Steve,

Thank you very much for posting about Uncle Charlie's services and the very nice write up you gave him. He's my mom's 1st cousin & my dad's best childhood friend, so that is how my parents met. In our family, his Legendary stories were like that of Paul Bunyan but all true. One time he hit a ball this far or throw a ball that hard or beat some fast guy half his size in a race by a couple steps, etc.
Just a couple of those stories:
- When playing professional softball at Vet Stadium, not only did he hit the ball over the make-shift, shorter fence they used for softball, he hit the ball over the actual MLB fence and onto that black tarp thing behind the fence.
- He won a throwing (MPH) contest at age 19 against 14 others contestants at Connie Mack stadium and was presented the award by Jim Bunning.
- Both the Washington Senators & New York Mets were interested in him as a prospect after high school and both times he was involved in a car accident that derailed his chances at pro baseball.

If you look at the Blast From the Past page, his dad (Charlie) and his dad's brother (Adam) are both on the 1938 Triple S club.

The last time he came up to visit a couple summers ago, my dad tried to get him down to the field but he wasn't feeling up to it that day. I was going to try to take a picture of him & Kenny Shemonski, as they are the only 2 N-Town players to ever hit a softball out of Latshaw Field.

The thing I will remember the most, he NEVER, EVER talked about any of these things. He NEVER said he did this or that. When the old times came up, he always talked about other people, the teammates, the friends or what silly stuff they did before or after the game.

Thank you again Steve. Many in our family have read your posts and really appreciate your kind words.