caption:

 

The 1984 Team

Top: The 1984 Putnam American Legion Silk Sox, champions of Zone IX, with coaches Tom Auclair and Willie Bousquet.  Above: Members of the 1984 Putnam Silk Sox American Legion Baseball team assembled at the TriTown Post-Season Banquet, where they were honored. Pictured, left to right: Lou Thomas, Coach Tom Auclair, David Austin, Commissioner John W. Sherman, Sr., Ron Baron, Scott Belanger and Chris Mayhew. Courtesy photos.

 

 

 

 

By Ron P. Coderre

The book The Boys of Summer written by Roger Kahn in 1972 about the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers is often referenced when teams of the past get together for a reunion.  On July 25 members of the 1984 Putnam American Legion were together celebrating the 30th Anniversary of their Zone IX championship.  The ’84 Boys of Summer and their legendary coach Tom Auclair were the invited guests at the TriTown American Legion Baseball Post-Season Banquet.

On hand for the festivities were former players Lou Thomas, Chris Mayhew, Scott Belanger, Ron Baron and David Austin as well as coach Auclair.  Also up all the way from Port Aransas, Texas, was John W. Sherman Sr. who was the Zone IX Commissioner in that fabled summer of ’84.

A trip back down memory lane to the summer of ’84 is a revelation of what turned out to be a miracle season for the team known as the Silk Sox.  When the team assembled for the start of the ’84 season it featured seven returning players from the previous season when they had posted an 11-14 record.  

The returnees were Jim Lebeau, Thomas, Rusty Greene, John Sherman Jr., Mayhew, Don Masse and Ron Jolicoeur.  Newcomers included Rick Latour, Belanger, Jay Sylvia, Nick Serban, Mike St. Jean, Baron, Austin, Bob McKenzie and Neil Senecal.  Auclair’s assessment of his team, which started the season with four key players injured, was, “We should be alright if we can get everyone healthy.”

Obviously they healed early as they opened the season with a 14-game winning streak, riding the strong pitching arms of Austin, Greene, Mayhew, Lebeau, St. Jean and Serban.  In the 14-game stretch they beat Taftville four times, Moosup three times, Danielson three times, Willimantic and Jewett City twice each before being derailed by Moosup 12-3 in the 15th game of the season.    Three games later after wins over Danielson and Willimantic they lost for the second time by a 5-3 score to Willi.  They closed out the regular season by winning five of the final six contests.

The key game of the season turned out to be an 8-6 win over Willimantic in a contest that stirred controversy not only in the Zone but throughout Connecticut.  The controversy stemmed from a rule regarding what was considered a trip to the mound.  In the scenario, Auclair was charged with an official trip by umpire Walt Zadora despite the fact he never crossed the foul line and entered the playing field.  Following the decision the game was played under protest.

Commissioner Sherman recused himself from making a decision even though he was at the game.  His reason, his son was a member of the Putnam team.  The protest went all the way to the State Commissioner, who ruled that the game should be replayed from the 8th inning when the incident occurred.  The team then went on to victory and eventually to the Zone IX Championship and a trip to Muzzy Field in Bristol.  The miracle season came to a conclusion when the Silk Sox lost 3-1 to Middletown and 3-2 to Stamford in the State Tournament.

“The summer of ’84 was truly memorable for all of us.  Many things have occurred in my life since then, however the experience I had playing for coach Auclair overwhelmingly made me a better person.  My four years of Legion ball set the foundation for my approach to athletics for the past 30 years,” said Chris Mayhew.

The intense Auclair was an eye opener for most of the players that he coached.  When the team didn’t have a game it was three hours plus of practice with Auclair drilling the fundamentals.  In 1984 players had to love the game to play for the Putnam American Legion team.

“After a three-hour practice with coach Auclair, playing a game was the easy part of the season,” said Scott Belanger at the banquet.

“We weren’t necessarily the best team but coach Auclair put the heart in us and made us a team,” said Thomas, who batted .369 during the memorable season.

Today Thomas is a sales executive with Kochek Co. in Putnam.  Mayhew serves as a teacher and athletic director for the Woodstock school system and was a moving force in the “Jog For Judy” run in memory of fellow teacher Judy Nilan who was murdered.  Austin has taken up his former coach’s mantra and is the baseball coach at Killingly High School.

John Sherman Jr. is an associate athletic director at Indiana State University, while Ron Jolicoeur is one of Chicagoland’s most noted chefs.  Bob McKenzie lives in Arizona and Don Masse lives in New Hampshire.  Rusty Greene and Neil Senecal have made careers in corrections and Belanger can be seen at Danielson American Legion games where his son is the star centerfielder.  Baron continues to play competitive softball and has coached baseball at Marianapolis.

The whereabouts of Nick Serban, Mike St. Jean, Rick LaTour and Jay Sylvia are unknown.  Jim Lebeau after graduating from Florida Southern University is in business in Georgia.  Three of the players, Austin, Greene and Baron have had stints along the way as the coach of the TriTown American Legion program.

“We were solid t every position.  Coach Auclair instilled a sense of pride and a winning attitude in all of us.  We had a group that didn’t want to lose,” said Baron as he reminisced with a tinge of nostalgia.  In their own way they’ve all given something back to baseball and society, a lesson learned from coach Auclair.

 The Summer of ’84 may have been 30 years ago but the men who were part of coach Auclair’s championship Putnam American Legion Baseball team still treasure the memories.  They were the last individuals to leave the banquet hall as they gathered together long after everyone was gone.  They were discussing their favorite subject, baseball.