Results tagged ‘ Fon du Lac Panthers ’
MLB All-Star Ron Hunt (1960-61) returns to Perfect Game Field tomorrow night
Major League All-Star Ron Hunt (1960-61) is returning to Perfect Game Field tomorrow night along with his fellow Cedar Rapids Braves teammates Barry Morgan (1961) and Paul Snyder (1959, 1961). They will be on hand as part of our Hall of Fame / Alumni night at the ballpark season here at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The 1961 Cedar Rapids Braves team finished 2nd with a 73-57 record under manager Jimmy Brown. Jack Cookman, a pitcher for the 1949 Cedar Rapids Rockets and former MLB player and manager Bruce Kimm will be returning as well. Kimm managed the 1983 Cedar Rapids Reds squad to a 3rd place finish with a 76-64 record. The most recent Cedar Rapids professional baseball Hall of Fame class featuring John Campbell, Reggie Jefferson (1987-88) and Jack Roeder (CR G.M. 1991-2010) will be featured as part of the evening’s festivities. Kernels manager Jamie Burke (1994) and hitting coach Mike Eylward (2002) will be honored pregame as well. The Cedar Rapids professional baseball alumni will be involved in pregame festivities and will be signing autographs on the concourse during the game if they are not busy working (Burke/Eylward). Jefferson will not be in attendance. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for our game against the San Diego Padres Midwest league affiliate, the Fort Wayne TinCaps. First pitch is set for 6:35.
Ron Hunt played here in Cedar Rapids in 1960 and 1961. Hunt hit .191 with 3 HR and 33 RBI in 1960 as the Braves finished 71-69 under manager Jimmy Brown. He returned in 1961 and had a great season batting .295 with 16 HR and 25 doubles in 121 games.
Ron Hunt went on to a 12 year MLB career playing for the Mets, Dodgers, Giants, Expos and Cardinals. He finished 2nd to Pete Rose in the National League Rookie of the Year voting after hitting .272 with 10 HR 42 RBI for the Mets in 1963. He led the Mets in hits (145), Batting average, doubles (28), and runs scored (48) playing for Casey Stengal.
Hunt hit the first extra base hit and score the first Mets run at Shea Stadium when it opened. He was the first Mets player to be selected to the All-Star game when he hit .303 with 6 HR and 42 RBI in 1964. The honor was even more special as the game was the only All-Star game to be played in front of the home town Mets fans at Shea Stadium. He was also selected to the 1966 National League All-Star squad.
Ron Hunt was well known for being hit by pitches. He held numerous records for the stat when he retired after the 1974 season. Hunt was also known for being very difficult to strike out. He only struck out 382 times in 6158 plate appearances. Hunt walked 555 times and was hit by a pitch 243 times for comparison. He led the league seven straight years in HBP from 1968-1974.
Paul Snyder (1959, 1961) spent 50 years working in the Braves system on and off the field. He hit .362 with 1 HR and 2 doubles in 15 games in 1959. He returned to hit .310 with 14 HR and 19 doubles in 126 games for the Cedar Rapids Braves in 1961. Snyder posted a .318 batting average, 60 HR and 102 doubles during his 7 year minor league career.
Snyder managed the Greenville Braves in 1963, the Sarasota Braves in 1964 and 1966, the Binghamton Triplets in 1965, the Magic Valley Cowboys in 1970 and the Greenwood Braves in 1972. In 1973, Snyder joined the Braves front office as the assistant minor league administrator prior to taking the reins of the Braves player development system in 1977.
Snyder’s efforts as the Braves’ scouting director (1981-90, 1999-2000), assistant to the General Manager (1991-95, 2001-06), and director of player development (1977-1980, 1996-98) played an integral role as the Braves dominated the National League in the early 1990′s and won the World Series in 1995. He retired following the 2007 season. Baseball America named him one of the top 25 people in baseball in the publications 25th Anniversary issue in 2006.
Barry Morgan (1961) hit .289 with 23 HR and 20 doubles in 130 games for the 1961 Cedar Rapids Braves. Morgan hit .267 with 165 HR during his 12 season minor league playing career reaching as high as AAA playing for the Toledo Mud Hens in 1969 and 1970.
Jack Cookman (1949) posted a 9-9 record with a 4.89 E.R.A. in 29 games for the 1949 Cedar Rapids Rockets in the first year of professional baseball following a six year absence due to World War 2. The 1949 Rockets finished in fourth place in the Central Association with a record of 63-67 under manager Packy Rogers guidance. 1949 was Cookman’s final season in the minors due to an arm injury. He had played two season with the Fon du Lac Panthers, the New York Yankees affiliate in the Wisconsin State League in 1947 and 1948 before coming to Cedar Rapids.
Jack Cookman brought us this photo of a few of the 1949 Cedar Rapids Rockets pitchers posing in front of their bus. Cookman is the one on the lower right corner.
Bruce Kimm, a Norway, Ia. native, played MLB baseball for the Tigers, Cubs and White Sox between 1976-80. Kimm then continued working in baseball as a minor league manager in the Tigers, Reds and Cubs organizations between 1982-2002. Kimm managed the 1983 Cedar Rapids Reds squad featuring future MLB players Chris Sabo and Kal Daniels among others to a 3rd place finish with a 76-64 record. Kimm managed the Chicago Cubs for 78 (33-45 record) games during the 2002 season.
Welcome back to Cedar Rapids Jack Cookman (Cedar Rapids Rockets – 1949)
Every so often I get the honor of meeting a former Cedar Rapids alumni who happens to drop by the area to check in on the stadium and remember ballgames of the past. I was lucky enough to meet Jack Cookman (1949 Cedar Rapids Rockets) this morning. Jack was in town for personal business and dropped by to see the facility. He ran into Jim Curran, once again fixing stuff at the stadium, who tracked me down while we were prepping for tonight’s game.
I gave Jack a tour of our Cedar Rapids Baseball Timeline located on our suite level and shared our 1949 Cedar Rapids Rockets display along the way. K.C. Waycoff, one of our ushers, had brought in several items of interest from his father’s playing days. Ray Waycoff was also a Cedar Rapids Rocket in 1949 and had saved letterhead with team logos, numerous correspondences and even a special opening day ticket to the first game at the original Veterans Memorial Stadium. We also have a team signed ball on display from the ’49 team with manager Packy Rogers autograph on the sweet spot.
Jack shared a lot of stories along the way as we toured the Timeline area and checked out our Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball Hall of Fame area in our souvenir store. He said he and a couple other players were actually fined 10% of their pay for not participating in what basically amounted to a full fledged brawl during one of the games. Jack and a couple players from each team watched the battle from the pitchers mound staying out of the fray. Player manager Packy Rogers came out of the battle worse for wear and had noticed their inactivity and fined the group.
Jack also told a story of pitching and winning both ends of a doubleheader. It reminded me of another great feat by a Cedar Rapids professional baseball alum, Dutch Levsen (Cedar Rapids Bunnies – 1923). Levsen is still in the baseball record books and likely will hold his spot in history forever as the last pitcher to tally complete game victories in both ends of a doubleheader. Levsen, born in Wyoming, IA and an Iowa State University alum, shutdown the Boston Red Sox in game one (6-1) and game two (5-1) as the Cleveland Indians swept a double header on August 26, 1928.
Jack Cookman couldn’t remember the date of the games, but through some digging using the Cedar Rapids Public Library’s Digital Archives of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, I was able to find the event, which occurred on July 17, 1949. Cookman remembered the date fondly stating he had annoyed his manager during the first game pitching a lot of inside pitches which gave Packy Rogers a lot of work at third base. Rogers urged Cookman to work the outside corner more as he didn’t need anymore ‘practice’. When Cookman continued to work the inside corner, his punishment was being sent back out for game 2 after picking up the win with a seven inning complete game shutout in game 1 (6-0). Cookman worked 7 more shutout innings in game 2 before the Rockford Rox picked up one run in each of the eighth and ninth innings. Jack earned his second win of the day with his second complete game of the day as the Rockets defeated Rockord 11-2 in nine innings. In another rare feat, Jack Tanner hit three HR in game 2 to lead the way offensively for the Rockets. Tanner’s 37 HR in 1949 has only been bested once in Cedar Rapids baseball history (Jeff Jones hit 42 HR for the 1982 Cedar Rapids Reds).
Jack Cookman posted a 9-9 record with a 4.89 E.R.A. in 29 games for the 1949 Cedar Rapids Rockets in the first year of professional baseball following a six year absence due to World War 2. The 1949 Rockets finished in fourth place in the Central Association with a record of 63-67 under manager Packy Rogers guidance. 1949 was Cookman’s final season in the minors due to an arm injury. He had played two season with the Fon du Lac Panthers, the New York Yankees affiliate in the Wisconsin State League in 1947 and 1948 before coming to Cedar Rapids. We hope Jack and his family may catch a few baseball games this season and he has an open offer to throw out a first pitch at his convenience.
Thanks again for visiting us and sharing your stories Jack. Hope to see you again soon.
Cookman Pitches, Wins Doubleheader, 6-0, 11-2 – Cedar Rapids Gazette, July 18, 1949 edition
Seth Dohrn
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