With the Oregon State Baseball team advancing to the College World Series it reminds me of the time another baseball team from Oregon made it to a world series!
That wasn’t an everyday occurrence around here back then, or now, although The Oregon State Baseball team is the defending Collegiate Champion; but generally when baseball people talk, Oregon isn’t mentioned like California, Arizona, Florida, or Texas are. However, Oregon State is established as a major Collegiate force in the sport, but the Beavers home, Corvallis, isn’t one of the best known cities in the country nor was the city of the other Oregon team to get into the World Series; Roseburg!
It was fifty years ago this year that the mighty Roseburg American Legion baseball team, Post #16, sponsored by Lockwood Motors, and called the “Douglas County Wonder Kids”, made it to Bismarck, North Dakota for the series.
I remember it well because we were camping at South Twin Lake and could only catch the game on radio. Our problem was our car radio wasn’t very strong so we had to go into La Pine to get decent reception. Once we found out when the first game was we loaded up the car and went to La Pine, found a little restaurant that had the game on and ate and listened.
It was fun, not exactly camping and fishing, but it was exciting. We were from Roseburg and it was our team! Well, today watching Oregon State on TV on ESPN, I felt the same sort of “our team” spirit. Like the Roseburg team, the Beavers have the attention of a lot of people who don’t even know where they are from. But like the Roseburg team I could only imagine as I listened to the crackling radio, the Beaver team I watched on a brilliant television was giving it all they had.
I’m proud of the Roseburg team from 50 years ago and the Beavers of today! Way to represent Oregon!
To reach Rick Schultze email yarick@pioneer.net