SPORTS HALL of FAME LEGACY AWARD
1963 and 1964 Baseball Team
Undefeated League Champs
The records are a bit hazy and the stories get better
every year. But the fact remains that the two consecutive seasons that put
Sidney baseball on top of the Susquenango League with nary a blemish were
1963 and 1964. And there is no disputing the name of the coach who put them
on the field - Alan Drake.
There is not one single official "L" in the ledger for
either of these teams. The Warriors had only recently begun playing on what
was the new baseball field at the new high school campus off of West Main
St. The numbers in newspaper print went as high as 33 in creating the
“Legacy” win streak that stretched from 1962 into the early
portion of the 1965 season. Our best local research can track a legitimate
25-game win streak.
Proving the actual total is difficult with limited
resources, though as was mentioned 21 of those are legitimately confirmed
for ‘63-64, thanks to the painstaking efforts of 1963 graduate and
former fire baller William “Wild Bill” Cable. It was
Bill’s nomination that got the ball rolling.
That 1963 team, coming off a 1962 Sus League title
season of 8 wins and 3 losses, was fueled by the terrific pitching tandem
of Cable and James “Butch” Roelle. Roelle won 6 games and Cable
the other three – Bill’s other three starts ended in rain-outs,
which accounts for some of the confusion. Between the two, they struck out
158 batters in 58 innings, led by Cable’s 20 versus Delhi. The two
combined for a no-hitter against Windsor, followed by a Roelle no-hitter
the very next game, with Walton.
Hitting was also a dynamic of that club. Top to
bottom, Sidney’s lineup could get hits when they counted most. Bill
Sisson, Tonsee Smith, Rick Gray, Denny Douglas, Butch Roelle and Spencer
Asher all record winning hits. Steve McMullen and Danny “Moose”
Mancini provided underclassmen power, and Bill Cable also clobbered a
triple in the championship game, a 6-1 drubbing of Whitney Point.
Despite losing virtually all of its pitching, and
several key players from ‘63, the Wariors did not miss a beat in
1964. Young Steve McMullen and Dave Esto rose up the ranks to become the
staff aces. McMullen, who would later sign a minor league contract and
pitched for the Class A Oneonta Yankees, won 7 of the 12 games that year,
with Esto getting four wins and Denny Douglas one. Gray (now a captain),
Mancini, Douglas, Sisson, and Asher secured winning hits, joined by new
varsity players in Gregg Allen, Pete Drotar, Larry Alley, Don Barnhart and
Tom Hager.
As in the previous year, Sidney won the Sus title in a
6-1 final, only this time it was Newark Valley falling victim to the
unbeaten Warriors. McMullen’s complete game 2-hit victory was
highlighted by 17 strikeouts.
Many of these team members would return the next
season to record two more wins before succumbing to a Windsor no-hitter to
break the streak.
However you define this streak of games, (21, 25, as
high as 33) what is indisputable is that Sidney baseball was hard to beat,
especially in 1963 and 1964. And that, Warrior fans, makes them worthy of
the 2011 Legacy Award.
1963 and 1964 Baseball Team
Undefeated League Champs
The records are a bit hazy and the stories get better every year. But the fact remains that the two consecutive seasons that put Sidney baseball on top of the Susquenango League with nary a blemish were 1963 and 1964. And there is no disputing the name of the coach who put them on the field - Alan Drake.
There is not one single official "L" in the ledger for either of these teams. The Warriors had only recently begun playing on what was the new baseball field at the new high school campus off of West Main St. The numbers in newspaper print went as high as 33 in creating the “Legacy” win streak that stretched from 1962 into the early portion of the 1965 season. Our best local research can track a legitimate 25-game win streak.
Proving the actual total is difficult with limited resources, though as was mentioned 21 of those are legitimately confirmed for ‘63-64, thanks to the painstaking efforts of 1963 graduate and former fire baller William “Wild Bill” Cable. It was Bill’s nomination that got the ball rolling.
That 1963 team, coming off a 1962 Sus League title season of 8 wins and 3 losses, was fueled by the terrific pitching tandem of Cable and James “Butch” Roelle. Roelle won 6 games and Cable the other three – Bill’s other three starts ended in rain-outs, which accounts for some of the confusion. Between the two, they struck out 158 batters in 58 innings, led by Cable’s 20 versus Delhi. The two combined for a no-hitter against Windsor, followed by a Roelle no-hitter the very next game, with Walton.
Hitting was also a dynamic of that club. Top to bottom, Sidney’s lineup could get hits when they counted most. Bill Sisson, Tonsee Smith, Rick Gray, Denny Douglas, Butch Roelle and Spencer Asher all record winning hits. Steve McMullen and Danny “Moose” Mancini provided underclassmen power, and Bill Cable also clobbered a triple in the championship game, a 6-1 drubbing of Whitney Point.
Despite losing virtually all of its pitching, and several key players from ‘63, the Wariors did not miss a beat in 1964. Young Steve McMullen and Dave Esto rose up the ranks to become the staff aces. McMullen, who would later sign a minor league contract and pitched for the Class A Oneonta Yankees, won 7 of the 12 games that year, with Esto getting four wins and Denny Douglas one. Gray (now a captain), Mancini, Douglas, Sisson, and Asher secured winning hits, joined by new varsity players in Gregg Allen, Pete Drotar, Larry Alley, Don Barnhart and Tom Hager.
As in the previous year, Sidney won the Sus title in a 6-1 final, only this time it was Newark Valley falling victim to the unbeaten Warriors. McMullen’s complete game 2-hit victory was highlighted by 17 strikeouts.
Many of these team members would return the next season to record two more wins before succumbing to a Windsor no-hitter to break the streak.
However you define this streak of games, (21, 25, as high as 33) what is indisputable is that Sidney baseball was hard to beat, especially in 1963 and 1964. And that, Warrior fans, makes them worthy of the 2011 Legacy Award.