Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 6, 1995 TAG: 9502070039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The fourth induction to the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame was a festive occasion Sunday night, but an unpleasant subject intruded like a drunk at a church social.
Discussion of the major-league baseball strike just would not go away.
Charlie Manuel, the hitting instructor for the Cleveland Indians and a member of the six-man 1995 hall of fame class of inductees, probably wished he could escape the strike talk for just one night.
``I've been a member of the players association, and I've been through two strikes,'' he said. ``But I also work for the owner of the Cleveland Indians. If I don't show up for spring training and the owner fires me, is the union going to give me a job?
``I just wish the thing could be over with.''
Not a soul wouldn't have offered a hearty toast to that, or to the other five inductees feted by a large audience at Salem Civic Center.
Also on hand for the eating, drinking and testimonials were honorees John Muse of Rocky Mount and Toler Ransone of Buchanan. Art Howe sent word that he wanted to be there but he would be tied up earning a paycheck while managing in the Caribbean World Series. Bernard ``Junior'' Epperly of Salem died at age 62 in 1986.
Manuel has lived in Roanoke since 1977, but he grew up in Buena Vista before going on to play in the big leagues here and in Japan. Later, he served as a minor-league manager and a scout before taking his current post with Cleveland. The eldest male in a family of five girls and six boys - ``I never slept alone until I was married,'' he said - Manuel was drafted out of Parry McCluer High and has been in baseball ever since.
``I'm not going to retire,'' he said. ``They're going to have to retire me.''
Muse, 82, raised tobacco, corn, hay, and dairy cattle on his farm east of Rocky Mount. He also grew young baseball players on teams he coached, taking that job so seriously that he built a field on his farm that has been in use since 1956.
``He's the original Field of Dreamer,'' said Al Hrabosky, the left-hander who was known as ``The Mad Hungarian,'' the banquet's featured speaker Sunday.
Muse started playing - second base was his position - as a teenager for such teams as the Rocky Mount Dependable Nine and the Rocky Mount Hawks. He continued to play until age 39 and coached and managed until 1993.
``I love baseball,'' he said. ``Messed around with it all my life. I was raised on the farm, and all we had to do was fool around with ball.''
Ransone, 89, can relate to a long career in baseball.
``I stole a base when I was 65,'' he said. ``I came into second and told myself that was the last game I was going to play, but it wasn't.''
Ransone is famous throughout Botetourt County and beyond, which was evident from the large group of relatives and friends who came with him.
``If anybody deserves to be here, you do,'' said Bob Humphreys, a 1994 inductee, to Ransone.
Ransone landed on Omaha Beach and won two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star in World War II. He was a Buchanan fireman for more than seven decades.
But it seemed clear Ransone is just as tickled to be known simply as a cracker-jack catcher.
``I pitched in the Cincinnati Reds organization for six years, but I'll tell you this, Toler was the best catcher I ever threw to,'' said Junior Clark of Buchanan, 66.
Ransone also might have been one of the best pals a man could have. He was telling of a time when he was playing semipro ball in North Carolina. Some wealthy men had been betting on the games, and the league commissioner was trying to get to the bottom of it by questioning the players.
``I never told them a thing,'' Ransone said. ``Those guys were friends of mine.''
Junior Epperly was another whose contributions to the game came largely without fanfare. He was a sandlot coach in Salem for years, a teacher most of all. A couple of his players, Billy Sample and Sandy Hill, went on to play pro ball, and Sample preceded him into the Salem-Roanoke hall.
``When I was growing up, he was the one you wanted to play for if you wanted to best develop your skills and play for a winning team,'' said Hill, who delivered Epperly's induction speech.
Howe's connection to the local baseball scene was through his membership on the old Salem Pirates in 1971. Howe was the Carolina League batting champion that year with an average of .348, 12 home runs, and 48 runs batted in. Howe went on to play in the big leagues with Pittsburgh and Houston and came to be a manager of the Astros. Howe is currently an instructor for the Colorado Rockies.
by CNB