Edward M Kovachy, Jr

I remember that Onaway game, too, Andrew.  Like Andrew I played for Boulevard. The Onaway team was so terrific that, very soon, you just had to admire how amazingly talented they were.  Jerry Goetz--think Andrew Miller or, actually, Babe Ruth, since Jerry was not only a lights out pitcher but also the best slugger by far.   Billy Dickey--think Francisco Lindor, great, seemingly effortless fielding and a wonderful hitter, the kind you just couldn't get out.   Best of all, as Andrew also points out, was to get to know both of them next year at Woodbury and then all the way through high school.   While I do understand and appreciate the angst and the dedication of the Cubs fans, I am with Christina and Willy Kahrl and Andrew and Billy and so many of our other classmates in the legendary class of 1964, go, Tribe!

Thomas E Fuerst

Gary & Dana,

You have really tweaked my curiosity about Tris Speaker's home on Avalon.  Do you remember an address, or a description, or on which side of the street and how many houses from Scottsdale?  You could make me a hero @ League Park.  Every time I walk on the field, the hair on the back of my head stands straight up.  I could swear the ghost of Shoeless Joe still roams center field.

Howard Reid Bell

And perhaps the ghost of Ray Chapman ⚾️😪🎃

William K Dickey

Eddie and Andy,  thank you for reminding me of those days when Onaway and Boulevard met on the "diamond".  I also recall playing at other schools- Moreland for one where we had to face Jeff Chokel and a hard throwing John Feher.  I also agree that the joys of sharing our classes, activities--days at Woodbury and High school were really special .  I know I was crazy into baseball during those elementary years, between those summer day camps and The Boys League, Shaker's "non-Sponsored" answer to official Little League.  Jerry Goetz was an amazing athlete, and I was so glad whenever I was on the same team so I didn't have to face him.  Thank you for your rave reviews of my own past talents in baseball.  I do believe I ate, slept, and breathed it with a passion that remains.  The suffering of Indians' losses in subsequent playoffs was/is excruciating to this day and I kick myself for taking it so hard when the tribe has lost another opportunity.  I do think that the many times we have come so close over the decades only to fall short increases the agony of defeat much more than that of any Cubs fans who only came close to the playoffs a couple of times.  It still hurts, damn it.  Go tribe!!! 

Thomas E Fuerst

Hey Bill,

I enjoyed your comments about the Shaker Boys League.  I didn't move to Shaker with my parents until high school, so I never played.  Over 30 years ago, when my oldest boy was 8, I got involved in what was then called Shaker Baseball League (it was now co-ed).  It was being headed and run by Larry Berman, who I think most players will remember.  There was an amazing cast of characters (Ed Corsi, Micky Covington, Marv Golder, and Phil Bertman).  I was on their board and ran the Junior B division.  When Larry decided to pull the plug because of issues with the city, 3 of us reformed the league as Shaker Youth Baseball League.  It still exists today, but with a different format.  Junior B is now called the Minor League.  We use actual minor league team names instead of missle names.  My favorite is the Savannah Sand Gnats  They play real baseball.  When I took it over, you pitched to your own team.  No walks, no bunts, and no stealing.  You played with a rubber coated ball.  All that has changed.  At 70 years old, I am probably too old to be doing this, but I refuse to retire.  I still get a rush every season watching the kids play.  Plus I meet incredible parents.  Bob Rawson managed for me, as did Ed Dudley.  Dick Fredericks (Chopper) and Bill Rosner had sons that played for me.  And Fred Heinlen ran coaches clinics for us before he passed away.  Rob Forward, who I never knew in high school, helps sponsor our All Star Game.  I also had Richard Mears son manage for me, and his grandsons play.

Dana Shepard (Treister)

Tom~ First may I say I love YOUR picture! This recent one of me in the Joffrey Ballet studios will help clarify my priorities...  That being said...  my recollection is that Tris Speaker's house was on Avalon between Scottsdale and Invermere.  I have forgotten SH directions, but standing on Scottsdale and facing Invermere the house would be on the L side of Avalon.  As you may recall, sometime in the '60's, the city of SH closed off Avalon at Scottsdale, to keep out the Cleveland rif-raf on the other side. Pretty sure Tris Speaker's house WAS on "the other side".  But Gary may remember more clearly?

Arthur Charles Scott

Anybody else remember when The Cleveland Press offered free Indians tickets to kids with straight-A report cards?  You had to go down to their office on E 9th and show the report card to a secretary, and they'd hand you something like 6 pairs of tickets to afternoon games during the summers.  Since, apparently, As in Phys Ed were not required, I took advantage of the deal for 2-3 summers, rode the Rapid, and got to see the tribe play in the daytime  (as all ball games should be played).  Those were the days when Tito Francona was a star on the team, so I'm delighted to root for the Tribe & his kid Terry, even though, now living in the Bay Area, my team is the Giants and I'd otherwise be rooting for the National League team (except the Dodgers).

Gerald G Lyman

Speaking of 1954, my sister Madge just forwarded me my class photo from Sussex School that must have been taken about then. She got it from Ron Heyduk who was also in my class. Speaking of Sussex, it was we who had the best sports teams and my memory tells me we even beat Onaway and the legendary Jerry Goetz. We had the benefit of a couple of jocks who did not stay at Shaker, but undoubtedly regretted it.  I remember Bill Sawyer in particular who suffered later diamond defeats at the hands of the Red Raiders (best HS baseball team in Ohio for a 5 year period in the '60's) when at US and while he was a Yalie by my Tigers while I manned Centerfield ("Put me in Coach, I'm ready to play!"). Speaking of Jerry Goetz, he (from Tampa) and I (from Oregon) have been cheering on the Tribe in absentia. I'll be wearing my politically incorrect Chief Wahoo tee shirt tonight in hopes that it brings luck in defeating those Cubs. My advice to the Indians is the same I gave my Indians Little League team in San Juan Capistrano when they beat Kyle Hendricks: Be ready for the first pitch fastball and lay off the breaking ball out of the zone!

Gary D Hermann

In response to Tom's question, I recall, like Dana, that Tris Speaker's house was on a corner which included Avalon Road, but I can't remember whether it was on the corner of Scottsdale and Avalon or Invermere and Avalon.  Assuming that Scottsdale Boulevard is east/west (I think that's right), and Tris Speaker's house was on Scottsdale, it was on the southeast corner.   I do remember that it was one of the older houses in the vicinity and that it was dark red brick.   For some reason, I think it might have been on Invermere and Avalon (northeast corner).  Tom, I would drive from Lomond towards Scottsdale and, when you stop for the stop sign at Scottsdale, look across the street to the corner on your left and see if it is a dark red brick house.  If it isn't, or it appears to be a house built in the 1950's or later, continue on Avalon, and Speaker's house would then be the next house on your left, probably on the corner of Invermere.   Of course, you can probably know for sure by going to the County Administration Building to the recorder's office and have someone help you find the Grantor/Grantee Index.    If you type in the name Speaker in the Grantee Index, you will likely find the deed (unless he or his wife didn't own the home in his or her name) and, from that, you could determine which house.

Tom, one of these day, I would love to have you show me around what's left of League Park, although I typically only come to Cleveland once every year or two.   I was last in Cleveland for Lee Handel's funeral just before Labor Day, so I don't anticipate being back before next Fall.  

Go Tribe!

Phyllis Hammer (Gubanc)

What a beautiful picture, Dana! Thanks for sharing it.

I'm getting ready to watch the Indians game this evening from glorious Cowlumbus, OH. Paws crossed for Cleveland to win!

I've attached a picture of me and my husband and our neighbors' two kids taken on Hallowe'en. David's birthday is October 31, so Hallowe'en is a BIG day for him. Must give away full-size candy bars. ;-)

Robert A Davis

Tom and Dana,

I delivered one of Cleveland's newspapers (Sun News, Press or News also the Plain Dealer in the morning)

to Tris Speaker.  He said, " Want to play catch?"  Great fun! I made certain my paper route responsibilities left extra time to play catch.  Participating in  the Shaker Boys League, I was selected to the All-Star teams and  one year, I believe 1959, Jerry Goetz, Gerald Lyman, two star left-handers pitched the first six innings and I pitched  the last three.  We combined for a no-hitter but unfortunately lost 1-0 in the 10th inning.  As a  freshman I was pitching, our catcher, Larry Lukasik, the  All-City Star Quarterback and catcher on the baseball team came out to the mound towering over me, and sternly said through his catchers mask grill, "Kid can't you throw faster than 12 miles an hour?  I pumped it up on the next pitch to 18!!  Go Tribe!!! let's Celebrate like its 2016!!

Joseph G Blake

We have all gone silent since the World Series. But Christmas is almost here and its time to wish everyone Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays depending on your outlook. 

A bit of trivia. Some of you may recall the Christmas Tree at Sterling's. I used to see it and Santa every year as a child. What a special treat!  Here was this old fashioned store with a large atriun or courtyard that was five stories tall. And the stories were better than 10 feet each floor. This was the back drop for this very tall tree. It was the largest interior Chrismas tree in the USA at the time. It was 60 feet. By comparison the tree at the Rock Center in NYC this year is 94 feet but its outside. 

The tree at Sterling's had 1500 hundred decorations, a thousand yards of tinsel and sixty pounds of icicles. 

Sterling's never moved to the suburbs and therefore it closed in 1968. But the other stores all disappeared in due course and none of the big 6 department stores survived downtown. Higbee's is a casino- ugh. All the stores either closed or were acquired. Higbee's had the best location at the Terminal but it was acquired by Dillard's and in due course the Terminal store closed,

Higbee's was acquired by the Vans in the late 20s to have a tenant for the Terminal complex. Before that it was overshadowed by Halle's. It was then in the same space later occupied by Sterling's. In the depression years it was sold to John P Murphy and Charles Bradley after the Vans died. They got control of the store for around $50,000.  Murphy and Bradley had been closely associated with the Vans. The store was an after thought to the owners of the Vans Empire.

 
The owner was George Ball who owned the Ball Glass Company which made jars for canning. He bought the Vans Empire in 1935 for a few millions at a bankruptcy sale and then hired the brothers to run it for him. He paid them to run it becasue they were the only ones who understood it. But they died within two years and Ball sold it. The biggest asset, the Alleghany Corporartion which controlled  the Missouri Pacific Railroad was acquired by the Kirbys. A lot of the Cleveland based assets went for distressed prices, Hence why Higbee;s was bought by Murphy and Bradley for so little.

Murphy had no children and his Higbee investment went to the John P Murphy Foundation when he died. He was also a Notre Dame alumnus and the school likewise benefitted.

Merry Christmas to all. And if there is a lesson here,  it is "Buy low, sell high.". 

Phyllis Hammer (Gubanc)

Thank you so much for the trip down memory lane. I vividly remember Sterling's Christmas tree. Higbee's, Halle's and the May Co. I lived for several years in the Chesterfield before moving to Cowlumbus, and there were still remnants of the old Cleveland. I remember working downtown, taking the Rapid into the Terminal, walking through Higbee's....And Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to you all!!!

Dana Shepard (Treister)

Bob Davis~  This is a much-delayed response to your post from 11/2 - which I somehow never saw until today.  GREAT story about Tris Speaker inviting you (the paper boy) to play catch with him!!  You must have been thrilled as a young boy.  Thanks for sharing. 

Meanwhile, regarding the World Series: 2 of my long-standing Chicago girlfriends had a bet. Ginger, originally from Dayton was rooting for our current home-town team.  Joan Sulzer originally from Shaker (2 yrs behind us at SHHS) was passionately cheering on the Indians.  Joan - as the loser - had to treat Ginger to a hot fudge sundae at our local Girardelli just off Michigan Ave.  AND they invited ME (basically a neutral party) to join them to help eat it!  I graciously agreed...  Mmmm!

DANA

Ken LaVetter

Merry Christmas!  Happy Chanukah!  And best wishes for a New Year filled with health, joy, love and prosperity!

Dana Shepard (Treister)

Happy Chanukah!!!

Dietz Hasso Ziechmann

Recently Jeff Chokel and his wife Pat and I attended an annual house-warming party at the Imbornomi's home in the Village at Acacia (I think it;s called). It was nice to see Jeff (whom I didn't know well at Shaker). Not many people got to know me well at Shaker.  We (my brother and two sisters) were kind of isolated on the 4 1/2 Ziechmann property (3 homes. 13 greenhouses, a store,gas station, and a few fields (one of which got plowed annully by a tractorand planted with corn, tomatoes, and garden crops until sometime in the 1960s). There were no children across from us on Warrensville Center Road after the 1950s, we were not part of any religious congregation, and seldom saw any classmates outside of school after finishing with the Cub Scouts and a year or two of the Boy Schools. My contacts outside even my immediate family were limited. I got periodically assigned to do errants to and from the house near us within the compound of my parental great grandmother and when she died of my paternal great-uncle, always diplomatic missions which required a maximum of tact, as they didn't get along very well with the life style and cultural leanings of my mother and her haute culture family. None of my classmates at Shaker from Malvern through high school really knew much about our family background and various incongruous rumors seem to have filled the vacuum. My self-described "reactionary" father and my liberal, more tolerant, and very cosmopolitan mother had continual clashes of temperament and disposition.  John Selman joined us for a family dinner one evening while we were both still in Malvern; no only classmate to have that opportunity.  I remember.his beautiful mother, whom seemed much like Bess Myerson, of Manhattan television fame. We did have some meetings of my Cub Scout pack and once or twice of the Shaker Heights High School Debate Club during the summer period between my Junior and Senior years, virtually the only time when anyone from school got a hint of my mother's Jewish background. The only other times where when the father of Suzy and Cathy Leeb's father talked with my mother in the Malvern School yard and bonded over the fact of being mutual refugees from Hitler's Germany and sharing a common cultural outlook. Suzy Leeb was my high school tour guide during my sophmore year and I instantly fell in love with her, we just seemed so psychologically compatible, sharing some seemingly rare affinities. Oh, if only I had been a person of indendent means!       

Joseph G Blake

Dietz

I do remember you. I recall the considerable property connected to your green house along Warrensville Center Road. Raises two interesting questions. How did you avoid being bought out by the Vans in the 20s?

There were some farmers who held out. There was one who owned the land on which Byron School sits today. He held out for a top dollar price in 1928. Another landowner adjacent to Beachwood and near the Beechmont Country Club took another route.  The village of Woodmere resulted when a farmer did not get the high price he wanted. He sold the property to black buyers as a revenge act. The village always was substantially black. Even today it is 60% black. I think he even had the village incorporated to "protect" his action.

What happened to your property in later years? I seem to recall that the business is no longer operating when I have visited there. A large plot of land like that adjacent to the Shaker Country Club would seem very desirable. 

The story of your mother is interesting. How did she get here? Those stories are often quite interesting.

I drive a lady to her MD here. She is 94. In 1933 when Hitler came to power her father was working at the Berlin Commodities Exchange. He purchased grain for a company that was the largest flour milling company in Germany at the time. He was arrested soon. His employers were Catholics and intervened to get him released and a job in the Netherlands. In 1938 her father accepted a job in New York for the Dutch Cheese Board. She later met her husband at college. He was a professor at Lehigh University. She now has limited vision but her mind and comments are always very interesting. Other than her parents and siblings, the rest of her family died in the Holocaust.

Hope you are doing well. And might share some more.

Joe

Betsy Dennis (Frank)

I wasn't sure where to post this but just read in the online Cleveland Jewish News that Paul Koret passed away.

Evie Fertman (Braman)

Thanks, Betsy, I will check it out and put it on the appropriate list.  If everyone could check the deceased list and let me know of classmates who should be on it please let me know so we can keep the list updated.

Thanks and Happy New Year to everyone!

Howard Reid Bell

Paul's passing was noted in the Dec 30 PD obits. Paul and I were in Ms. Byrd's 6th grade class at Lomond. 

Dana Shepard (Treister)

Yes -- in my 6th grade class, too.  Top row 2nd from right.

DANA

Jeffrey D Woolf

Hi Dietz,

I remember you as well.  Being at the end of the alphabet, we were in home room together & I was active on the debate team.  (Alan Farkas was my partner & we went ot the finals in Columbus).

My parents sold our home on Lytle & moved to LA in 1966, but in the last few years I've been back to visit Evie & my family (Evie apparently knows more of my relatives than I do!).

Regards,

Jeff

Betsy Dennis (Frank)

Ah, that is where I met him first. I was in Ms Byrd's class when we moved to Lomond second semester. I remember getting Christmas cards from Ms. Byrd for years. She had retired to Greenville Ohio.

William K Dickey

Evie, I noticed that Doug Heinlen is not on the deceased list.  You had mentioned his death in a February, 2016 posting.  Thank you so much for the work you do to keep this site working and up to date.  Bill