Galesburg’s American Legion baseball team had a season to remember 55 years ago. In the summer of 1971, the Legion went 39-5. They won their league, the District Tourney, Division Tourney, and Illinois State Tourney. It was not until Great Lake’s Regional in Michigan that they lost two heartbreaking games to finish their season.
The ‘71 State Champs
Robbie Derry
Rick Hulick
Kirk King
Ed Leahy
Tom Darrah
Bill Westfall
Gary Purcell
Kevin Jackson
Rick Main
Rick McCarthy
Billy Swanson
Louie Vitale
Willie Mims
Steve Robison
Mark Thiel
Randy Clark
Rick Wilder
Head Coach- Jimmy Isaacson
Ass’t Coach- Bob Darrah
The Foundation
This group had been successful in 1970. The ‘70 Legion team had gone 37-10 with many of the same players.
In the Spring of ‘71, most of the players had been part of a successful GHS Silver Streak team that went 18-5. That group won the last Illini Conference championship and took second in the newly formed Western Big Six. Robbie Derry had tied John Shay’s (‘69) record by winning 9 games. In addition, Derry had a 1.10 ERA, 3.9 hit/game, and 10.4 K’s/game. With 26 stolen bases, Bill Westfall had tied Steve Ballard (‘66) for the GHS school record.
Most of the Legion team was made up of these GHS players but added key pieces to the group. From Knoxville, two pitchers, Rick Hulick and Kirk King would play key roles. And ISU shortstop, Billy Swanson met the Legion eligibility rules and would play a key role in the middle of the lineup and leading off.
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Billy Swanson, GHS ‘70
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Tone Set Early
Opening night against Geneseo, the Legion set the tone with a double-header sweep.
In the first game, Rick Hulick pitched a no-hitter. In the second game, 16 year old, Kirk King went to the mound and threw a 1-hitter.
In the second double-header of the weekend, the Legion split with Limestone. They would lose only twice more during their regular season.
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| Robbie Derry- GHS ‘71 |
Games, Games, Games
The Legion played a challenging schedule that demanded lots of pitching. An example was the third weekend of the summer, they were scheduled to play back to back to back double-headers.
Going into the weekend series, Coach Isaacson spelled out the rotation.
Friday- Game #1-Louie Vitali
Game #2- Kirk King, Willie Mims, Steve Robison (splitting it up)
Saturday- Game #3- Robby Derry
Game #4- Rick Hulick
Sunday- Game #5- Steve Robison
Game #6- Kirk King
Clearly the Legion had great pitchers and had great pitching depth that would serve them well the entire season.
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| Tom Darrah- GHS ‘71 |
#1 Draft Pick
An interesting note from the ‘71 season involved Danny Goodwin from Peoria Legion, who the Galesburg club played twice during the summer.
Goodwin is the only player to be the #1 draft pick in the MLB draft on two different occasions. He was picked in ‘71 by the White Sox but chose to go to Southern University. At Southern, he was the College Baseball Player of the Year in 1975. As an outstanding catcher, the Angels picked him #1 in the 1975 draft. The only player to be picked #1 twice.
He made it to the majors but his career was hampered by an arm injury which prevented him from continuing to catch. In his 7 year career, he played first and was a DH.
In the double-header vs Galesburg in ‘71, Goodwin went 0-3 vs. Hulick, and then 1-3 vs Kirk King as Galesburg swept a very good Peoria team.
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| Ed Leahy- GHS ‘71 |
District Tourney at Abingdon
Galesburg entered the District Tourney at 30-3. They would knocks off Lewistown, Farmington, and Fairview.
The championship game provided a lot to remember. It started on Sunday, but was postponed after one inning. Derry had started the game. The game was continued on Tuesday with Derry picking it up.
Galesburg’s 14-0 championship win over Fairview was highlighted by Derry throwing a no-hitter, striking out an incredible 22 batters.
Only 5 of the 27 batters put the ball in play, but one resulted in a play to be talked about for a long time. In the third inning, a Fairview hitter hit a line shot to right field. Tom Darrah, normally a catcher was playing right field. He charged the hard hit liner and got it on one hop. He fired it to first and got the runner to preserve the no-hitter early in the game.
The win advanced Galesburg to the Division Tourney and upped their record to 33-3. Derry’s record advanced to 10-0. In 12 innings of pitching, Derry struck out 31 batters. He faced 36 batters and struck out 31 of them.
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| Rick Main- GHS ‘71 |
Division Tourney in Jacksonville
There was almost two weeks off after the District Tourney. The Division Tourney included Galesburg, Virginia, Moline, and Peoria.
Galesburg entered the tourney led in hitting by Billy Swanson .410 and rick McCarthy .402.
Galesburg had swept Peoria, and beaten Moline in 2 of 3 games. Galesburg faced Virginia in the opening game. Galesburg won 13-2 behind Derry’s 5 hitter and 15 k’s performance. Bill Westfall went 5-5 from the plate. Breaking the game wide open were back to back HR’s by Billy Swanson and Mike Westfall. Mark Thiel went 3-4.
In the next game vs. Moline, Galesburg won 6-0 behind Hulick. McCarthy, Rick Main, and Gary Purcell each had two hits.
Galesburg faced Moline in the championship. Steve Robison got the win in a 6-2 game. Main, Purcell, and Willie Mims each pounded out two hits.
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| Louie Vitali- GHS ‘73 |
After the game, Coach Isaacson showed the high standard he held his team to when he told the local paper, “It’s great to win the Division Title and the kids did a find job. However we made mental errors in the first game- the defense was not getting in position. We had many chances to advance runners with the bunt but didn’t get the job done.”
It should be noted that 3 of the 4 coaches had complaints about the Jacksonville organization and field. The field was sad to have rocks throughout the outfield and dirt piles in the infield. The left and right field fences were only 300 feet.
The administrators attempted to shorten some games to 7 innings, and the pitching step Coach Isaacson would have no part of that. Moline protested a game when an umpire did not show up and they pulled a fan from the stands to umpire first base. And Peoria protested a game because of an inaccurate rules interpretation.
They played 9 inning games, and the protests were not upheld. Galesburg won!!
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| Steve Robison- GHS ‘71 |
State Tourney at Danville
Six teams were in the State Tourney at Danville. Five teams who had won their Division Tourneys, and the host Danville.
Galesburg was matched up with the hosts, Danville in the first game. Entering the State Tourney, Galesburg’s first seven batters were hitting over .320. They were led by Swanson .387, Derry .384, and McCarthy .382.
Galesburg pounded Danville 12-0 as Derry threw nine innings of 6 hits and 15 k’s. Derry and Mark Thiel slugged three hits each, and Swanson, McCarthy, Purcell, and Robison each had two hits.
Galesburg faced Wilmette next, and the game would take four hours. Post 285 led 4-0 going into the 9th innning. Hulick had shut Wilmette out for the first 8 innings. Four walks and two bloop hits tied the game in the 9th.
Derry came for relief and shut Wilmette out in the 9th, 10th, and 11th with the help of a game saving catch by Ed Leahy in the 11th.
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| Bill Westfall- GHS ‘71 |
The win sent Galesburg into a championship game. This was Galesburg Legion’s first trip into the State Championship since 1962 when Williamsfield Dan Secrist led Galesburg to the State title.
Wilmette won to come back for the Championship Game. Coming out of the consolation bracket, Wilmette could not hang on in the Championship Game. Galesburg pouned Wilmette 6-0. Derry threw another 9 innnings of shut out ball.
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| Rick Wilder- GHS ‘73 |
Robbie Derry was the winning pitcher in all three State games. He struck out 34 batters in 21 innings. In addition, he hit .573. But he was not awarded the State Tourney MVP Award.
The State Tourney gave two awards- MVP and Batting Title (to player with highest average in the tourney). Evidently the Danville tourney officials did not want to give both awards to the same player. Robbie got a singe in the ninth inning of the championship game- that gave him the batting title. So the committee gave a player from Wilmette the MVP even though his team lost twice to Galesburg, he didn’t pitch, and his batting average was less than Robbie’s.
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| Randy Clark- GHS ‘72 |
Great Lakes Regional in Wyandotte, Michigan
Galesburg was headed to the Great Lakes Regional, along with the winners from Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio- as well as the hosts.
Galesburg Legion left Galesburg at 4:00am, and arrived in Michigan at 2:00pm in time for a banquet for all the competing teams.
Galesburg did not travel alone, WGIL radio went to Michigan to provide play by play of each game.
Robbie Derry started vs. the home town team, but the Legion lost 2-1. Derry threw a 3-hitter but four costly errors provided the losing runs.
In the next game vs the Ohio representative, Galesburg pounded out 5 runs behind a 3-run homer by Ed Leahy. Despite the early lead, Galesburg could not hang on, losing 7-6.
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| Rick McCarthy- GHS ‘72 |
Assistant Coach- Bob Darrah
I asked the ‘71 Galesburg Legion Pitching Coach to share some thoughts on this great team.
Mark Thiel and Kirk King were “rookies” on this squad. Kirk had some outstanding outings, and Mark led the team in HR’s and RBI’s- could you comment how good they were for their age?
Coach Darrah- Kirk King was a 16-year-old from Knoxville and didn’t play for GHS during his high school career. Jimmy Issacson (to his credit) and I scouted him playing Babe Ruth and some of the Knoxville HS games. Kirk’s strengths were his attitude to “listen and willingness to learn”. He had excellent control and threw strikes. We brought him on the roster as we knew that we were losing 3 senior starters (Derry, Hulick and Robinson) and wanted to give him a season to grow and be the mainstay in the coming seasons. Very few 16-year-old pitchers could compete at the American Legion level and be successful…Kirk was one of them…He continued to play collegiate baseball at Knox College where he graduated and became successful in his business career.
Mark Thiel was a natural athlete and gifted baseball player. As a 16- year-old player he was outstanding. He quickly became the “on-the-field leader” with his focus, baseball sense and a ‘fire in the belly’….something you don’t find in a rookie 16 year-old-player. He was excellent in handling our pitchers…which was unique in that they were also very focused, confident and extremely talented. Mark continued his career as an All-American catcher at University of Missouri and drafted by the New York Yankees after his sophomore year.
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| Coach Bob Darrah- Pitching in Yankees Organiation |
Robbie Derry in two years of Legion ball and one year of HS ball went 30-4. His four losses, three were 1-0, the fourth was 2-1 with both run unearned. What made him so dominant?
Coach Darrah- I first met Robbie Derry back in 1963…as he was our Post 285 Bat Boy for 3 years. I loved the young man then as well as in 1970 and 1971. We stayed close through his college years at SIU and until his death. He was a very unique and competitive young man.
Robbie didn’t get the opportunity to pitch at GHS High School…as the then GHS coach didn’t believe he possessed the tools to compete at that level. It wasn’t until his senior year that he was given the chance to display his talents…and the rest is history.
So…what made Robbie so dominant? He possessed an insane desire to compete and win! Robbie came at hitters with a chip on his shoulder and a high degree of self- confidence. He had excellent command of his pitches (fastball, duce and slider) as well as an excellent fielder. In addition, he was an outstanding hitter. In summary…he was a 4-tool pitcher…command, poise, confidence and excellent pitches.
In the 1971 State Tournament Robbie won the State Batting Crown as well as the MVP with his 2 complete game wins…However the tournament officials didn’t want to award both of these honors to ONE player…so they gave Robbie the batting title which statics showed he was the leader…and the MVP award to the opposing team pitcher. This was a little-known fact and one that still bothers me today.
The entire pitching staff with dominant. You played so many back to back double headers so you really need four quality starters. And often they pitched complete game. Describe this staff.
1. Robbie Derry
2. Rick Hulick
3. Steve “Peach-Head” Robison
4. Kurt King
I had the pleasure of working with all four of these young men…still keeping in contact with them today (losing Robbie and ‘Peach-Head Robison over the past several years RIP). Derry, Hulick and Peach-Head were all strong headed individuals…extremely competitive and confident in their abilities. As their pitching coach and mentor, I promoted and encouraged all of these attributes. Let me speak to Rick and Peach-Head…you have my insights on Robbie and Kurt.
Rick Hulick was undefeated during the 1971 Season…11-0 if I remember correctly. Rick possessed a great fastball and curve with good control. He challenged hitters, threw strikes and fielded his position. But what made Rick unique was his attitude and confidence while on the bump. He NEVER thought he could lose and proved it time after time. Always with a sly smile on his face and a strong heart and trust in his teammates…a true winner.
Steve Peach-Head Robinson was the 3rd starter for Post 285 in 1971. He could have been the Number One starter on many other Post 285 teams…other than in our State Championship run. Peach had a wicked fastball…best on the staff. He was a ‘grinder’ working hard on every outing. A true competitive athlete (he was the starting QB for GHS Football for 2 years)..and also a very strong outfielder and hitter! He was a strong leader on and off the field and well respected by his teammates and coaches.
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| Gary Purcell- GHS ‘72 |
It is mentioned that Billy Swanson was coming off freshman year at ISU. Coach Isaacson moved the lineup around all year, but Swanson led off every game. Tell me about Billy.
Coach Darrah- When you have a State Championship team in baseball…you ALWAYS have a very strong and talented shortstop!...Case in point…during our run as State Champs in 1962 we had a shortstop named Pat Prina…Pat received a D1 Scholarship to the University of Iowa and was the team Captain at Iowa in his Junior and Senior year. Billy Swanson was Post 285 Shortstop in 1971 State Championship run…and received D1 Scholarship to Illinois State University and was captain of the baseball team in his Senior year.
Billy was the ‘field general’…and a quiet leader for the team. When things got close it was Billy that held the team together…showing a strong, focused temperament that was calming, yet positive…as we say …the coaches’ ‘coach’ on the field. Besides having good range, soft hands, strong arm and excellent baseball ‘sense’ he kept the leadoff batting position for two straight years….hard to do under Isaacson!
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| Coach Jimmy Isaacson |
What made Jimmy Isaacson so successful as a coach?
Coach Darrah- First of all…I learned to love the man. I was his pitching coach and assistant in 1970 and 1971. Then he moved over to coach Knox College and I helped him in 1972-73 in the CICL …again as his pitching coach…so I had plenty of time with him. My job at IBM moved me from Galesburg to Chicago so my stint with Jimmy ended…but not my respect.
In my opinion to be successful as a coach you need to love the game. If you love the game then you love the players. Jimmy did both. Jimmy coached with a passion…a fire in his belly and a love for the players. Jimmy knew the game…how to “coach the bases’…when to bunt, when to steal…hit and run…all the basics…What I saw that was unique for a coach is that he allowed and encouraged ‘mistakes’…failures…and took those opportunities to help players LEARN from those mistakes…and become better players and young men.
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| Kevin Jackson- GHS ‘73 |
How American Legion Post 285 Baseball impacted you?
Coach Darrah- Wow…where should I begin? From the time I threw my first pitch with the Galesburg Little League Red Sox in 1954, I was inspired by the Post 285 Legion team, coached by Sammy Andre…a coach and mentor for hundreds of young men. Legion baseball taught me the importance of teamwork, sportsmanship, and dealing with failure and learning the positive from it. The program was also a promoter of equality, making teammates out of young athletes regardless of their income levels or social standings. We all had a sense of community pride playing for Post 285…proud of our city, our teammates, coaches and fans.
During my four years playing with Post 285, I was fortunate to be surrounded by exceptional teammates and outstanding coaches…winning the American Legion State Championship in 1962 and going to the Illinois State Finals all four years. This success and ‘exposure to MLB scouts helped me get a DI scholarship to Tulane University. I achieved my childhood dream of being drafted by the New York Yankees out of college and played 5 years of minor league baseball.
I never achieved my dream of playing in Yankee Stadium…but all of the lessons learned helped me in my professional career with IBM. Many of the same lessons that we learned playing the game that we loved…spilled over into the corporate world…Teamwork, focus, winning, overcoming failure to generate success, equality and pride…all a winning combination.
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| Mark Thiel- GHS ‘73 |
Mark Thiel
Mark was just coming off his sophomore year at GHS. He would go onto have a highly successful career in baseball at University of Missouri and then play professional baseball. I asked Mark about Coach Isaacson.
What made Jimmy Isaacson so successful?
Mark Thiel- I can’t say enough about how Jimmy could relate to his players. He knew how to discipline in a way not to show a player up in front of others. His knowledge of the game, he had the players respect.
Please note- I got the individual pictures from the GHS Yearbooks. I do not have pictures of the Knoxville players and of Willie Mims. If anyone has pictures of them- please email them to me at emass70@yahoo.com
Also… if anyone has a better quality picture of the team, please email that also to me.
Newspaper Clippings of the Season
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