichael signed with the Cleveland Indians organization in 1956, and played for Port Arthur, Texas in the Big State League, earning a 6-4 record. Sold to the Cincinnati Redlegs organization during the season, Gus was assigned to Savannah, Georgia in the South Atlantic (Sally) League. Pitching one game for Savannah, he was quickly promoted to High Point, North Carolina in the Carolina League, and had a 3-1 record in helping to win the championship. Still with the Cincinnati system in 1957, Carmichael started the season with Clovis, New Mexico in the Southwestern League. Early in the season, the franchise failed, and the players were transferred to Wenatchee, Washington in the Northwestern League. Having had a 3-1 record at Clovis, Gus helped Wenatchee win the championship with a 7-6 record. Requesting his release after the 1957 season, he pitched in 1958 for Salem, Oregon, an independent team also in the Northwestern League, compiling a 4-1 record, before being released when the Yankees stocked the club with players. In five major league seasons, Carmichael won two-thirds of his decisions, as well as winning playoff games for all three of his championship teams without a defeat. He is the younger brother of Richard “Dick” Carmichael, also a stellar south Portland High athlete, minor league pitcher, and member of the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame. Retired form the Postal Service, Gus and his wife Geraldine reside in Cumberland Foreside.

Dick Carmichael entered pro ball directly from South Portland High graduation in the late 40's. He pitched for Pawtucket R.I. where he won eight straight. From Baseball Reference Position: Pitcher Bats: Left • Throws: Right 5-11, 175lb Born: April 14, 1931 (Age: 88-073d) in Monticello, ME us High School: South Portland HS (Portland, ME)

Westbrook High School and the Manchester Post American Legion programs have produced some sparkling left-handed pitchers and tonight the Hall of Fame will welcome two more of their splendid southpaws. Bill Cary and Don Douglas will join a staff that includes Billy Hamilton, Rick Swan and Johnny Cumberland. For Bill Cary this is a second Hall of Fame induction for he was elected to the Rollins College Sports H.O.F. in 1980. At the Florida college, Bill was 29-7 in four seasons. His ERA's were amazing: 1993-1.22, 1954-1.57, and 1955-1.37. In 1954 the junior lefthander compiled an 8-1 regular season record to pace Rollins to the College World Series in Omaha. His only regular season defeat came at the hands of Ohio State, 2-1, on two unearned runs. At Omaha, Bill lost the championship game to Missouri for his only World Series decision. His fine '54 record gained him a third team All-American selection. He was a repeat All Florida Conference AllStar. During his senior year Bill was selected to play for the USA team in the Pan-American games at Mexico City. He was 2 and 0 in the games including a win over the champion Dominican Republic nine. Prior to emigrating to the warm Floridian sunshine the classy and stylish southpaw was a basketball and baseball star for "Paddy’ Davan and Freddy Harlow at Westbrook. Bill climaxed a fine schoolboy record by participating on two state championships in 1951. On the court, Bill teamed in the backcourt with Bob MacHardy as the Blue Blazes ran up 26 straight wins and won the State L Title. On the diamond, Bill and his teammates won the Telegram League title, the Western Maine L tournament, and the State Championship with 9O win over Presque Isle-a game in which Bill threw a nifty 3-hitter. During his senior year, Cary pitched in 14 of Westbrook's 16 league tilts and was 10 and 3 to win his second All-Telegram League award. he added 4 wins in playoff action. He was joined on the All-Telly team by teammates Larry Robichaud, Bob MacHardy, and "Bunky' Bill and his wife Gail live in Pasadena, California, where Bill has recently retired after 35 years of teaching. The Carys raised three children and have two grandchildren. Bill also passed on his baseball learning to Little Leaguers, Babe Ruth Leaguers and high school players in numerous coaching assignments. Congratulations, and welcome home to the guy Joe Morse labeled ‘Westbrook's top pitcher"--Bill Cary!

Carrigan was born in Lewiston, Maine Carrigan's brother John was a talented pitcher, and Carrigan served as his catcher. Carrigan played football and baseball at Lewiston High School Bill Carrigan was a catcher with the Red Sox, and in 1915 and 16 was the player manager for the Bosox world title teams whose pitching staffs were rated among the greatest but hardest to handle in baseball history . Clyde Sukeforth was ranked just behind Carrigan as a handler of pitchers and diamond strategist. From Wikipedia Carrigan started his career as a platoon catcher and played all ten seasons with the Boston Red Sox. Biographer Richard A. Johnson noted that Carrigan was known in baseball for combining toughness with intelligence. For a portion of his time in Boston, Carrigan's roommate was Babe Ruth. "Carrigan served Ruth as a combination father confessor, drill sergeant, psychologist and Dutch uncle," wrote Johnson. Ruth called Carrigan the best manager he ever played for. Carrigan also had a close relationship with Detroit Tigers star Ty Cobb. Both Carrigan and Cobb were known for their intense play on the field, but they were friends and Cobb often came to Maine to visit Carrigan . From Bates College https://www.bates.edu/news/2018/10/26/red-sox-vs-dodgers-in-1916-when-lewistons-rough-carrigan-led-boston/ By Jay Burns — Published on October 26, 2018 RED SOX VS. DODGERS IN 1916, WHEN LEWISTON’S ‘ROUGH’ CARRIGAN LED BOSTON The Red Sox and Dodgers are in the World Series, just as they were 102 years ago, when Lewiston native Bill Carrigan managed the Sox. Back in 1916, the Dodgers were Brooklyn-based — they moved to Los Angeles in 1957 — and were known as the Robins, after their manager, Wilbert Robinson. The two coaches could not have been more different. Compared with the Dodgers’ rotund and avuncular manager, who was nicknamed “Uncle Robbie,” Boston’s Carrigan, who would later coach the Bates team in the 1930s, was a combative player-manager who led the Sox to World Series titles in 1915 and again in 1916. A catcher who earned the nickname “Rough,” Carrigan was famous for blocking a runner’s path to the plate, which often led to spectacular collisions — and fights. According to The Irish in Baseball (Carrigan was born to Irish immigrant parents), the ballplayer was “intelligent and well-spoken” off the field, “but one of baseball’s best fighters on it.” “You might as well try to move a stone wall,” Chicago White Sox manager Nixey Callahan once said. Said Carrigan, “The first great requisite for success in baseball is nerve.” Brooklyn’s Robinson, on the other hand, was “like Falstaff,” The New York Times wrote, “not only witty himself but the cause of wit in others. His conversation was a continuous flow of homely philosophy, baseball lore, and good humor.” Babe Ruth, then with the Sox and mostly a pitcher (he won 23 games in 1916), called Carrigan his best-ever coach. In fact, it was Carrigan who urged the Sox to purchase Ruth’s minor league contract in 1914. In 1916 as now, the Boston fans and media brimmed with confidence. After the Sox won the 1916 series opener en route to the title, a story in the Lewiston Daily Sun adopted a pitying tone toward the Dodgers, noting that Brooklyn lacked “the smooth, machine-like effectiveness and cooperation that makes the Red Sox so formidable in defensive work and the lightning-like attacks and tactics which prove so productive of winning scores.” Carrigan retired after the 1916 season but returned to coach the Sox from 1927 to 1929, with little success. “These players didn’t talk baseball,” he said. “They talked golf and stocks and where they were going after the game.” Returning to Lewiston, where he became a successful banker and businessman, he coached the Bates baseball team in 1933 and 1934, compiling an 8-13 record. He died in 1969 at age 85.

Bill Casavant got his start in umpiring at the age of 15, working pee wee baseball games in his hometown of Holyoke, Mass. After graduating from the University of Maine at Presque Isle nine years later, he joined the Northern Maine Board of Approved Baseball Umpires for a career that has now spanned 43 years. In June, Casavant worked a regional final for the 26th time and a state championship for the 23rd time. His knowledge of the rules and ability to apply them, as well as the integrity and professionalism he displays, put him among the elite statewide. Casavant was brought onto the Northern Maine board in 1971 by Peter Webb, who was the clinician at the time. Casavant credited the veteran officials for their help with mechanics and positioning and his first game that spring was actually the opener of a college doubleheader between the University of Maine at Machias and the University of Maine at Presque Isle. “Most of the umpires were teachers and it was an early start on a weekday and they couldn’t get out of school,” Casavant recalls. “So Pete .checked with the UMM athletic director about me working and he said no problem. I worked the first game on the bases and then one of the veterans was available for game two, but the game went smoothly.” His love of the game of baseball came early as well. At the age of 7, due to a lack of players, he competed in the pee wee league meant for 8-10 year-olds. He took part in summer leagues all the way through school and even though he didn’t play on his high school team, he did suit up his freshman year at UMPI under Frank McGrath. Casavant graduated from Holyoke High in 1965, worked for two years and then moved north to enroll at UMPI, graduating in 1971. His first teaching job was at Loring Air Force Base’s Damon School for one year, and then he spent the next seven at Limestone. He coached varsity basketball for all seven and varsity baseball for the final five. The rumors of the closing of Loring AFB led Casavant to pursue a job at Northern Maine Vocational Technical Institute in Presque Isle as a physical education instructor and intramurals/athletic director and he was hired in 1980. He later became the college’s director of admissions in 1995 and held that job until 2008. He served as UM Pi’s athletic director for two years before returning to Northern Maine Community College in 2011 as its athletic director, soccer and basketball coach - positions he still holds. In addition, he has served as an assistant basketball coach at Caribou High School, under his son, Chris, for the past several years. Casavant has also been a past board official in soccer and basketball, but baseball has continued with a busy slate of games every spring. He has worked at a number of levels in addition to high school, including NCAA, ECAC, American Legion and even a stint of minor league baseball with the Bangor Lumberjacks. He has been the assignor and interpreter for the NMBABU for the past 34 years. Richard Gardiner joined the board in Casavant’s first year at the position and is still an active umpire. “Bill has been a very successful umpire at a variety of levels of competition, but to me his extraordinary ability to convey his vast knowledge and passion to others as our board interpreter is what puts him above the rest,” Gardiner said. “He respects the game and the individuals involved and is rewarded by the fact he is looked upon with the highest regards.” Casavant said one of his highlights as an umpire was the ability to work with all three of his sons at one time or another. Two of his sons, Matthew and Nicholas, eventually had to stop umpiring after joining the state police, but Chris, the oldest, just completed his 23rd year and the two have worked several Eastern Maine and state games together. Casavant said that as long as he still enjoys it, he will continue to umpire. “I like working with all the veterans and the new guys too,” he said. “After the long winters in northern Maine, it’s great to be outdoors and being involved with a game that I love.” Casavant and his wife, Daryl, reside in Presque Isle and have been married for 43 years. In addition to the three sons, they have seven grandchildren.

Sometimes, a high school or collegiate athlete is so dominant in a time period that the accolades he earns include not only rave reviews of what the athlete did accomplish, but also the enthusiastic speculation about what other marvels “might have been”. Great long-distance shooters in basketball in the 1970’s and 1980’s are often discussed in terms of – imagine if the three point shot had been invented when they played? Imagine how many more points they would have scored! Steve Cates, native of Cutler, Maine, and left handed pitcher extraordinaire, is one such athlete. Canvas a group of veteran Washington County baseball watchers, and you hear many things about Cates, but none more prominent than some “imagine what could have been’s”. Willie Corbett, an outstanding player in his own right, remembers Cates’ talents well, and recalls coaching the fireballer. “If you’ve looked at his high school record at Washington Academy, you know that Steve was ‘almost unhittable’ at that level of competition” Corbett says. It is fair to say that in the past 50 years of high school baseball in Eastern Maine, there has not been a more dominant pitcher. It is unfortunate that a state champion was not determined in those years as his pitching alone would have allowed Washington Academy to compete for that title, (regardless) of school size.” Omar Norton, another fine ballplayer from Down East, and a member of the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame, demonstrates much enthusiasm when talking about the days of Cates. Norton says that Cates had unparalleled success as a left-handed pitcher who possessed both a very good fastball and a sharp breaking curveball. Add to that good control and a great pick off move to first base, and you had a player responsible for many Quoddy League championships in the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s. “Steve had a long career with the Cutler Cardinals in Washington County,” Norton said. “That team was managed by Maine Baseball Hall of Famer Neil Corbett, and Steve played with that team from 1966 through the late 1980’s.” Norton says that, “Ironically enough, one of Cutler’s greatest game ever was a game that he lost.” Steve suffered a loss in the 1980’s against a Bangor team in the summer that was made up of guys who had been UMO players, playing on college world series teams. He threw a four hitter against this Bangor team, and lost 4-3. This was a team that had guys like Dick Devarney, Joe Ferris and Joe Stubbs on it. Just an incredible performance. Stephen began his illustrious baseball career as an ace southpaw for the Washington Academy Raiders in 1965, Norton wrote in a nominating letter to the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame. “He pitched four years at the Academy with only two losses and they came very early in his high school career, a remarkable feat in itself. He once struck out ten consecutive Calais High School hitters to begin a championship game, a record that still stands at Washington Academy, Washington County and possibly even the state”, Norton says. “Steve pitched one no-hitter and never allowed more than three hits in any game he pitched in high school. He had a two hit, 16 strike out game against an undefeated, Class ‘L’ Orono team, which many considered the best team in the state. Steve also pitched a three hitter, with 14 strikeouts against a previously undefeated Sumner High School team. He finished his senior year with a 0.33 ERA”, Norton says. During his senior year at Washington Academy, Cates was scouted by the New York Mets and was invited to report to Jacksonville, Florida, but he chose to remain in Cutler.

Hoss Chadbourne was born in Parkman but a longtime Columbia Falls resident . He played outfield for the Boston American team and Kansas City Packers in the Federal league. HIs playing period ranged from 1906 to 1918 . From Wiki Chester James (Pop) Chadbourne: October 28, 1884 Parkman Maine Batted: Left Threw: Right MLB debut September 17, 1906, for the Boston Americans Last MLB appearance September 2, 1918, for the Boston Braves Chadbourne was born in Parkman, Maine. A fine defensive outfielder, he entered the major leagues in 1906 with the Boston Red Sox, playing for them two years before being sold to the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association in November 1908. After five minor league seasons, he played from 1914 to 1915 for the Kansas City Packers of the Federal League, where he led the league's outfielders in assists (34) in 1914 and in outs (475) and fielding percentage (.979) in 1915. In 1914, Chadbourne became the first major league player to bat at Wrigley Field (then called Weeghman Park), hitting leadoff for the Packers against the Chicago Chi-Feds on April 23. Chadbourne returned to the minors for the 1916 and 1917 seasons, making his last major league appearance with the Boston Braves in 1918. In a five-season career, Chadbourne was a .255 hitter (345-for-1353) with two home runs and 82 RBI in 347 games, including 183 runs, 41 doubles, 18 triples, and 78 stolen bases.

Westbrook . Played for the 1950 Yankee Conference Champion University of Maine at Orono Black Bear team.

Harold G. “Hal” Cheney was born July 22, 1914 in the summer when ever-darkening clouds forecast the approaching storm of World War ft. A native of Easton, Cheney matured in a period when Aroostook County reflected America's passion for baseball. Nearly every town had a semi-pro team. The team and its players symbolized the community s pride and reinforced the resolute individualism of rural Maine. After graduating from Presque Isle High School in 1933, Cheney attended Ricker College and Presque Isle Normal School. From 1946 until his retirement in 1965 he operated a farm in Presque Isle. He moved to Fort Fairfield in 1969 where he died October 3, 1993. His friend, Walter M. Reed, Jr., remembers Cheney as "The best baseball pitcher ever developed in Aroostook County. Harold was a very shy and quiet individual. However, his determination and graceful skills combined with a fierce competitive spirit helped him excel in basketball, football and baseball.” Cheney's potential was honed by Elmer "Spike" Williams, coach of the Presque Isle Junior Legion team. In 1930, Cheney compiled a record of 9-2, both losses coming in extra innings. Caribou beat him 5-4 in 10 innings for the county championship and Eastport won 9-8 in 11 innings. Most batters had difficulty with Cheney's repertoire. He struck out 114 in 86 innings and was a superior batter, compiling an average of .344. Cheney was a member of Presque Isle's state championship basketball team in 1932. The same year, he led the Wildcats to the county title. In 1933, he began his semi-pro career with the Presque Isle Indians and a year later was named the team's most valuable player. Among the highlights of that season, the big right-hander pitched a 15-inning, five-hit win against Fort Fairfield. After the eighth inning, Cheney allowed no hits. He also pitched a four-hitter against Mars Hill, a two-hit shutout against Easton and a three-hitter against Caribou. In his prime, Cheney was six-foot-two, weighed about 200 pounds and featured an intimidating fastball. Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1937, Cheney played in the organization as a relief pitcher until 1943, making stops in Hazelton, Pa, Clarksdale, Miss., Rocky Mount, N.C., Sunbury, Pa.and Hagerstown, Md. He went on to pitch six additional seasons in the Aroostook League, concluding his playing days in 1948. “In the 1940's when people in “The County" talked about baseball, Hal Cheney's name always came up as the greatest pitcher ever, said Richard “Dick" Cormier (MBHEF-19972). When he returned from the Boston Red Sox farm system in 1943 he helped organize the Babe Ruth League in Presque Isle and Fort Fairfield.

“In 2011 I brought Rod on as an assistant at the University of Southern Maine. His place on my staff has enhanced my respect for him as a ‘great baseball mind.”… . I lean on Rod many times for insights into what we should be doing. He has an ‘old school’ respect for the game.” - Ed Flaherty, Head Baseball Coach, University of Southern Maine “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” - Rod Choroszy The Maine Baseball Hall of fame is proud to induct Mr. Rod Choroszy into the class of 2015. The youngest of five children, Rod is the son of the late Ivonne and John Choroszy who always supported Rod and his love of the game. Rod grew up in Saco with his two older brothers and two older sisters. He is the proud father of two wonderful grown children, son Reid and daughter Teig. In addition, Rod has a young grandson Landon. Rod has retired from his career as a educator for both Saco and South Portland school departments where he taught for thirty-five years. Currently residing in Old Orchard Beach, Rod is presently working as an assistant baseball coach at the University of Southern Maine. As a youngster, Rod played Little League in Saco and was a member of the 1961 All-star District 4 champions from Saco-Old Orchard Beach. Playing in the State tournament at Capital Park in Augusta they would lose a tough one run game to South Portland National. In high school at Thornton Academy, Rod was a three sport athlete playing football, basketball and of course baseball. In baseball, Rod was a All -Telegram league selection in both 1966 and 1967. As a pitcher, Rod led the league in strikeouts in 1966 and 1967 as well as wins in 1967. Rod was very versatile in the field as he played eight of the nine positions during the 1966 season. As a hitter he batted over 300 each of his last three years. The highlight of his high school career occurred against Cheverus in 1967: Rod pitched a complete game eleven inning 1-0 victory while striking out twenty-two batters. Rod was a graduate of the UMO and played for the legendary coach Jack Butterfield. “Jack was like a second father to me during my college career. He was tough but fair and helped me with both on and off the field issues.” Rod wishes that he had stayed in closer contact with Jack after college before his premature and untimely death in 1979. While playing for Orono, the team finished in second place in the Yankee conference in 1969 and won the state series as well. Rod led the team in appearance in 1971 with an ERA of 3.66. That same year, He would set the school record for appearance in a single season at fourteen. In addition, Rod also played for the Ametek Redskins pitching them to the twilight league championship in the late 1960’s. In 1973, Rod started his coaching career and would coach at every youth level from Little League to American Legion. In 1996, he coached the Senior Babe Ruth State Championship team from South Portland. While teaching at South Portland, Rod continued with his passion for baseball as the head coach for sixteen years. During that time frame, Rod’s teams made the playoffs twelve years with three regional final appearances. In 1991, South Portland won the Regional championship under Rod’s tutorage. Rod was the Telegram coach of the year in 1989 and the Topps Baseball coach of the year for the state of Maine in 1993. Rod began his college coaching career in 2006 as an assistant coach at Southern Maine Community College. In the three years he was there, SMCC were conference champs twice and made an appearance in the National Tournament in 2007. Rod then moved on the St. Joseph’s College in 2009 as the pitching coach. Under his guidance, his pitching staff would lead the nation with fewest walks per nine innings in 2010. The team would finish 3rd in the New England Regionals, the school’s highest finish to date. Rod is currently coaching for the University of Southern Maine where he has been since 2011. He has been instrumental in helping the team to get to the college world series finishing second in the nation in 2013 and 4th in 2014. According to head coach Ed Flaherty, “Rod’s place on my staff has enhanced my respect for him as a great baseball mind. He knows the game inside and out. I have asked him to coach every aspect of the game. He works one on one with all our athletes and is highly respected by the players. He has played a big part in our recent success at the University. I lean on Rod many times for insights into what we should be doing. He has an old school respect for the game.” Rod plans on continuing to coach well into the future. According to Rod, “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.”

The year 1959 always will stand out in Roger Clapp’s mind. He led professional baseball that year 1n victories with 25, two coming in the Northwest League playoffs to move him beyond former Red Sox hurler Don Schwall’s 23 wins. A member of the Milwaukee Braves’ minor league system for nine years, Clapp was 21-6 1n 34 games for the Yakima, Wash., Braves during the 1959 regular season. He won two earlier games for the Boise, Idaho, team that same season. At Yakima, his regular-season Statistics were 226 innings, 195 hits, 82 runs (a 2.5] earned run average) and 166 strike outs —an astonishing feat. The quiet youngster from Milo owned a “big-league curve’ according to former Pacific Coast pitcher and major leaguer Elmer Singleton. ‘I liked the way Clapp got his curve ball over when he had to, ’’ Singleton said. Nonetheless, Clapp never made it to the majors, which was a surprise because he had a world of talent. The righthander, who attended Bowdoin College after a stint in the Army, now umpires baseball games, including important UMO contests. Presently employed by Skowhegan’s Maine Gas and Appliance, Clapp, who fired two no-hitters tor Milo High, is regarded as one of the state’s more knowledgeable umpires. Clapp was also a basketball star at Milo High. In fact, he established many scoring records there and regularly was one of the state’s top) foul shooters. He was Eastern Maine's top foul shooter two consecutive years, making 47 of 50th the state foul shooting contest. When he played for the Denver Bears 1n 1963, his last season in professional ball, baseball comedian Bob Uecker was his catcher. However, 1 was never a joke when Clapp was on the mound. Unfortunately, Miller Lite wasn’t on the market in those days, so Uecker couldn't toast Clapp’s stellar pitching performances to the beer that made the amusing catcher famous.

In 2005, when Lisbon Falls author Jim Baumer dedicated his book When Towns Had Teams, “To Ted Clark, who epitomized town team baseball,” it shined a light on the career of a man who personified “the glory of their time,” the heyday of town team baseball in Maine. Frederick “Ted” Clark was reknowned as a three-sport star at Stephens High School in Rumford, graduating in 1947 and moving on to play basketball and baseball at Farmington State Teachers College, while hooking up with Cash Clark’s semi-pro Farmington Flyers in the summer of 1949. It was during that season that Clark’s reputation as a prodigious home-run hitter began to take hold as the lefty slugger belted 20 round-trippers well beyond Hippach Field’s friendly right field porch. Clark entered the Air Force in 1950 and played service ball all over Europe. He caught the eye of pro scouts and signed a minor-league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, playing one year with their Class D affiliate in Georgia. Returning to Farmington in 1956, Clark resumed his basketball and baseball career, graduated in 1958, and took a teaching and coaching position at Newport High School. Ted moved on to Dexter High School in 1962, embarking on a 21-year teaching and coaching career at that school. While at Dexter, Ted taught history and coached football (Assistant), basketball, and baseball. He coached the Tigers’ baseball team from 1963 up until his retirement in 1983, winning three straight Eastern Maine titles from 1970-72. In 1972 Clark was the Maine State Coaches Association Coach of the Year. Ted also found time to extend his playing career as he caught on with the Guilford Advertisers in the Central Valley League, later the Penquis League, and enjoyed several productive years with teammates Loren Ritchie, Dave Gaw, and Dick Barstow. It became a common occurrence for Clark to launch baseballs not only over the fence at Guilford’s home field but into the Piscataquis River, located just down the bank beyond right field. “The Advertisers were a veritable murderer’s row,” writes Baumer in his book. “With hitters like Clark, Gaw, Ritchie, Barstow and Tim Rowe, it wasn’t unusual for the team to hit two or three homers a game. In 1968, the Advertisers clouted 52 home runs in their 38 games, led by Ritchie’s 11.” After the Advertisers won the State YABC tournament in 1968, several players moved on and the team gradually disbanded. For that one shining moment capturing a six to eight year span in the 1960’s, Guilford was emblematic of the fusion of local pride and talented ballplayers, elevating a small hamlet of 1,000 into a formidable town team force in northern Maine. Ted Clark was part of the glory days in Guilford and it was a fitting end to his playing career. Ted was inducted into the University of Maine at Farmington’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2003, the Town of Dexter dedicated the town’s baseball field in his honor. Ted passed away in 2005. He is survived by two daughters, DeeDee Killilea who resides in North Carolina, and Margaret Veazie of Dexter. Both women have enjoyed successful coaching careers in field hockey and basketball and attribute a large measure of that success to their dad. Says DeeDee: “He was a wonderful father and role model. The success my sister and I have had is because of him. He taught us so much through life and playing baseball. He took us to baseball games all over the state to get us out of the house and give my mother some peace and quiet. Anyone who ever met Ted Clark knew there was something special about him.” The Maine Baseball Hall of Fame is honored to open its doors to the quintessential town team ballplayer. Just like a mighty blast into the Piscataquis River, Ted Clark has hit yet one more home run.