THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 16, 1996 TAG: 9608160588
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 119 lines
Locating cities like Nashville or Omaha on a map is easy, like Babe Ruth hitting a slow, hanging curve.
But searching for towns like Ansonia, Conn.; Alacosta, Calif.; or Nederland, Texas, requires a little digging, like finding the prize in a box of Cracker Jack.
Teams representing those five communities, and clubs from Middletown, N.J.; Hammond, Ind.; and Coos Bay, Ore., were scheduled to arrive Thursday, less than 48 hours before the start of the 1996 Babe Ruth World Series at Manteo High School, where a Dare County all-star team is the host.
Play begins in the nine-team double elimination tournament at 2 p.m. Saturday, and the teams represent the diversity of the nation.
Ansonia, Conn., population 18,355, was founded in 1844, and named for Anson G. Phelps, who expanded his copper mill to the banks of the Naugatuck River, between New Haven and Danbury.
For residents of the 6.2-square-mile town, the annual Pumpkin Festival in nearby Seymour, Conn., is a big draw. A long way from the small-town feel of Ansonia is the glitz and glamour of Nashville, the largest city represented in the series, with a population 1,082,627. Best known as ``Music City, U.S.A.,'' Nashville is the capital of the country music world. At the Country Music Hall of Fame you can get a glimpse of Elvis Presley's gold Cadillac.
But Nashville is also known as ``the Athens of the South'' because 16 four-year colleges are located in Nashville. The town is also known as ``the City of Parks,'' because 5,000 acres are preserved for parks.
Nashville is the hometown of Olympic gold medalists Wilma Rudolph and Tracy Caulkins. Television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey went to school at Tennessee State University.
Among big events in Nashville: Fan Fair, featuring Country Music's biggest stars, and Christmas at the Opryland Hotel, when the hotel is decorated with more than 1 million lights.
Nashville may have its glamour, but Omaha has given a number of stars to the silver screen, including Henry Fonda, Marlon Brando, Nick Nolte and Fred Astaire.
The city, population 356,000, is also the birthplace of former President Gerald Ford.
Omaha is into baseball: Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson is an Omaha native. And each year, the elite of college baseball go to Rosenblatt Stadium for the College World Series. The Omaha Royals are Kansas City's Triple A affiliate.
Omaha, like the rest of Nebraska, played a pivotal role in the development of the American West. The trial of Chief Standing Bear was held there in 1879.
``Chief Standing Bear was a member of the Ponca tribe, who was arrested by federal troops as he tried to take his son home for burial,'' said Gary Miller, an assistant at the Nebraska Department of Travel and Tourism in Lincoln.``He was put on trial, and on May 12, 1879, Judge Elmer Dundy ruled that Native Americans were human beings, and had the right to travel as they pleased. It was a major ruling.''
Arguably, the cleanest team at this year's World Series will come from Hammond, population 84,000 and home of Lever Brothers, the soap manufacturer.
``We call ourselves `the Soap Bar Capital of the World,' '' said Dennis Terry, executive vice president of the Hammond Chamber of Commerce. ``Lever Brothers makes more soap than anyone else.''
Gene Sheppard, author of the short story ``A Christmas Story,'' was born in Hammond. The tale of Ralphie and his quest for a ``Genuine Red Rider B.B. Gun,'' was later made into a classic holiday movie.
Nederland, Texas, population 17,000, prides itself on being the only Dutch-settled town in Texas.
Farmer George Renstraw founded the community in 1898. Along with its Dutch heritage, there's also a strong French influence, thanks to the number of Cajuns who left South Louisiana to settle in Nederland, 45 minutes into Texas.
The most famous Nederlander?
``Tex Ritter,'' said Cindy Clifton, executive director of the Chamber. ``He's the one we tell everybody about.''
The life and career of the singing cowboy are celebrated at Nederland's Dutch Windmill Museum.
``The bottom floor has a lot of Tex Ritter's things - boots, hats, that kind of thing,'' Clifton said. ``The other floors have Dutch artifacts.''
In sports, Nederland's Buddy Davis won a gold medal in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
Like the other towns in the series, Coos Bay has its own sports hero. The late distance runner Steve Prefontaine was born in Coos Bay.
``They're making a movie about him,'' said Heidi Niblack, an information assistant at the Chamber of Commerce.
The town is part of the 32,000-population community known as Oregon's Bay Area, which includes North Bend and Charleston.
Coos Bay was founded in the 1850s as a timber and fishing town.
And, although it is the farthest tournament entrant from North Carolina, it is closest in its makeup to the Outer Banks.
``We have a lot of dunes and beaches in Coos Bay,'' Niblack said.
The Alacosta club comes from the San Francisco Bay-area suburbs of Pleasanton, Dublin and San Ramon.
Pleasanton, population 57,347, is the home of the Alameda County Fair, as well as the Scottish Games, the largest such event in the West. In an earlier time, Pleasanton was a popular location for Hollywood filmmakers.
Dublin, population 26,700, brings a little luck 'o the Irish to the tournament. Primarily a retail hub, the town's biggest draw is the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration.
San Ramon big leaguers Mark McGuire and Dennis Eckersley are among its population of 40,000. The town was settled in the 1800s, and is home to the annual Wind Festival.
Livermore, population 65,500, is home of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The lab plays a critical role in the space and defense industries, as well as environmental research.
For visitors to the area who want to toast the success of the lab, there are 15 vineyards in the community.
Among celebrities born in Livermore: former heavyweight boxer Max Baer.
Celebrity-watching is a big deal in the New Jersey communities that make up Iron Area, around Middletown, where AT&T has its corporate home.
Middletown's 70,000 residents include Geraldo Rivera, and Connie Chung and her husband Maury Povich. Rocker Bruce Springsteen lives nearby.
``We're located in Monmouth County on the Jersey Shore,'' said Patti Baxter, executive director of the Middletown Area Chamber of Commerce.
Middletown is the 14th-largest town in New Jersey. Gugliemo Marconi sent radio signals from the surrounding Highland Hills.
Baseball is the common thread that ties the World Series towns together.
Nederland's Cindy Clifton echoed the other towns' representatives when she said, ``The people here love to watch the kids play ball.'' ILLUSTRATION: BASEBALL CHAMPIONHSIP IN DARE COUNTY
Map
The Virginian-Pilot by CNB