Bunning managed OKC 89ers
Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning managed the Oklahoma City 89ers baseball team in 1976, the first year the Triple-A franchise was affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies. A salute to Bunning and other people with state ties who enjoyed the game day experience.
A farewell to people with Oklahoma ties who enjoyed the game day experience:
• Jim Bunning, 85, of Southgate, Ky. He managed the Oklahoma City 89ers during the summer of 1976, the franchise’s first as the Philadelphia Phillies TripleA baseball affiliate.
As a player from 1955-71, Bunning became a Hall of Fame pitcher. He compiled a 224-184 record and 2,855 strikeouts while playing for the Detroit Tigers, the Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates or Los Angeles Dodgers. The nine-time All-Star also threw two no-hitters, including a perfect game.
After Bunning guided the 89ers to a 72-63 record, he left baseball for politics. He served with the House of Representatives, the Senate and Congress. He was an outspoken politician who used his standing to voice his opinion about athletes who use performance enhancing drugs.
Bunning said athletes in the four major sports who used PEDs should be kept out of respective halls of fame and have their statistics and records voided.
Bunning’s assistant coach with the Niners in ‘76 was Ruben Amaro Sr. He died in March at age 81.
•Dr. Leon Combs, 95, of Shawnee. He was a member of the Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band in the early 1940s. After graduating medical school in 1944, he was a medical officer in the Navy for the remainder of World War II and during the Korean War.
Combs was passionate about OU football. He held season tickets for more than 60 years; the athletic department recognized Combs in 2010 for his dedication. The former chief of staff at Shawnee Municipal and Mission Hill Memorial hospitals served as the physician for the Shawnee High athletic program.
He was also a scratch golfer, playing at courses all over the world.
• Bill Wood, 89, of Edmond grew up working on farms with family, then he became a purchasing agent. In his spare time, Wood was an amateur boxer who fought in local armories and clubs. Wood also liked to play golf.
• Billie Haycraft Sr., 86, of Oklahoma City. He was a big outdoorsman, always prepped for fishing or hunting trips. Haycraft was a league bowler. Spent more than 20 years in the Air Force and then owned the old Baskin-Robbins ice cream store on NW 50.
• Barbara Blaney Hardt of Mesa, Ariz., died two days after her 77th birthday. The Guthrie native played basketball and was a twirler at Mulhall High School in central Oklahoma.
• Patti Jeter Elder, 88, of Nichols Hills was a member of the Ladies Golf Association at the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club. Elder and husband John liked to go fly fishing in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and New Zealand. She knitted golf club covers.
• C.J. French, 89, of Tulsa followed a discharge from the Army by joining the Oklahoma football team. He was a member of the squad when Bud Wilkinson coached in his first bowl game as the Sooners coach; OU beat North Carolina 14-6 in the 1949 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. French, a Crooked Oak High School graduate, worked as a salesman for Phillips Petroleum. He and wife JoEllen later owned and operated the Strato Oil Co. in Tahlequah.
• Eugene Miller, 86, of Guthrie. He was a sporting goods facilities manager.
• Almeda DeHart, 78, of Chickasha was an avid fan of Oklahoma women’s basketball. One of DeHart’s treasures was a handwritten note from Sooners coach Sherri Coale. DeHart liked to watch the Thunder and the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
• Luann Armitage Followwill, 90, of Norman was a softball player. She played well into her 50s.
• Jerry Wehling, 76, of Chickasha played football, basketball and baseball at Enid High School. He also ran track for the Plainsmen, setting several long-standing school marks for distance running. Wehling was a member of the Bass Fisherman’s Club. He retired as a meat market manager for Safeway/Homeland.
• Clay Chaney, 22, of Cement. He played basketball and baseball at Ninnekah High School. Chaney was active in the Future Farmers of America and enjoyed showing livestock. An oil field worker.
• Don Parker, 75, of Oklahoma City was an avid runner who took pride in completing a marathon. The import distributor was also a big Oklahoma football fan.
Parker and wife Cheri attended many home games at Owen Field.
• Cotton Tyler, 66, of Wilburton. He spent more than 30 years as the greenskeeper at the Wilburton Golf Course. Tyler liked to play the course and also go fishing.
• George Heusel, 83, of Chickasha played basketball at Alfalfa High School. He was voted by classmates as “Most Likely to be on the Harlem Globetrotters,” but Heusel instead took a scholarship to play ball at Oklahoma A&M. Heusel did not have a chance to letter for the Aggies; he was drafted into the Army and spent more than 20 years in the military, serving at bases in the U.S., West Germany, Vietnam and South Korea.