There’s a lot to be learned from history – but to learn from it, we must preserve it.
Lebanon County has a long and storied sports history. Bill Rakow is a local sports enthusiast who’s seeking to preserve a small but important piece of local sports history while playing homage to his ancestry.
“Sports are just activities you enjoy doing,” said Rakow, himself a former athlete, coach, and school counselor. “It’s a way for people from all walks of life to come together and become a team, a family. Then you give it all you got to see if you can win a championship.”
Rakow has something to show you, something to tell you about. It’s a photograph, an artifact, and altogether a story about the 1937 Lebanon American Legion baseball team, which was sponsored by the William H. Bollman Post 158 at 1410 Lehman St., Lebanon.
That group, which was made up of 16-, 17- and 18-year-old city boys, was the only team from Lebanon County to ever win a state American Legion baseball championship. For some perspective and context, please consider that American Legion baseball has been played in these parts for nearly a hundred years.
In the summer of 1937, Lebanon went 3-0 at the American Legion state championships at Lauer’s Park in Reading to capture the coveted Thomas Shibe trophy. The Bollman lads, who were managed by Ralph Leonard and coached by Sammy Angle, defeated host Reading, the defending Pennsylvania titlists, twice at the event, including 7-5 in the final game.
The state championship qualified Lebanon for a spot in the American Legion national tournament at Flint, Michigan, where it competed against clubs from Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. The 14-member team took a train from Harrisburg to Michigan, and they were escorted to the station before departure by the Bollman post drum and bugle corps.
American Legion baseball, which was founded in South Dakota in 1925, is an amateur baseball program conducted mainly during the summer months. Today, young people from all 50 states and Canada participate in the program.
American Legion baseball was first played in Lebanon County in 1929.
The Lebanon city entry in the Lebanon County American Legion has won 11 local titles over its long history. At some point in the franchise’s history, the Lebanon franchise began playing its home games at Fifth Ward Athletic Club, 750 N. 15th Ave., Lebanon.
Rakow is currently in the process of locating a permanent and proper home for the team photo of the 1937 Lebanon American Legion baseball team and the baseball that was used during the state championship-winning game over Reading. He sees it as a way of preserving the legacy of that team.
Both the 1938 and 1948 Myerstown entries in the Lebanon County American Legion Baseball League finished as runners-up at the state tournament.
“Being a scholar in history it drives my passion for artifacts,” said Rakow. “We should know our history. It’s very, very important. It’s important to recognize people who did significant things. There’s a pride thing involved with it too.
“No, I don’t think people know about it,” added Rakow about the 1937 team. “That’s why I thought it was important to tell the story. I think people in Lebanon should know about this and they should feel proud about our heritage.”
Rakow doesn’t know a whole lot of specifics about that special Lebanon team, it’s back story or its makeup or character, only what his uncle, Dr. Alex Rakow, told him about it. A senior at Lebanon High School at the time, Rakow was the catcher on that team.
In addition to Rakow, other members of the Lebanon team included pitcher Johnny Herr, pitcher Pud Zimmerman, pitcher Bob Steiner, outfielder Don Obenstine, outfielder Gene Paine, outfielder Bob Sando, outfielder Wally Hess, infielder Don Peiffer, infielder Ralph Mease, infielder Jack Lamphier, infielder Eddie Resovsky, utility player Eugene Baker, and catcher Lauren Seabold.
Rakow’s relationship with his uncle is what makes the story of the 1937 Lebanon American Legion baseball team so personal to him.
“He wanted me to have the baseball, and he wanted people to know how good of a team they were,” said Rakow, a 78-year-old resident of North Lebanon Township. “My uncle was the catcher, so maybe that’s how he ended up with the ball. I want to get it out there and have people know about the team.”
All of 5’6″and 120 pounds, Rakow’s Uncle Alex was as smart and tenacious as he was athletic. Alex Rakow played baseball and football at Lebanon High, before going on to play center on the football team at Lebanon Valley College.
Following a distinguished career in the health field, Alex Rakow died in 2010 at age 90.
“I think he was way above average,” said Rakow of Uncle Alex’s athletic prowess. “He would hustle to the point of exhaustion. He gave it everything he had, and he never made excuses. He was a tough competitor. For him, that’s what he had to do to play. He was raised to have that kind of standard. He was just a great individual. He was a fine, fine person.”
Also way above average was Rakow’s connection with his uncle.
Alex Rakow would show up at his nephews’ sporting events and that support at least partly contributed to Bill’s athletic career, which included playing football for legendary head coach Norbie Danz at Lebanon Catholic, a modest stint of professional football after a distinguished career at Adams State University in Colorado, and 50 years of coaching basketball, football and track and field.
“We were very, very close,” said Rakow. “We loved him so much. It was a loving relationship with our uncle.”
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