Clinton Counties "Courthouse Tigers 1944 Champions"

The bats in front -- not all showing here -- spelled C - H - T -- or Courthouse Tigers.

This photo was given to us by Michael J. Kearney and Jim Fisher who notes missing names as:
On the front row is a boy who lived across the street from the Clinton County Jail on Third Street. His name was "Rock" Carver. I never knew his real name, only his sobriquet. The boy on the right is Jackie Fisher, my little brother. They were our batboys.
Second row from the top, that is Walter Ferguson, called "Fergie."
Third row from the top the blank is for Dick Morris.

 

Jim Fisher continues by contributing the below additional information about the Courthouse Tigers.

I write about Walter Ferguson, called "Fergie"  "IN THE SHADOW OF THE COURTHOUSE (2003)". Gussie Witt and Jack Dunmore took us on the train to Chicago for a Chicago Cub baseball double header. That was 1945, the year the Cubs won the National League crown, but lost to Detroit in the World Series. They haven't been back to the World Series since.

 Dick Morris went to St. Patrick School with Bobby Witt and me, and played on St. Pat's championship basketball team and, of course, on the championship Courthouse Tigers of that 1945 summer league.

Jack Dunmore, Lyle Sawyer, Jim Holle, Dick Tharp, Dick Morris, Bill "Chang" Benson, and Bobby Witt are no longer with us, may their souls rest in peace. I don't know about Sam Annear and Dick Dunmore.

Seeing this picture again makes me happy that I wrote the book, as the picture expresses in a quiet way what a wonderful time it was to be young, when older boys coached younger boys, and play was self-created and not subject to the formality of Little Leagues, or the dominance of parents, where kids came to imitate and play as if professionals with uniforms, bat gloves, spikes and batting helmets.

World War Two ended that summer, and with it the insouciance of youthful leisure. My book is a tribute to that era and all those lucky enough to have grown up when there was time to be young. 

Jim, thank you for sharing this with Clinton County!