Originally printed in the Alex City Outlook, By Sean Dunlap
It's a long way between Wausau, Wis., and Alexander City, but those miles
are bridged by a lifetime of memories for one man - growing up on a northern
farm and eventually living out his dream of playing baseball in the Deep South.
Layton Krohn was born in 1925 in Wausau and knew at a very early age that the
sport would play an important role in his life. "My goal had been to go play
in the majors," Krohn said with a hearty laugh. "I guess you could say that I
had my sights set pretty high." Krohn said some of his earliest memories involve
playing with a hard rubber ball and throwing it off the outside walls of his
house and barns. "There weren't any other kids around my age, so I spent a lot
of time throwing that old ball against big barns, some 90 to 100 feet long and
more than 30 feet high," Krohn said. Krohn's love for baseball lead him to a training
camp in Orlando, Fla., around 1945. "Back then, the old Washington Senators
baseball team trained in Orlando, he said. "It was a very small town at that
time with mostly orange juice and custard stands being the only things around."
Krohn's time at the school amounted to about six weeks and he made his way to
Brewton, in south Alabama's Escambia County, to play in the old Alabama State
League. "I played for two years in Brewton and late in that second year, I was
picked up by the Alexander City baseball club, which needed some pitching
help at the time," Krohn said. As the story goes, Alexander City manager Ed Roberts
had come to Brewton with one of his pitchers to look at first baseman Moose
Hope. "I was pitching the night they came to town and I guess they saw something
because they brought me here and apparently forgot about Moose," Krohn said.
That move to Alexander City would be one of the most important Krohn made for
many reasons, but things didn't exactly begin as he had planned. "I came here
with only about a month left in the season," Krohn said. "I got into town on
the Greyhound bus and when I got off they told me I would be pitching that night.
"The bad thing was that my bag didn't make it with me and I didn't have anything,
so the players loaned me a glove and some spikes. That night we played Newnan,
Ga. "Everyone knew that Newnan had some of the best hitting around they were
in the top spot in the league we were playing in, but we wound up winning 5-3
that night." Krohn was part of a six-man pitching rotation - four primary pitchers
and two backups - for the12- to 15-man team, which played on average about
120 games between March and August against opponents in places as diverse as
Carrolton, Rome and Newnan, Ga. "The four-man rotation had us pitching one night
and the following day we would pitch for batting practice," Krohn said. "On
the second night, we would be in the bullpen and on the third night we would rest."
Krohn's memories of Alexander City during the years he played with the Millers,
from 1949 to 1951, are vivid. He remembers fondly playing at the old baseball
field and the board fence that surrounded the outfield. He remembers team
members hanging out at Carlisle Drug Store and townspeople stopped by to talk baseball.
He remembers the road games that he and fellow players went to in a pair
of station wagons. "We would drive to the game, play, stop and eat somewhere
and drive back home, there wasn't an idea of spending the night on the road,"
Krohn said. But his fondest memory involves meeting his future wife Merlene here
and going on to build a family - two sons and a daughter, all who live in Wisconsin.
"You didn't make a lot playing baseball, and besides there were few businesses
that would hire you for the months you weren't playing and let you play
the rest of the time," Krohn said. "I had to provide for my family and that's
when I left baseball." Krohn said he believes he left the sport at a good time
as many of the small town Southern baseball teams were beginning to fold. "I think
these teams did well because there were few things to do, but with time and
more things for people to do, they gradually went away," he said. Krohn's wife
died four years ago, but he has maintained their tradition of coming to Alexander
City during the winter and still spends time with the many friends and acquaintances
made through the years. "I have many friends at Hillabee Towers and they
remember when I played with the Millers," Krohn said. "I also try to
stay in contact with those I played with through the years. I have made many life-long
friendships and that is one of the greatest things playing the game did
for me."
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