The Thorp Courier

Thorp High School Alumni Letter

May 16, 2007 
Transcribed by Dolores Mohr Kenyon

Greetings To Thorp Alumni

SUNDAY BASEBALL (part 2)

Continued from April 18, 2007 issue of the Thorp Courier

Written by John “Boo John” Harycki ‘51

Another standout player with whom I played for years was my catcher, Chet Strzok. Chet joined the team about the same time as I, in 1951.  However, he was older because he had just been discharged from the army and was labeled “Rookie” Strzok for the rest of his career.  Chet was a big, strapping farm boy, who stood about 6’2” and weighed 195 pounds, all bones and muscle.  Chet was one of the best catchers and hitters ever to play for Thorp.  He hit for average and power and had a strong arm. Chet had all the enthusiasm and joy of playing that one found in young players of that era.  He was also tough as nails and I shall never forget the time he caught one of my pitches on the thumb of his bare hand and started shaking it after each pitch.  Before the next batter, he called time and trotted out to the mound.  He said that his thumb hurt and showed me the injury – the bone was protruding from the joint.  I winced and waved him to the bench – where they rushed him to a doctor.  Knowing Chet, I’m sure he played the following Sunday.

During the years of the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s, when I viewed and played, many and varied athletes made their mark on Sundays.  It would be impossible to mention everyone so I shall attempt to list some of the more memorable players.  My earliest memories are of the older players such as Ben Wiernacz, a smooth-fielding first basemen; Gay Asselin, a fast, hard-hitting outfielder; Vic Dombrowski, one of the best hitters I ever saw.  He claimed that on a good day he could see every seam on the ball as he prepared to hit.

After this group, a number of players joined the team who had spent years in the military, during WWII.  Upon their return, they brought with them no (not) only talent but an experience from living in different cultures.  Among these players was Leon Wnek, the “Manila Bomber,” comes to mind.  Leon was a truly fine hitter, but an outfielder with limited range.  Billy “the Kid” Huls returned from service in the Philippines with all the speed at the shortstop position any wanted.  Billy also ‘talked it up’ at short by consistently hollering Philippine expressions.  I will never forget his ‘hokomo mokotoy’ refrain.  He never explained its translation and I’m not sure he was certain of the meaning.

The years that I played, I had the good fortune to play with many other standouts in addition to Corky, Slug and Jug.  The first I need to mention is Frank ‘Lefty’ Winarczyk.  He was one of the craftiest competitive pitchers I ever saw.  Frank was small in stature but he had the heart of a lion and was a master of the breaking ball.  I was viewed by some as his heir apparent as I was also a left-handed pitcher.  However, Frank was not one to surrender his hard-won crown easily and for a number of years he remained the number one pitcher.  A major difference between us was that Frank pitched with pinpoint control, while I threw very hard but often finished a game with 14 strikeouts and 12 walks – which meant a lot of “standing” for the fielders.  Other players on those stand-out teams were the aforementioned Ralph “Doc” Stuesser, a fine-fielding, good-hitting second basemen.  Doc, a veterinarian, was one of the very few college-educated players of those times.  He was also one of the few who were not originally from the Thorp area.  I will close this chapter with references to two more men with whom I played and our business manager. Al Braun was a fleet center fielder who was a few years older than I and also came to the team from another area of the state.  The final player who deserved special mention was the only player on the team from my high school class.  Gerald “Porky” Soderberg was an outfielder who had been my best friend throughout high school.  He and I were cut from the same cloth in many ways – both mischievous and devotees of all sports.  Porky played all three sports also.  However, he excelled at football and I was nothing more than an average to below-average end on our championship football teams.  Porky usually played outfield and always played with great enthusiasm and a perpetual grin.  I shall close this section with a memory of a game and play which typifies Porky’s efforts.  The game took place in Marshfield at night after a morning rain.  The field still had several large puddles of water in the outfield and there was a particularly large stand of water in the right field in the exact area where the fielder ordinarily played.  Porky was our right-fielder that night and he had a bit of trepidation about playing the area and circumventing the water.  He did so with some success until the 3rd or 4th inning when a fly ball was hit to right, heading directly for the water.  As it was high and eminently catchable, Porky decided the best manner to make the out was to back up on the dry ground, take a hard run, and catch the ball while leaping over the puddle.  A good plan, but alas, he had not calculated the height of the ball or the width of the puddle correctly.  As he came barreling toward the ball, he jumped as he reached the edge of the water and looked up at the ball.  Unfortunately, his speed was such that he flew under the ball in his attempt to straddle the puddle.  He reached back over his head while in mid-air, watched the ball go over his outstretched glove, and landed ignominiously with a loud splash on his back in the middle of the puddle.  Needles to say, Porky took years of ribbing from all of us and earned a new nickname, “Wetback.”

No account of Thorp baseball would be complete with out acknowledgement of the team’s business manager, publicist, schedule director and master of every other nefarious matter.  Arthur “Pat” Soderberg was Gerald’s older brother and the age difference between the two was so great that many of us viewed Pat as Porky’s father. At any rate, Pat possessed the business acumen and social skills and strong sense of humor to deal with the widely varied collection of athletes and fans of the team.  I know that he has chronicled some of his memories of our best teams such as the 1952 team that went to the state tournament in Milwaukee.  This was a very memorable event for me because I had just graduated from high school in May and was a 19 year old pitcher on one of the best teams in the state. While there are many anecdotes illustrating Pat’s witticism, I should like to close this chapter with one involving a game I would rather forget.  As I recall, we had just concluded a game at home in which I finished with 3 strike-outs in 3 at bat.  Needless to say, I hurried to leave the park in a pique of anger and embarrassment.  I jumped in my car and backed out as fast as I could.  Unfortunately, I didn’t see the fence post behind me and hit it with a loud thud.  As this all took place behind the first base bleachers, several people looked around upon hearing the noise and saw what happened.  One of the viewers was Pat Soderberg, who immediately shouted, “Hey, Boo John, that’s the first thing you hit all day!”

John “Boo John” Harycki

2007 ALL-THORP ALUMNI REUNION
Fri. July 6th and Sat. July 7th
TAA, P.O. BOX 75, THORP, WI 54771