Batting Tips from Paul Orshoski, Sr., by Guest Blogger Paul Orshoski, Jr.

These photos are mostly what dad looked like when he played softball. He usually wore a t-shirt or a Grace Lutheran Church softball team shirt. Shoes were rarely tennis shoes, like the ones in the picture. Mostly he wore his Sunday dress/church shoes to play softball in. He NEVER wore real baseball spikes. He was always our church softball team pitcher. He (and Todd) were the best I ever played with who could hit a softball to the opposite field, which was right field. The reason you tried to hit to right field was this ... the object of baseball is to score more runs that the other team...we all know that. But with a man on second base, if the batter hit the ball to right field, the man on second would always score on that hit to right field. Or .... if you had a man on first base, a hit to right field would easily send the man on first base to third base. Then a sacrifice fly pop up would usually get the guy on third base home (assuming there were less than two outs when the pop up occurred). EVERYBODY in 14 states and half of Canada knew that when Dad was up to bat, he was going to hit the ball to right field. The defensive team would put extra players on the right side of the field to stop him and Dad would STILL find a spot to hit the ball without the defensive team catching it. Many times he trotted into second base with an easy double. Sometimes, depending on the English spin on the ball, his hits would roll way off the baseline into the right field foul area and he would trot in for a triple...sometimes even a home run.  Todd was really good at it too ... but Todd had great power to right center field ... so whereas Dad would try to place the ball RIGHT ON THE FIRST BASE FOUL LINE, Todd would just knock the crap out of the ball and hit it over the heads of the right center fielder or completely over the fence. Matt and I were able to hit to the opposite field too ... but my hits were mostly singles or doubles and mostly just to advance the runner to third base. Matt did it to advance the runners and get on base himself .... but Matt did not have the running speed ... 

Hitting to right field was a skill that not everybody could master because it takes great patience to do it. The natural thing for a right-handed batter (which we all were) is to hit the ball to left field. That is where a right-handed hitters natural power is. To hit it to right field so specifically as Dad and Todd did, you had to stay patient in the batter's box until you got the right pitch to do it...the best pitches were the ones a little on the outside of home plate because an outside pitch is so much easier to take it to right field. So .... many times the pitcher would pitch the ball on the inside corner of the plate so the batter couldn't take it to right field. When then happened, the batter (Dad or all of us) would shift our feet in the batter's box and move our bodies toward right field to accomplish the feat. We all looked like ballet dancers doing it. Sometimes it would cause you to pop the ball up and be an easy out. That happened to me a lot but never seemed to be a problem for Dad and Todd. The other problem with shifting your feet around is that if you stepped on home plate while batting the ball, the batter was called out. You cannot touch home plate while batting the ball ... PLUS, you have to stay in the batter's box, as well....

Victor O. Woodward, Theater Manager

Victor Ovid Woodward was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Mr. and Mrs. Ambrose Woodward. As a young man he was involved in the theater business as well as the circus business. In 1908 he moved to Sandusky, Ohio, where he was a theater manager until 1920. In 1920, John A. Himmelein purchased the Rialto Theater in Elyria, and he asked Mr. Woodward to manage it for him. On November 2, 1927, Victor O. Woodward died at the age of 55 from heart disease. His remains were returned to Sandusky, Ohio, for burial at the Oakland Cemetery. An obituary for Mr. Woodward is found in the November 2, 1927 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal. Mrs. Minnie Woodward lived in Sandusky in the 1960s. She passed away in 1962, and was buried next to her husband at Oakland Cemetery.

Frederick F. Smith, Former Erie County Sheriff

Frederick F. Smith served as Erie County Sheriff from 1858 until his death on October 27, 1859. His cause of death was heart disease. Frederick F. Smith was buried at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. You can read more about Frederick F. Smith in the book ELECTED TO SERVE, by Patty Pascoe, at the Sandusky Library.

Mrs. Minetta Starbird, 1888-1947

Minetta May was born in 1888 to Charles May and his wife, the former Emma Herbel.  In 1911, Minetta married Wendell B. Starbird. Sadly, Wendell B. Starbird, who was a well-respected lawyer, died in 1916. In 1923, she was listed as a dress maker. In 1932,  Minetta was the proprietor of the Starbird Hotel in Sandusky. In 1942, Minetta Starbird was the owner of the Log Cabin restaurant in Bay View, Ohio. Mrs. Minetta Starbird passed away on October 18, 1947. She was survived by two brothers and a sister. Mrs. Starbird was buried at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery.

Maria A Thorwarth

Maria A. Thorwarth was the daughter of L. and M. Thorwarth. Her tombstone is very weathered, but it appears that Maria may have been born in the 1880s and also died during the 1880s. In the 1880 U.S. Census, Leonhard Thorwart and his wife, A. Mary Thorwart were residing in Sandusky, where Leonhard worked as a foreman in a brewery. Mr. and Mrs. Thorwarth/Thorwart were both born in Germany. There were five children in the family. A lily adorns the top of the tombstone of Maria A. Throwarth.Census records show that the Thorwarth/Thorwart family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio by 1900.

Yvonne Fievet, 1891-1992

Miss Yvonne Fievet was born in 1891 to Pierre and Hyacinth Fievet. In the  1920 U.S. Census, Yvonne was residing on Central Avenue, with her siblings and her parents. Both her parents had been born in Belgium, and spoke the French language. From 1929 to 1965, Yvonne ran Yvonne's hat shop in downtown Sandusky, Ohio. She often traveled to Cleveland to purchase hats for her shop. Yvonne Fievet lived to be 101 years of age. She passed away On October 5, 1992. She was survived by three nieces, one of whom was also named Yvonne Fievet. Funeral services for Yvonne M. Fievet were held at St. Mary's Catholic Church, and burial was at the Calvary Cemetery. Yvonne was very active in her church and community for many, many years. She was quite a lady!

Nannie Nolan O'Keefe

Though the tombstone of Nannie O’Keefe indicates that she was born in 1879, her death record lists her birth year in Canada as 1876. Nannie was the daughter of John L. Nolan and Emma (Green) Nolan. She married Thomas Jay Keefe (sometimes listed as O’Keefe) in Lucas County, Ohio on July 15, 1902. Only four short years after she was married, Nannie Nolan O’Keefe died of tuberculosis on Apri l10, 1906. She was buried at the St. Joseph Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.