I grew up as an Air Force dependent as my dad was a jet pilot and instructor at Tyndall Air Force Base, in Panama City, Florida . I lived in Panama City from 1953 through 1962, when we moved to San Antonio, Texas. I became a baseball fan at an early age as my dad was an athlete in high school, college and in the intramural Air Force sports programs. I remember a pitcher named Jack Shue, who was a star left-handed hurler representing one of the other military commands at the Armed Services' Championships held at Tyndall. I had not been able to attend the Championhips during 1960 so this would have been 1961. Baseball was my connection to my dad, who was my all time hero. I lost him far too long ago when he was far too young, so this memory I share with you is precious to me beyond words. I remember the attention that Jack Shue received for he was virtually unhittable, and huge crowds flocked to see this phenom. I was partial to lefties because Warren Spahn was one of my favorite big league players. Now some of what I relate may be a bit skewed as it is the memory of an adolescent but I know service ball was a big interest for major league scouts in that era and Jack got the attention of plenty of them for sure. What I know about Jack Shue is that he was a senior enlisted man, probably with the rank of a Senior Sergeant, Tech Sergeant, Master Sergeant, or some similar title. I recall his being about 37, slim, with an athlete' s body. I wondered whether he was related to Gene Shue who played with the Detroit Pistons of that era.

It was a wise publicity stunt for the Panama City Fliers to sign Shue. I remember that they were a Dodgers affiliate, and if I am not mistaken, his debut on the mound for the Fliers drew a huge crowd of many military people. This game was special to me for many reasons: It was the first professional game I ever attended; there was a very large crowd; a foul tip broke the windshield of my dad's car and bounced away so we never even got to keep the ball. I remember the anger and frustration of the opponent's batters who struggled to make contact against Sergeant Jack Shue, but my fondest memory of that game is that it gave me time to be with my dad, who was frequently away on Air Force dutuies. It seems to me that the opponent was Fort Walton Beach but I might be mistaken. I remember Jack having a tremendous fastball and wracking up plenty of strikeouts, and he surrendered only a few hits. I'm not sure, but perhaps it was a shutout. The thirdbaseman for that Flier team was none other than Bobby Cox who really "talked it up" in the field. The years have clouded the details for me but we knew, because of his military commitments and advanced age, that Jack would not go far in his baseball career; nevertheless, he made many fans that night. My own life took me through Texas football and baseball in high school, and I served 18 months as a Marine in Vietnam, played some college baseball, then became a career Marine. I kept up my love for baseball although Barry Bonds' pursuit of Henry Aaron's home run record and the outrageously distorted steroid records have seriously soured me on baseball. I no longer have much interest in the game but all that keeps it in my head is the memory I have of the game with my dad and, in the end, this may be all that maintains my allegiance. Through the years, I have tried to find out what happened with Jack's career by looking at old "Street & Smith" yearbooks and anything with minor league stats. Your site shows a book by John Bell which might answer my questions.

I saw the team photo of the '61 Fliers, seeing Jack Shue standing tall and proud with the bearing of a military man and it was like looking at a ghost as it overwhelmed me with memories and feelings that perhaps only a father who so deeply loves his adoring son and agonizes over the lack of time that a commitment to adult responsibilities, brings. That father would know that whatever time he shared with his son would bring a lifetime of memories for the lad in manhood.

Funny, through all these years that such a simple memory remains so strong in my mind and that finding out about how Jack Shue fared is important to me.