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This photograph from 1952 shows members of the Topeka Decker Oilers during the trophy presentation ceremony following the team's second-place finish in the state semi-pro baseball tournament in Wichita. The team entered the July 30 championship game with a 6-1 tournament record, but lost the title to the powerful Wichita Boeing Bombers by a score of 8-2. Pictured in the photo are (l to r): Bob Crites; unidentified; unidentified; unidentified; shortstop Don Kirkwood; pitcher Junior Coffman (wearing jacket); pitcher Burt Coffman (also wearing jacket); catcher Lou Stover; Butch Coffman (Ed Coffman's son, wearing plaid shirt); unidentified; left fielder Ed Coffman; unidentified (face almost entirely obscured); manager Vern Coffman (holding trophy); first baseman Ray Hickey; unidentified woman; and, right fielder Ray Johnson. During the late 1940s and 1950s, the Decker Oiler team was a perennial contender for the state semi-pro title, competing each year in the state tournament held in Wichita. The team won the state championship in 1948, placed second three consecutive years (1950-1952), and finished third in 1955 and 1957. Digital reproduction of the photograph was accomplished through a joint project sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society and the Shawnee County Baseball Hall of Fame.
Creator: Hemenway, Dane
Date: July 30, 1952
Item Number: 306081
Call Number: 2014-137
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 306081
Collections - Photograph
Community Life - Recreation and Sports - Sports - Baseball
Date - 1950s - 1952
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Photograph
Places - Cities and towns - Topeka
Places - Cities and towns - Wichita
Places - Counties - Sedgwick
Places - Counties - Shawnee
Type of Material - Photographs
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/306081