Once upon a time ...
Middletown becomes the first organized Little League program in Connecticut and New England. The Moose League started play in 1948 with four teams, thanks to the organizational efforts of Bernie O'Rourke, who was the Superintendent of Parks and Playgrounds.
The first four teams were St. Sebastian's, St. John's, South Farms and Staddle Hill. The league voted, at the start of the season, to send its regular season champion to the national championship in Williamsport, Pennsylvania (at that time it was known as the "Kid's National Tournament").
The first Middletown Little League Championship was won by South Farms with a 12-2 record. Both defeats were to Staddle Hill's Ray Bankoski. St. John's finished in second place in the inaugural season.
Members of that South Farms team were: Don Johnson, Victor "Yogi" LaBella, George Dunn, Dick Wamester, Frank Wamester, Fred Bastura, Stephen Fekety, William Inglis, Walter Lefco, Stanley Masztal, John Rybczyk, Frank Rybczyk, Ralph Satterfield, and Stanley Czuba. They were managed by Ed Collins.
1948 Middletown South Farms Team at Wiiliamsport as pictured in the May 14, 1949 Saturday Evening Post.
An All Star team was also selected by the four managers and the two umpires that worked most of the games. The voting was done by position. Four pitchers were selected and then the eight other positions were picked (there was a tie for 3B).
The first Middletown Little League All Stars were: P Sebastian Spada, P Don Johnson, P Ray Bankoski, P Jackie Malone, C Victor LaBella, 1B Jackie King, 2B Billy Dineen, SS Joe Hartigan, 3B George Dunn and Wally Cahill, LF Shaun Cashman, CF Dick Wamester and RF Billy Smith.
Before South Farms left for Pennsylvania, they played an All Star team from the remaining Moose League teams before a crowd of over a thousand at Municipal Field. The Moose All Stars pitched Ray Bankoski of Staddle Hill, Sebastian Spada of St. Sebastian's and Jackie Malone of St. John's. South Farms pitched Don Johnson and John Rybczyk. The All Stars won 4-3 as Joey Jay of Staddle Hill hit a three run homer. Joey Jay went on to have a fine major league career for the Milwaukee Braves and Cincinnati Reds, including back to back 21 win seasons in 1961 and 1962. He was the first Little Leaguer to play in the Major Leagues and the World Series and is shown here in his 1953 Rookie card.
South Farms went to Williamsport PA for the Little League World Series. All the other teams there were All-Star teams and Middletown lost to St. Petersburg, Florida in the first round by the score of 8-0.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E Middletown, CT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 St Petersburg, FL 6 0 1 0 1 x 8 6 0 Lock Haven, PA defeated Florida in the championship game 6-5. Other participants included Little Leagues from Hammonton NJ, Alexandria VA, Corning NY, Harrisburg PA and Williamsport PA.
To read more about the 1948 Kids National Tournament and see some great pictures
of the Middletown team that participated, please click here.
Joey Jay's Major League Career
Jay, Joseph Richardson
Born: August 15, 1935 - Middletown, CT
6'4" 228 lbs. - Bats: Both - Throws: Right
Year Team Win Loss ERA Games IP Hits BB K Saves 1953 Milwaukee N 1 0 0.00 3 10 6 5 4 0 1954 Milwaukee N 1 0 6.50 15 18 21 16 13 0 1955 Milwaukee N 0 0 4.74 12 19 23 13 3 0 1957 Milwaukee N 0 0 0.00 1 .2 0 0 0 1 1958 Milwaukee N 7 5 2.14 18 96.2 60 43 74 0 1959 Milwaukee N 6 11 4.09 34 136.1 130 64 88 0 1960 Milwaukee N 9 8 3.24 32 133.1 128 59 90 1 1961 Cincinnati N 21 10 3.53 34 247.1 217 92 157 0 1962 Cincinnati N 21 14 3.76 39 273 269 100 155 0 1963 Cincinnati N 7 18 4.29 30 170 172 73 116 1 1964 Cincinnati N 11 11 3.39 34 183 167 36 134 2 1965 Cincinnati N 9 8 4.22 37 155.2 150s 63 102 1 1966 Cin / Atl N 6 6 5.05 21 103.1 117 43 63 1 Totals 13 yr. 99 91 3.77 310 1546.1 1460 607 999 7
Joey Jay's World Series Record
New York Yankees won 1961 World Series 4 games to 1
Year Team Win Loss ERA Games IP Hits BB K Saves 1961 Cincinnati N 1 1 5.59 2 9.2 8 6 6 0
