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In a world so divided, so wrapped up in electronics, so polarized by our lack of face-to-face communication, sports still bring us together.
Fifty years ago, a group of kids were brought together to play baseball. We were coached by three men who loved the game so much they stole time away from their own families to invest it in 16 of us 10-12 year-old boys.
I was fortunate enough to be one of those 16.
Now I am 62 years old, and 50 years have passed since that winning season.
We played for Ward Trucking in the then named Recreation Little League. Our games were played at Centennial Field, now home to the Altoona Independent Youth Baseball League.
The league has changed names but not the field although they have made some major league improvements over the years.
But in 1974 the league was made up of two divisions, and each division consisted of seven teams.
Our team had 16 players, a batboy, two assistant coaches and a manager.
During that season we finished on top of our division. We were set to face off against Wissinger's in the best-of-three game championship.
With our ace pitcher, Kevin Taylor, on the mound, we won the first game 1-0. Kevin threw a one-hitter. The next night Wissinger's tied the series, beating us 1-0.
We entered the final game with Kevin back on the mound.
It was Aug. 24, 1974. The sporting world wasn't as concerned with pitch count and rest periods as they are today.
Wissinger's jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. They scored another run in the second inning. We finally got on the scoreboard in the third inning, scoring one run. We scored four more runs in the fourth inning and tied the game at 6 in the sixth inning.
In the seventh inning, Jeff Mannarino hit a double and later scored off Ray Palmer's single. We won that championship with 14 hits. Eddie Hileman went an incredible 4-for-5 that night.
We all shook hands with the losing team and then lined up to receive our championship trophies. We were kids, but it was as big to us as the World Series, and for most of us the first trophy we would earn in our lives.
We were kids who enjoyed the game of baseball and competition. The sponsor had us come to their facility and took a group photo. They presented us with championship jackets. We all walked taller while wearing those green jackets.
So in 2012, I was working as a sergeant with the Panama City Police Department in Florida. I started doing research and some investigating to see if I could locate teammates and see if they still thought about our winning season.
I remembered that someone at Ward Trucking had taken a group photo so I contacted them to ask if I could get a copy. They had a fellow that did their newsletter and even though he was retired he was able to supply me with a hard copy of their company newsletter.
With the availability of the internet, I reached out to teammates and asked if any of them had the group photo.
Turns out that Donny Houp's mother had saved it and it was in remarkable shape. We met in Altoona, and Donny and I sat and reminisced and spoke of our accomplishments back then and throughout our lives. It was then that I realized this was about a love for the game of baseball and a remarkable man we called Coach Taylor.
Coach Taylor was the reason we were so successful. He was great at what he did. He put his players in positions to get the most success out of them.
I never remember him yelling or screaming at us. He wanted what we wanted -- a championship.
We scored 151 runs that winning season and only gave up 59.
It's been 50 years since that winning season and, sadly, we have lost five players -- James Durbin, David Caputo, James Reimer, Jeff Mannarino and Kevin Foor.
We have also lost all of our coaches -- Manager Dick Taylor, Coach Pete Mathieu and Coach John McKee.
But we still have our memory, our fondness for the game, and the title of 1974 Recreation Little League Champions.
Although several of us were too old to play in 1975, Manager Dick Taylor and Ward Trucking repeated as champions.