A Baseball Dream Come True:
From the Ozarks to the Big Leagues
Four hundred and fifty men came, each with a big dream. Camping along the banks of the James River, just outside Springfield,MO, each must have wondered who might begin a baseball career here and who would be sent home.
Four hundred and fifty men came--three were not sent home.
Frank "Goldie" Howard, an 18-year-old, joined the group at the river's edge. He had read the notice; the St. Louis Cardinals organization was conducting tryouts for three positions on its Springfield farm team. On Monday, the process of elimination began, and on Friday Goldie Howard began his career as a professional baseball player.
Goldie played with the Springfield Cardinals two seasons. He was sent to Florida for spring training, and then to the Texas team. Later he was transferred to Cedar Rapids, IA, where he played from 1937-39.
At one point in his career, Goldie was sold to the New York Giants. During the war years, he and other pro-players (including Joe Garagiola, Red Borem, Chuck Hostetler, and Lou Boudreau) went to Wichita, KS, to work in the Boeing airplane factory. After the war, Goldie, along with his family, headed south to Little Rock, AR, and in 1946 he began to manage in the KOM (Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri) League, where one particularly talented young man of high school age showed up one day to play baseball. That young man was Mickey Mantle. The Yankee organization hired Goldie as a manager in 1946-47.
Goldie's wife, Opal, and children were living south of Hollister, MO, on the family farm. The work (raising cattle) became too hard for Opal to handle alone; Goldie had to choose between baseball and cattle. The cattle won--for awhile.
The next several years found Goldie managing baseball camps in Missouri, Texas, and Florida. For 30 years he spent his winters on the basketball courts of southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas as an official. In 1959 Goldie built the Show-Me Baseball Camp located near Reeds Spring, MO, and operated it for three years. While there, his team won the Missouri State Championship and went on to play in the national playoffs.
One of the highlights of Goldie's career came in Liberal, KS, in 1965. He had gone there to manage a semi-pro team called the BeeJays. During his first year at Liberal, the team took second place honors in the national championship games. Goldie also hosted a television program during which he interviewed ballplayers from all over the country. His influence brought national recognition to the Kansas town and the citizens of Liberal were very appreciative of all Goldie had done.
Fifty years after Goldie had played ball in Cedar Rapids--in 1987--he returned to watch his grandson Michael play. Goldie was introduced to the audience during the game. "It was the first time in my life that I got a standing ovation," Goldie shared (with a definite twinkle in his eye). "Of course, it was the seventh inning at the time!"
Goldie has now retired to his Hollister farm, but he is still quite active in baseball, especially baseball at Hollister High School. I became acquainted with him a couple of years ago when his grandson, Ryan, and my son, Casey, played summer baseball on the same team. It would have been easy to understand if Goldie had behaved as though he was a bit better than the ordinary person; after all, he had lived a lifetime that many only dream of. There was not, however, any evidence of that sort of attitude in him.
Rather, Frank "Goldie" Howard is a quiet, soft-spoken, humorous, and truthful native Ozarkian--a man who shows real pleasure in teaching young people how to play baseball with enthusiasm and skill. I am pleased to have gotten to know Goldie, but more pleased that the kids at Hollister have had the opportunity to be influenced by such a man. Whenever possible, Goldie will be found at the baseball field, sitting just beyond the dugout, encouraging and correcting the kids, smiling his big warm smile, and making everyone happy to be in his company.
Photograph of Goldie Howard, courtesy of Sandy Vincent.
