Sometimes, the best team doesn’t win.
Players from the 1946 Flint Haan Red Arrow Post 151 baseball club still feel that way, nearly 60 years after their perfect season ended in the American Legion regional tournament at Atwood Stadium.
An unbeatable juggernaut in league, district, zone and state play, the Haan nine did more to beat themselves in two 10-inning, one-run losses in the regional than their opponents did. One of those foes, Cincinnati Bentley, went on to reach the national championship game.
“We were strong in every department,” said right fielder Bill Snyder. “We just didn’t make it.”
Haan was made up exclusively of Northern High players, who had gone 12-6 and won the Saginaw Valley Conference title in the spring.
They were deep in pitching, with Bob Henderson and Bob Peterson heading a five-man staff that allowed just 12 runs and 36 hits in 14 summer league games.
They hit .371 as a team, averaging 12.1 runs a game going into the regional.
They were nearly flawless in the field, led by shortstop Leo Johnson, who went the whole season without an error.
Most importantly, they were schooled in the fundamentals by Northern coach Burt Smith, who held practices throughout the summer campaign.
“We were blessed to have the greatest coach in Burt Smith,” said Johnson. “We were so far ahead fundamentally. Even when I went to pro ball, they were teaching things I just took for granted, things I thought those guys would know already.” Johnson (Tigers) was one of six players to go on to major league farm systems. Snyder (Phillies), Henderson and third baseman Bob Rickard (Tigers), left-hander Rex Williamson (St. Louis Browns) and catcher John Markland (New York Giants) also signed pro contracts.
Left fielder Leo Sugar became an All-American football player at Purdue and went on to the NFL. He and utility man Joe Wargo already are in the Flint hall as individuals.
Ed Penabaker was a slick-fielding first baseman who went on to play that position at Michigan State. Don Weldon was a fleet center fielder, and second baseman Gil Sabucco formed a strong keystone combination with Johnson. Jim Creamer and Chuck Ortlieb were pitchers and Bob Myers was a back-up catcher.
Balanced and polished, Haan reeled off 20 straight wins before its two losses in the double-elimination regional. “It took a while to get over,” said Snyder. “I figured we could go all the way. I was very confident about it.
He wasn’t the only one.
“A Tiger scout made the comment afterward that we still had the best team,” said Snyder. “Things like that happen in baseball.”
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