I was trying to remember who Whitey Mumm was cause that name kept popping into my head when reading about all the ball players from the 50s and 60s. So I did a Google search for Whitey Mumm and found this story: JR Hart 12-23-2013, 11:16 AM I thought that Id start a thread where we could post about amateur legends that we know about. I got the idea posting on another thread. Ill start There is a legendary pitcher from these parts named Richard Whitey Mumm. He was a brilliant combination of talent, brains, and competiveness. How far he could have risen is uncertain, because he preferred to live on his farm just south of Crofton, Nebraska. Because Crofton played in a league with all South Dakota teams, Crofton was allowed to play in the South Dakota amateur tournament. Whitey was the scourge of that tournament. When he and Crofton werent knocking off the bigger towns, Whitey was dominating as a pick up player. Every year the South Dakota Champ played the North Dakota champ, in a best of 3. Whitey was always picked up to pitch in that series also. He won the championship game in 1964(?) outdueling North Dakotas Phil Jackson (Yes, that Phil Jackson). I saw Whitey pitch a lot as a youth and can vouch for his exceptional skill. Whitey also pitched for a 2nd town team in Crofton that played only Nebraska teams. Who knows how many total innings that he threw. However, Whitey never rose above amateur baseball. We only speculate how good he would have been, at a higher level. Plus, the record on him is incomplete, and we can only go by accounts of his greatness. Edit: You have to love the internet. I googled Whitey Mumm and found several articles. One stated that when he pitched Crofton to the 1972 SD state Championship, he capped off a 15-0 season, by winning the Championship 7-3 over Rapid City Macys. (Rapid City SD population is 50,000, Crofton NE population is 800.) I also found 2 articles stating that Whitey did pitch on scholarship briefly for the University of Nebraska, before returning to the farm. Edit II: It should noted that Bob Gibson also played also played for the legendary Crofton NE town team. Gibson pitched for them in 1956. He was attending Creighton U at the time. Ive heard varying accounts about how Gibson was treated. I do know that while unable to attend a team reunion, a few years back, Gibson did send a very gracious letter. I think think that Mumm came along a little later though, but Im not sure.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 03:19:46 +0000
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