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AFL Emails from Players’ Families
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Jack Connell: W. H. « Dutch » Konneman, who managed at Andalusia (1936) and Eufaula (1952 & 1953)
was my wife’s grandfather. Dutch was a friend of « Shoeless » Joe Jackson and was an honorary pallbearer at Jackson’s funeral. Joe Jackson was godfather to my wife’s older sister. Dutch was also an outstanding pitcher in his younger days and may have spent time with the Atlanta Crackers, although I have not been able to verify that. He later scouted for the Brooklyn Dodgers. |
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John Donner: My Grandfather, Bernie Donner, played on the 1947 All-Star team. He played
in Andalusia. He has an interesting story about a player named Manny Russo. Russo played with half of a left hand. He got it chopped off in World War II by a Japanese man with a machete. Russo claims to have killed the man with is bare hands. Because of Russo’s injury, he had occasional trouble with losing his bat on the backswing. This lead to an altercation during one game, when Russo took a full swing, losing grip of the bat which came around and hit the opposing catcher in the back of his neck below the helmet, knocking him out. |
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Adam Ronscavage: My name is Adam Ronscavage, the son of John Ronscavage, pictured in your 1948 Andalusia
Arrows. It is also the picture that is contained on the mouse pad that is for sale. I found the page by typing in my last name on a Google search. Well, I had no idea that this picture was out there. Of course, I was instantly excited. I immediately called my dad and had him bring up the site. He remembered everyone and had some great stories to tell. |
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David Butler: My father is Cecil Butler. He played with the 1957 Panama City Team. Later went
on to play with the Milwaukee Braves in ’62 and ’64. I think he would be interested in joining any reunions in the future |
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Edwina (Collins) Glover (sent by Lane Harris) : My brother, Walter Collins, played with the Dothan team and
my sister Kay married Bobby Berry, who played for the Graceville Oilers. They are still married and live in Dallas, Texas. |
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Ric Harbin (nephew of Ewing Harbin): Ewing Harbin (1936 Andalusia, 1937 Evergreen) was my uncle.
I was thrilled to find his photo on your site. My home burned down in 1993 and I lost many records of my family. Uncle Ewing didn’t have any kids, so I felt a responsibility to gather as much information about him as possible. My dad told me him went to Florida for a major league tryout, I believe as a pitcher. He blew his arm out and never made it to the majors. If you have any additional information on Suddreth Ewing Harbin I would greatly appreciate it. |
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Michael Donner (Bernie Donner’s son): I just saw your 1947 Andalusia Arrows team picture, in which
you indicated that the only person identified was Manny Russo. I can identify the person standing second from the left as my father, all star shortshop Bernard « Casey » Donner. I also just finished reading for the umpteenth time your interview with my dad posted on your interview page. I can tell you that my dad likes to do nothing more than talk about baseball. Just last month, in fact, he was out in his backyard in Richmond Virginia teaching my 11 year old son ( a pretty fair left handed pitcher) how to throw a knuckleball ( a left-handed knuckleballer!!). At almost 76, my dad still has a pretty good knuckleball! |
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Neal Middlebrook: My uncle Bruce Middlebrooks (deceased) played for Troy I think from 1935-39/40?
My grandmother had clippings of the local Troy newspaper sent to her by Bruce with his baseball stats. The web site is excellent. I was really surprised to find all that information and the excellent photo of the 1939 Troy Trojans with my uncle’s picture. I will pass this on to his sons, my cousins. Bruce enlisted in the Army in 1941 and was sent to the South Pacific. After the service he started playing golf and became very good. He considered playing professional golf but, was never able find a sponsor. He’s in the Guinness Book of World Records for winning the U. S. Amateurs left-handers golf tournament for 4 years. |
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Brandon Shaw: I saw your web site and was very impressed. I am trying to find anything on my father
Marvin Shaw, Pitcher. In 1954 while trying out for the Panama City Fliers, he played and pitched in some of the spring training baseball games. He only played in spring training, and after it was over, my father went on to do better things. The Panama City Herald Newspaper, dated March 26 1954, had a picture of my Dad and brief description which read: WAR VETERAN – Marvin Shaw, 22 -year old Panama City Filer righthander from Philadelphia, is a veteran of the Korean War. He saw plenty of action with his tank corps (Staff photo by Frank Pericola ). I’m trying to find out anything relating to my Dad: Spring Training box scores, contracts , photos , information cards, media guide, Spring Training roster showing my dad uniform number, the transaction when they released him, etc . This is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. |
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Marie Meeks: I can’t wait to see your finished web site. My father played for Opelika sometime
in the 40’s. He is deceased so I can’t tell you what years. However, I hope to see something about him on your website. His name was Edward Kreamcheck. |
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Dottie Davis Kilpatrick: My father was Fred Davis. He died in 1997. When He died he was doing
research for a book on the Alabama-Florida League. I have saved tons of material- Scrapbooks, notes, black & white photos, etc. I will have to get a scanner and share some of it. My Dad would be thrilled if he could see your website. I have been looking for a way to share it since I don’t have time to write a book right now. He was the owner of the Pensacola |