=Ol 4 .niimimulimmiummimmuminfinimni,,.....minguimiiminimimmimmminimouffiliong r.chnig,.. ,„ B Baseball Coach T e ll s o f D ays Past st immuumminnithimmummimumniinnumthounniimiminwilmunimumumminimommiummonmll, Don Kepler Remembers Williams and Ruth By DAN DONOVAN Assistant Sports Editor It is not hard to write a story about Don Kepler. All you have to do is just list some of the sports thrills this 61-year-old physical education instructor has experienced and you have to cap ture any reader's interest. A talk with this engaging man would send Al Capp away with his mouth hanging open. It's hard to believe that one person could cram so many experiences into his life, yet Kepler tells tale after tale to anyone who will listen. He talks of Walter Johnson, Ted Williams and Ty Cobb. Anyone who has had sports lecture has heard Kepler talk of survival training and his experiences on hunting and fishing trips could fill about three books. Kepler has managed the best players in baseball, been a bounty hunter to make ends meet during the depression and taught the Peace Corps how to survive in the woods. Kepler started his career near Penn State as he was born nearby on a small farm. He started hunting when he was only five, but can't recall killing a bear until he was much older than Laughter, Heartaches; State Lacrosse, 1969 By WARREN PATTON Collegian Sports Writer Even the most fanatical Penn State lacrosse fan could hardly have called this season a successful one, at least in view of the outcome of competition. The Lions managed but four wins in ten matches, often being able to put 14 to 15 healthy players in action while the three or four re maining wounded observed the action from prone positions on Centre County Hospital stretchers. Injures racked them to the point that they were often outmanned, outgunned, out shot, outhit and, consequently, out cold. Then of course, there were those games where a bad bounce, a bad shot or an interfering swamp frog monkey wrenched an otherwise fine effort into one of those Mon day morning midfielder games, full of second guessing. It was just a season of bad breaks that only a sympathetic masochist could have enjoyed. William Bell must have had visions of this in mine when he lyricked "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all." Yet, competition aside, . it was not a depressing sea son for the players. Unlike - what one would expect, the players did not re-enter " locker room slashing wr and fooling around w plastic bags. This was r that kind of lacrosse teal Sure they were dedicated the sport and to their coa( but they were also a te; of individuals who accept defeat and then lived to 1 another day. They were] stereotyped into the c head- hanging. sackcic modesty but, rather, we. unspoiled human beings wl displayed their individu: ism, whether it ranged fr( Don Stone's goatee to Da• Schock's shock of hair, Galen Godbcy's cowb( style bandana to coach Di Pencek's wild bells. Close Knit This was also a very close team. one that did DICK PENCEK things together, both on and popular coach off the field. It was a team that stuck together as a group, whether it was weathering an attack of Syracuse men-mountain's or the misguided blasts of some fledgling reporter. Ask a player about his stickhandling and he'll tell you that reserve goalie Al Dree land could start for 75'; , of this team's opponents. Ask an other about his scoring and he'll tell you that the biggest crime in America would be for defenseman Gerry Curtin not to make the All-America squad. "We were a very close team, a very mature team," Penn State's monstrous midfielder Galen Godbey said. "You get a lot of satisfaction playing for a team like this, even if it doesn't always show up in the wins and losses." "We didn't have a great year but that doesn't always matter," Curtin said. "The team was a great bunch of guys and everybody put out." "They were an exceptionally dose group." Pencek echoed. "If we ever had any problems, we settled them within the group, though we rarely had to do that. If any • at girls really • ap reciate• Girls really appreciate being taken out for a Prime Broiled Filet at the PUB Restaurant, State College. $3.95 with baked Idaho potato, a tossed salad, hot buttered rolls, and beverage. How much they appreciate it, we're not prepared to say. PUB RESTAURANT AND LOUNGE .51 a m t, , 1450 South Atherton Street State College, Pa. Reservations 238-3001 Ext. 380 Daniel Boone's three years He was interested in baseball at an early age and looked up to Walter Johnson and Ty Cobb. He came to Penn State as a shortstop in 1930, but was soon cured of it by Lion coach Hugo Bezdec. Bezdec was athletic director, football coach, baseball coach and water boy back then, but he soon saw pitching potential in the strong right hander. He started Kepler on what became a long pitching career. Kepler played for the White Sox In 1931 and In 1932 he performed for his hero Walter John son and in the Washington Senators. When he played for the White Sox farm team at Indian apolis he was able to get his name In the record books for the first time. Indianapolis was one of the first baseball teams in the country to have lights. The Cincin nati Reds, wishing to buy lights themselves, came to Indianapolis to play and to experience night games. Kepler had the honor of pitching in the first game a major league team played at night. He bummed around the minors, pitching in several leagues, until the Second World War. He problems ever developed on the field, I'd consult the kids before making any major decisions." This closeness had to be a plus factor for the too-often injury riddled Lions. Any other team might have thrown down their gloves and sticks and taken up less dangerous activities, like javelin catching, No matter how few were able to suit up, they never lost the spirit to do their thing. "It took guts to keep going," Godbey said," especially when you had only 15 bodies out there (a lacrosse team fields 10). Oftentimes we had to borrow five or six guys from the freshmen just so we could have a full scrimmage. When you see teams from small schools like Lebanon Val ley with 55 traveling players, you have to be close." "Closeness definitely made coaching more enjoyable," Pencek said. "The kids had the enthusiasm that helped make it that way. They kept this even one day when we had only 11 healthy players and the coaches had to suit up just to have a decent workout." If Pencek enjoyed coaching the team, having Pencek coach them made lacrosse a hundredfold more enjoyable for the players. To them, he wasn't a coach with an over bearing holier-than-thou attitude, but an adviser, teacher and human being as well. "He's just a tremendous guy," Curtin said. •'He's gone out of his way to help somebody on this team at one time or another." "He's a teacher in the broadest sense of the word," Godbey said. He helps you with your schoolwork if neces sary, besides being a great coach. You always want to put out for a man like Pencek." Probably no better example of Pencek's feelings for his team can be drawn than his retiring the number of goalie Jim McGuone, setting a precedent for lacrosse play ers. It was McGuone's outstanding network that kept the Lions in many of the games this year, but it was typical of Pencek to recognize it in this way. "I didn't know that he was going to do that," Mc- Guone said. It really surprised me. He's a fabulous guy, kind of the antithesis of the typical phys. ed. teacher." On bus trips, an outside observer might notice a clus ter of players in one section of the vehicle. No, it's not the world champion collegiate floating crap game, it's just the players sitting and gabbing the ride away around their coach, who is probably throwing some interesting side lights into the problem of the increasing rabbit population of Australia, or something like that. Quoting him is more interesting than watching the Philadelphia Eagles play football. It's often as funny, also. The past season had to be one of the great disappoint ments for Pencek. The loss of All-American attackmen Ken Edwards in pre-season play squashed the chances of this being the greatest lacrosse team in Penn State's history. Bad breaks and other injuries to his depthless talent forced his men to the wall, from which they never were really able to ad vance. The fact that Pencek couldn't move them, however, means that probably no other man alive could have ac complished the task. Sorry, WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO RESCHEDULE THE JULIAN BOND LECTURE THIS TERM Ticket Refunds will be Made next Monday & Tuesday in 203 HUB - ICCB - 4 1, • . , T 0 Iti —ALio it a / 0 /u 40 ..- •:., •...- warmly welcome x ( o k l ef their new initiates` ••• , io 6.). Sally Bailey Mary Kay Kost ' '\.... Gerri Carroll Clare Mooney v r. 5 Sue Ann Durbin Che ry l O'Dell tre f ,, ec k , ik, wa 1 0 Suzy Fryberger Robin Reese ‘ I, 7 1, ` Rosy Gray Gait Rubini '4, giii Barbara Gregory Nancy Wentzel ' a / , ' / Bev Hepler ' * ;. "VAVAWO 44' THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA entered the Navy'and became an instructor on the Naval,Aviltion Pre•Flight Training Team. Here he got his chance to become a manager. Eighteen major league stars were assigned to the same base as Kepler, and they organized a team. Prominent among the players were Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Harry Kraft and Johnny Sain. Kepler became great friends with Williams. "When he first came, had heard that he was hard to handle, but we seemed to hit it off from the start," Kepler recalls. "He liked the outdoors and we talked a lot about hunting and fishing. After a while, he became a real nut on fishing." Williams became such a nut on fishing that he received a $lOO,OOO a year job with Sears and Roebuck testing fishing equipment. He owes part of that to Don Kepler. The Navy team, stocked with major league players, was named the outstanding service team and was asked to play the New York Yankees. Babe Ruth was retiring and the Yankees wanted to give him a chance to manage the team just once. Kepler and Ruth shared the same locker in Yankee Stadium as opposing managers and the Guts Kept Them Playing Retires A Jersey The Sisters of Kathy Zellner • • Major T n I Williams Plans Leagues,!! m 11 .1 U.O By The Associated Press AMERICAN LEAGUE y ® Rest Relievers East Division W. L. Fret. G.B. Baltimore 32 14 .696 Boston 27 15 .643 3 Detroit 21 18 .538 7 1 / 2 New York 21 24 .467 10 1 / 2 Wash'n. 22 26 .459 11 Cleveland 10 27 .270 171/2 West Division 571 .564 lb .489 2 1 / 2 488 31 .475 3 1 / 2 . 300 11 Minnesota 24 18 Oakland 22 17 Kansas City 21 22 Seattle 20 21 Chicago 17 19 California 12 28 Yesterday's Scores Senators 4, Twins 3 Red Sox 4, Royals 3 ... rues amp A People Read Small Ads rl You're Reading One Now! Henry Cooper ' leeeeeeeeeeseeeee••••••4 Forfeits Title e THIS SATURDAY At ... • • • ' 0 OPERATION , • 0 I ENTERTAINMENT a • ,-- 1 • Central Pennsylvania's Newest and Finest • i mk e YOUNG ADULT NITE CLUB • 111. In the Former Brand X Building at the Y on the • Benner Pike, Between State College and Bellefonte • • 4 2, FRIDAY NIGHT 9.12 188 ID 0 MEMORIAL DAY SPECIAL—SI.OO 0 0 featuring • 1 0BOBBY FULTON REVUE • ~. from Harrisburg • ,• SATURDAY NIGHT 8:30-12:00 $2.00 • Brenda & The Tabulations I• • :0 Pies the TEARDROPS el A outstanding group from Pittsburgh * I•••••••••••••••••••••fi LONDON (AP) Henry Cooper, British heavyweight boxing champion for 10 years, resigned his title yesterday because British authorities would not recognize his propos ed fight with Jimmy Ellis of Louisville, Ky., as a world title bout. The 35-year-old Cooper' still retains his British Empire ti tle. For Good Results Use Collegian Classifieds HOW to Write Job• Winning Resume Instructions and examples. Send for free details! Executive Resumes Box 246CP, Montclair, N.J. 07042 Buck passing starts here. ii The Daily Collegian I 111 Box 467 State College, Pa. 16801 Name Summer Address City Code L El NI amm T , h2 . pictures of the two skippers •at home plate ap peared on the front page of nearly every newspaper in the country. "The Babe enjoyed hunting," Kepler said, "and we made plans (or him to come to my plaCe after the war to do a little hunting. Un fortunately, he was struck with cancer and we never got a chance to do it." Kepler's team pounded the 'Yankees, 15-2. to ruin the Babe's last appearance in jersey No. 3. "We had all the players," Kepler said. Kepler helped to write the Naval survival manual during the war, and then was named one of heads of a Naval survival school for pilots, the first such school in the world. He returned to his farm after the war, but came to Penn State to give lectures on survival. When Penn State trained the first Peace Corps in 1962, Kepler took the students into the woods for survival training. They lived off the land for several days. State hired him as an instructor and freshman baseball coach in 1960 and his current band of frosh just finished an undefeated season. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division W. L. Fret. G.B. Chicago 30 16 .652 WASHINGTON (AP) The "I've thought about it during Pittsburgh 22 21 .511 41/2 score is 15-0 in the early in- the past week," Williams said. St. Louis 20 23 .465 7 1 / 2 nings but still no one is throw- "Why not let the starter go and New York 18 23 .465 7 1 / 2 Phila. 17 22 .436 81/2 ing in the Washington see what happens. Our relief Senators' bullpen. pitchers needed a rest. Montreal 11 29 .275 16 Sounds incredible, but, says "And what's wrong with the West Division rookie manager Ted Williams idea of deciding before hand Atlanta 28 13 .683 —it might have happened the that the starter is going to stay L. Angeles 25 17 .595 31/2 way the Senators' fortunes in no matter what. Either that or decide that the game will be San Fran. 24 20 .545 51/2 were going during the past divided beween two guys.". Cincinnati 21 19 .525 6 1 / 2 week. The Senators have won only Houston 22 24 .478 8 1 / 2 "I was tempted to start five of their last 20 and during San Diego 18 29 .333 13 somebody and get a complete that period have had two six game," Williams was saying game losing streaks, one of after his Senators defeated which ended Tuesday night Minnesota 5-1 Tuesday night. "And I didn't care if the score was 22-7 " Yesterday's Scores Cubs 9, Giants 8 Dodgers 6, Expos 0 Reds 7, Pirates 6 Actually a buck fifty is more like it. Simple and easy. Send in a buck fifty and your subscription form today, and we'll mail you. The Summer Col legian every Thursday for ten weeks starting June 26. THE SUMMER COLLEGIAN Kepler likes to compare v ballplayers. "Ted Williams was the greatest hitter I ever saw," he said, "but it was not just because he had great eyes or a great swing, it was the _work' he put in." Williams had just hit .406 the year before he came under Kepler's tutelage, but he did not rest on his laurels. "Every night we were supposed to practice for an hour and a half and then eat din ner, but Williams and Pesky would ask me to stay out through dinner just to practice," Kepler said. "Williams would have me throw inside curve balls until he had blisters on his hands from swinging, and then I would hit grounders at Pesky until my hands were blistered. That's why they were two of the greatest players ever." At age 61, Kepler has no visions of retiring. "I really haven't thought about it," he said. "Hunting has kept me fit. I can out walk a man half my age, and my eyes are as good as ever." Maybe it is that Kepler has led just such a full, active life that he can't imagine going into retirement. After all, back in 1932.... . • Washington, only the third time this season that the start ing Senators' pitcher was around for the finish. State THURSDAY, 'MAY 29, 1969 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111Irr -- i ;wagebloom sUsagook ss e rim* ::, .!•!' • ..,, : • i !:..;_.!: ::. ,: ii ~ .: : a ••• • - ••• •-, • - -, • ,••••••• ••.- -:: •• . " • . S . .!1: ' : : . :' 1 . :•-, V . T IL. ii!ii•l'f'. • .... ••i.' •••• :...' ....:. :.i•.':, 1 : ''.,.:!.. • 4::1! . 7• . ::. : " ..;;.. Ig . :'.., ' ' ' •U : ..V . ::!': .:. :; !1' • - i . : ..!.'i:;M•l,•.-: :t! . :; T • r • f r i• • •• - ' "••:•••1 :::.; "!•j,i,:: . : ..: . :T .. .•:.:,... , • : I . ...H . i: : :: 1. •!: ....z: . • 041 . 1. .•• ••.-- •• ~ ~, ;.: .. From the Diamond Room at ril()Rr P AiderB Zle EAST COLLEGE AVENUE financing available
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers