By Ron P. Coderre

This week’s RPC column is dedicated to former Putnam resident and close friend Bernard P. “Benny” Auger.  Never a great athlete, Auger was always a good friend to everyone.  It was 56 years ago on Aug. 10, 1959, that Auger left for a four-year hitch in the United States Air Force.  He celebrates another candle on the cake on Aug. 19.

On Sunday, August 2 the Norwich Bulletin published an interesting insert titled, “The Best We’ve Ever Seen” High School Baseball.  Selected by a panel of “experts” the piece was very interesting and accurate, though open for discussion.  An interesting, but not surprising, fact was that there wasn’t a Putnam High School baseball player in the 15 players selected.

The “experts” who comprised the panel included two with northeastern Connecticut ties, former Tourtellotte Memorial High School baseball coach Tom Auclair and former Plainfield High School baseball coach John Schiffner.  The remaining members included college coaches Bill Holowaty and Roger Bidwell and former Norwich Free Academy baseball coach John Iovino and Marty Gomez, longtime Lyman baseball coach.

Of the 15 players selected only two came out of northeastern Connecticut, Bill Carpenter of Plainfield and Al LeBoeuf of Tourtellotte.  Carpenter was a pitcher and shortstop in high school.  He went on to a great career at Brandeis University and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox and played two seasons in the minor leagues.  LeBoeuf, who was probably the best pure hitter to grace the local high school diamond ever, went on to Eastern Connecticut State University before being drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies.  He enjoyed a long and productive minor league career.  A knee injury curtailed his opportunity to play in the Major Leagues.  He’s currently working with hitters in the Milwaukee Brewers minor league system.

In order not to slight the many other great high school players, the “experts” created a category titled Superlatives, as a way of recognizing many other tremendous players.  John Krot of Killingly was recognized as one of the top three best base runners.  Steve St. Jean of Plainfield was in the top two best glove outfielders and another Panther, John Suprenant was noted in the top two outfield arms.  Bobby Cyrus, also of Plainfield was recognized in the top four best power hitters.

Tourtellotte’s Jim Lebeau was among the best defensive catchers and another Tiger, Brian Murphy was noted in the top four best breaking pitch category.  Woodstock’s Chris Mayhew was in the top three best slider.  In the best umpires, three of the five selections Sean Brennan, Stan Lesniewski and Walt Zadora, were from northeastern Connecticut.

The piece certainly is fodder for discussion during the “Hot Stove” season, although that doesn’t really exist in this day and age.  Although none of the “expert” panelists ever saw him play, it certainly would have been nice to have one exception to the rules.  Walt Dropo of Plainfield most definitely deserved recognition even if he were a parenthetical insertion.  His name was never mentioned once in the publication.  Think about it.  And in this columnist’s modest opinion, Roger Lafrance Sr. was the best ever umpire to work games throughout Eastern Connecticut.  How soon we forget.

Look Alike

At first glance the person on the cover of the Aug. 3 issue of Sports Illustrated looked very familiar.  The individual on the cover was Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.  It’s been mentioned more than once in the past couple years but a quick look at the cover could have been Mike Deary of Mike’s Deary Bros. Stand in Putnam.

Deary has been asked about the similarity in looks with Carroll and he laughs it off.  Drop in to the Stand with SI and ask Deary for his autograph.  A former standout athlete at Putnam High School, Deary went on to a career as a defensive back at Springfield College.  For many years he was the athletic director at East Longmeadow High School and an NCAA Division I basketball official.

Visit to The Hall

John Wilbur, sports director at WINY Radio, does a great job in reporting sports on the local level.  During his morning “sports report” he also gives more than adequate coverage to college and professional sports.

Recently Wilbur enjoyed two events that may well rank in his top stories since he’s been in the business.  The first significant event was a trip to Cooperstown, N.Y., where he attended the Hall of Fame induction of former Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez.  Martinez was inducted along with Craig Biggio, Randy “The Big Unit” Johnson and John Smoltz.

The following Tuesday Wilbur was among the media throng on hand for ceremonies at Fenway Park when the Red Sox retired Martinez’ Number 45.  Wilbur is proud of the fact that he had the opportunity to ask Pedro a question during the interview session.  “Pedro’s a great guy,” was Wilbur’s comment.

On the Links Circuit

The summer golf circuit for local golf professional hopefuls is heating up with tournaments.  Two events were held in Connecticut last week with a local golfer in the midst of the action.

Cody Semmelrock, the former Woodstock Academy links standout, is working on his dream of making the PGA Tour.  Following his high school days, Semmelrock went to Williams College where he enjoyed four years of golf while earning his academic degree.  Right now Semmelrock is giving his dream its best shot before deciding if or when to switch gears to another profession.

Semmelrock was in the field for the 81st Connecticut Open at the par 71, 6,713-yard The Patterson Club in Fairfield.  He fired a one over par 72 in the opening round but his score wasn’t quite good enough to make the 42-player cut in the tourney where the winner earned $12,500.

His next stop was the Manchester Open at Manchester Country Club.  The steady Semmelrock fired an even par 71, which put him in a tie for sixth place, six strokes off the winning pace of James Hazen who recorded a 65.

Sunday At Fenway

Over the past nine years Everett Shepard, Joe Lindley and yours truly have worked behind the scenes to ensure the success of the TriTown American Legion Baseball program.  On Sunday, Aug. 1 thanks to Shepard, the trio enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at Fenway Park for the game between the Sox and Tampa Rays.

Seated behind home plate we enjoyed a perfect view of the entire field.  The biggest disappointment was the final score.  The Sox blew a 3-2 lead and lost to the Rays 4-3.  Fenway Park is always a great rip despite the results.

RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: “Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.” Peter Marshall

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