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Members of the Topeka Decker Oilers semi-pro baseball team are shown in this photo from 1953. During the late 1940s and 1950s, the team was a perennial contender for the state semi-pro title, competing each year in the state tournament held in Wichita. The Decker Oilers won the state championship in 1948, placed second three consecutive years (1950-1952), and finished third in 1955 and 1957. The 1953 team shown here tied for fourth. Pictured in the back row are (l to r): pitcher Junior Coffman; pitcher Ed Wilson; third baseman Don Kirkwood; pitcher Justin Brown; first baseman Bill Sampson; pitcher Burt Coffman; center fielder Hap Houlik; pitcher/second baseman Harland Coffman; and, first baseman Harlan Mowbray. In the front row are (l to r): manager Vern Coffman; shortstop Dick McConnell; outfielder Bob Crites; second baseman Mace Pool; left fielder Ed Coffman; outfielder Leo Fergel; right fielder Ray Johnson; and, catcher John Burkhardt. The bat boy seated on the left is Ed "Butch" Coffman, Jr.; the other boy is unidentified. 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.
Date: July 19, 1953
Item Number: 306082
Call Number: 2014-137
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 306082
Collections - Photograph
Community Life - Recreation and Sports - Sports - Baseball
Date - 1950s - 1953
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/306082