THE ET CETERA CHRONICLES - VOL. 86

 THE ET CETERA CHRONICLES - VOL. 86 

THE DAY OF THE ROUTS  - True routs in baseball aren’t that common, especially when the winning team scores twenty or more runs than their opponent.  The Dublin Irish baseball team, ranked first in the state for the first time in history, were stinging from their first loss of the season to local rival, the Bleckley County Royals, on the day before.  

The Irish expressed their frustration with their lack of hitting when they faced Laney High School at Bush Perry Field.  The Irish pushed across 10 and 13 runs in the first two innings.   Coach Chuck Beale sent in three freshmen pitchers to finish the game.  By the end of the fourth inning, the Irish lead slipped to 30 to 6.  The game ended one-half inning later under the 10-run rule.  

Across town, the Trinity Crusaders were hosting Bulloch Academy.  In the 1st inning of the first game of the doubleheader, the Crusaders sent twenty- two batters to the plate, scoring 17 runs.  Trinity won the first game 24 to 1.  The first inning of the second game was a little bit better for the Bulloch pitching staff.  The Crusaders managed only 14 runs.  The Crusaders took the nightcap by the score of 21 to 0.    In two games, Trinity had 34 hits while over 30 batters were walked.  Kevin Williams went 7 for 7 with a double and triple in the first inning of the first game.  Trinity pitchers limited Bulloch Academy to only 2 hits and one run in the doubleheader. They say good things come in threes and on this March day when the local teams won 30-6, 24-1, and 21-0 for a combined score of 75-7.

THE STATESMAN SPEAKETH - Dean Rusk, who served as Secretary of State of the United States during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, spoke to a meeting of the Parnassus Club and invited guests held in the Social Hall of First United Methodist Church on April 12, 1975.  Dublin Courier Herald, April 9, 1975.

BLAZING BABY BIRD - He was the most promising young pitcher in the American League at the beginning of the 1960s.  Steve Barber, who pitched for the Dublin Orioles in 1958 under future Oriole Hall of Fame manager, Earl Weaver, had a blazing left-hand fastball.  He threw so hard that the men at the plate never knew if they could hit the ball or if the ball would hit them.  After playing with six teams (including the Atlanta Braves)  during his 15-year, injury-plagued, major-league career, Barber accomplished a few amazing statistics.  Barber played in two all-star games (1963,1966,) finished in the Top 10 in ERA in the American League three times (1960, 1963, 1965,) finished in the Top 10 in wins in the American League three times (1961, 1963, 1965,) stands at No. 200 all-time in major league history in the fewest hits per 9 innings (8.815,) finished second in the American League in strikeouts (1960, 1963,) and stands 231st all-time in the major leagues in career shutouts (21.)  Baseball Reference.com

BUSINESSMAN AND BOMBER PILOT - Clay Finn Bell was born on May 1, 1919, in Dublin, GA, he was the son of the late D.W. Bell and Mattie Smith Bell. He was a graduate of Dublin High School, where he was an outstanding tennis player, in 1936.  Young Bell received his pilot's license at the age of 16. Prior to WWII, he was a managing partner of Minter Naval Stores in Laurens County, GA, which he owned until 1948. He was a WWII U.S. Army Air Corps Veteran, where he served in the 483rd Bombardment Group H and the 816 Squadron. He was a highly decorated B-17 Bombardier and was a German Prisoner of War after being shot down over Austria in February 1945.   After his liberation shortly after D-Day, Lt. Bell was reunited with a fellow Dubliner and friend, Morton Mason while on a march to freedom. 

In 1946 he co-founded Bellcraft Manufacturing Company and from 1946-1948 he commuted from Hartwell to Dublin by plane, running two businesses, a turpentine business in Dublin and a shirt manufacturing business in Hartwell. In 1948, he moved to Hartwell full-time, growing Bellcraft Manufacturing into one of the most respected companies in the apparel industry. He died on February 6, 2004, in Hartsville, Georgia. Athens Banner-Herald, February 9, 2004. 

MR. SMITH SHINES - Dublin High School basketball star, James Smith, was a member of the South Georgia All-Star team in 1978. Courier Herald, 8.5.1978.