JIM OWENS: A personal note today on Gifford’s great Jim
Owens:
“My name is Wayne Brechtel and I graduated from Johnsonburg High
School in 1967. I signed a professional baseball contract with the
Houston Astros in June of that year. In the winter of 1967, I
played in the Florida Instructional League and Jim Owens, who was
the Major League pitching coach at the time, made it a point to
look me up when he learned that I was from Johnsonburg.
“We became good friends and spent a lot of time fishing and
telling old war stories about this area.
“At the time Jim was living in Naples, Fla., with his family. I
played until 1972 when shoulder problems ended my pro baseball
days. I stayed in contact with Jim until ’73-74.
“I might also add that Jim was known around the baseball world
as ‘Bear.’ He was part of what in those days was known as the
Dalton Gang – Billy Martin, Turk Farrell, Jim Owens. A little on
the rowdy side but all good people.”
MORE GREATS: When a reader suggested a column on great athletes
from this region, we started getting some response:
Don Davis of Bradford called to add a few, such as Stu Barber
who played football for the Owls and went on to a pro career with
the Buffalo Bills first as an offensive lineman and later in the
front office.
Don also named Joe Monago, a great runner for the Owls who
played for Purdue; Paul Stiles, supposedly the “best” basketball
player in the history of Bradford High who also played baseball;
and Tommy Keane whom he described as a “fantastic” athlete.
Tim Dixon of Laurel, Md., writes about athletes of days gone by:
“In the early ’50s, I remember George Dixon who set the record for
the mile at Bradford. The mile record stood for about 20 years and
he did very well at the state meet his senior year. If I remember
correctly he competed against Bud Daly of Kane.”
TODAY’S QUOTE: “When someone tells me they get their news from
the Internet, I want to say: ‘Oh, yeah? So, tell me again, how many
reporters does Yahoo have at City Hall? How many correspondents
from Google are risking their lives in Iraq?’ ” So said David
Zeeck, executive editor, the News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash., 2007.
