Bowling Fundraiser - Sunday, February 22

The first of our annual fundraisers kicks off this Sunday, February 22 at1:30 at Sherman Bowling Lanes in Muskegon. Cost is $15 per person or $25 a couple and includes three games plus shoe rental. We'll also have a 50/50 raffle and Strike pot.

Contact Coach Tom Lopez at 720-3015 for tickets. Come out and support your Big Reds!

Paul Bard: A baseball legend

Local sports broadcasting legend Jim Moyes has returned to to the local sports pages. Once a stringer for the Muskegon Chronicle, Jim has started to write a series of articles on local sports that will cover a wide range of subjects, individuals and teams. His first article from the series appeared in early February, and focused on a former Muskegon Big Red, Paul Bard.

Bard was a starred in football, basketball and baseball for the Big Reds back in the early 1940s "whose college career at Western Michigan University was cut short because of service to his country."

The full article is currently available on on the web. Click the following link to check out the complete version: Paul Bard: A sports and war hero.

For the benefit of Muskegon Baseball fans, we highlight Bard's career on the baseball diamond, as pulled from the Moyes article.

Beginning with his first game during his Junior year of 1941, when he no hit the Montague Wildcats, Bard would go on to have a high school baseball career that arguably was the best in state prep annals.

Thousands upon thousands of players have played the great game of baseball at the prep level in the state of Michigan. Sixty-one years after Paul Bard played his last game at Muskegon High his legacy has been restored. Miraculously enough Hall of Fame baseball coach Harry Potter's scorebook, found recently collecting dust in his daughter's (Ann Moore) attic, gives authenticity to Bard's achievements.

The Big Reds were a perfect 26 and 0 in 1941 & 42 and here is where Bard ranks in MHSAA history.

• Career ERA (Earned Run Average): 0.76 No 3 All time.
• Season (1942) ERA: 0.11 No 1 All Time.
• Fewest walks Allowed in a Season: 5 in 1942 No. 1 All Time.
• Fewest Wild Pitches Career: (0 in 120 innings) No. 1 All Time
• Strikeouts in a Game: 20 No. 2 All time.
• Assists by a Pitcher in a Game: 11 No. 1 All Time.

Bard also was the cleanup hitter for Muskegon and was a lofty slugger. In 1941 he posted a batting average of .524 and a slugging percentage of .881. For his two-year career (1940 batting stats are unavailable) Bard crushed the ball at a .439 clip. As a fielder Bard went through the two seasons without committing an error.

Bard followed his amazing high school career by posting very similar numbers while twirling in the very competitive Tri-State League. On Saturday, August 17, 1942 Bard hurled a 4-0 nine-inning shutout in a City League game.

In looking back this may have been a very poor decision on Bard's (or his coach's) part. Two days later a group of area Muskegon All Stars assembled to play the Detroit Tigers at Marsh Field. The Tigers absolutely "bombed" the outmatched area stars while only Paul Bard was able to slow down the heavy hitting Bengals. Pitching on but one days rest Bard allowed one run in his first inning of work and retired the side in order in his second and final inning pitched. What kind of impression might Bard have made on the Tiger brass if he was fully rested?

Moyes notes that in February 1943, less then a year after graduating from Muskegon High School, Bard joined the Armed Forces, serving his country bravely.

"There is no question but that World War II prevented Paul Bard from achieving his dream of being a Major League Baseball player." recalled former classmate and former school board member, Ray Carlson.

Marsh Field

From the State of Michigan Historical Marker at the corner of Peck Street and Laketon Avenue

Marsh Field began its tenure as the principal home of Muskegon baseball when it was completed in 1916. Charles W. Marsh - a Muskegon civic leader, industrialist and sports enthusiast - spearheaded construction of the park, which he donated to the city in 1919. The first minor league franchise to play here, the Reds, was a member of the Central League. Muskegon teams were later part of the Michigan State and the Michigan-Ontario Leagues. The Muskegon Lassies of the All-American Professional League played here from 1946-1950. The last professional team played here in 1951. The location of the diamond has not changed since the park opened, and it has been the site of high school games and local amatuer baseball programs ever since. The original grandstand was raised in 1957.

How it all began - the story of Muskegon Baseball

Baseball at Muskegon High School begins with a single name.

The Big Red Marching band has William Stewart. Baseball has Harry Potter.

A graduate of Manistique High School in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Harry pursued a college career at Western Michigan University (then called Western State Normal). In the early‑1920s Harry was a three‑sport star at Western in football, basketball and baseball.

Following graduation, Potter turned down a professional baseball career with the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He accepted a teaching and coaching position at Crystal Falls High School and returned to the U.P. C. Leo Redmond, a teammate on the football squad with Potter during their days at Western persuaded Potter to join him at the high school as an assistant coach and physical education teacher in 1927.

Between 1927 and 1942, Potter handled the football and basketball second-team coaching duties at Muskegon High School, compiling an 84‑14‑3 mark on the gridiron and a 154‑62 record on the cage court. He became the school's head basketball coach in 1943, then Muskegon's varsity football coach and athletic director in 1947.

While the city of Muskegon had a long history of baseball, it wasn't until the spring of 1937, when Potter established a baseball program, that the Port City school took up the game. Competing at Marsh Field in Southwestern Conference, and later in Lake Michigan Athletic Conference competition, Potter led the Big Red baseball team for 30 years. Along the way, his team established a stellar reputation, that included a state record streak of 55 consecutive victories between 1941 and 1945. Before the days of Michigan High School Athletic Association baseball competition, his 1951 team scored a mythical baseball crown in a tournament in Battle Creek. Potter's skills helped develop professional ballplayers, including Bob Ludwig, a outstanding AAA prospect in the Chicago Cubs organization, John Huizenga, a AAA catcher in the Detroit Tiger system, Major League pitchers Ray Newman (Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and Tigers) and Jim Johnson (San Francisco Giants).

Potter's baseball squads grabbed S.W.C. conference crowns in 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1951 and 1952 and L.M.A.C. titles in 1962 and 1963. In 30 He retired from active coaching in1964, remaining as the school's athletic director until his retirement in 1966. He passed away in 1980.