As my classmates and I gather for our 50th reunion, I wanted to write about our Little League experience. Since our family, the Eller family, has lived in Deerfield Beach since 1923, I’ve often been asked to put in writing some of the history of the area, either experienced personally, or that I heard from my parents or grandparents.

- David Eller, Publisher

Local Little League Team Wins 1954 State Championship

-Goes to North Carolina for National Playoffs -

Life was good in 1954. Dwight Eisenhower was the U.S. President. On Feb. 23, the first mass inoculation for polio prevention was done with Salk vaccine. On Mar. 1, the U.S. exploded its first 15 megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll .On Mar. 15, The  CBS Morning Show premiered with Walter Cronkite and Jack Paar. On Mar. 20, the first newspaper vending machines were used. On Apr. 2, plans to build Disneyland in California was announced. On Apr. 5, Elvis Presley recorded his debut single, “That’s All Right.” On Jul. 12, President Eisen-hower put forward a plan for the interstate highway system.

Meanwhile, in Deerfield Beach, Pompano and Wilton Manors, large crowds were coming to watch the North Broward Little League Baseball Team All Stars beat Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Miami and Orlando teams. Winning the South Florida Little League Championship qualified the team to go to North Carolina to play for the National Championship of Little League.(Florida was divided into two halves at the time by the Little League: South Florida and North Florida)

Our parents drove up to North Carolina. The team took the
train. Someone, I was later told it was “Uncle Jim” Butler, who came to every game sitting in his car and watching us, donated new uniforms for us to wear. Rev. Briggs, of the recently established Presbyterian Church in Deerfield, was at every game, helping Police Chief Manning and Policeman Roy Bennett coach us.

We were good. At least we thought we were. My own claim to fame was that my Father’s good friend, Herb Dudley, a professional pitcher, had taught me, a left-hander, how to throw curve balls that would “break” one to two feet just as they reached the plate. My fast balls weren’t anything to brag about, but my curve balls struck out lots of batters. That is, for about five innings —after which my elbow would hurt so badly I had to retire to the dugout.

We arrived in Greenville, NC and stayed in the dormitory at East Carolina University. We thought we were hot stuff and unbeatable. When it was time for our first game, we came out early to warm up. We looked good in our new uniforms and maroon colored jackets with “1954 South Florida Champs” printed on the back.

I’ll never forget what it felt like when our North Carolina opponents arrived on the field.  They came from a mountain area and were an average of four inches taller than us. Some of them had slight beards. Their voices were several octaves lower than ours. They were wearing overalls. Our coaches were concerned and wondered out loud about the ages of our opponents. But, when the umpire shouted “Play Ball! “ it was too late to worry about it. We played our hearts out. They scored the first run. We came back and tied them. We held them until the fifth inning, when they scored their second run. We never scored again, so the game ended with them beating us two to one. We cried, and it was the end of my baseball “career.” I never played again, although some of my teammates went on to play high school, college and a couple made it into the Pros.