WV Press Videos

Ex-Little Leaguers recall Logan’s ‘64 state title team

Logan Banner photo  Elba Samson, assistant coach for the 1964 Logan Little League All Stars, greets Logan High School baseball players before Saturday's game.
Logan Banner photo
Elba Samson, assistant coach for the 1964 Logan Little League All Stars, greets Logan High School baseball players before Saturday’s game.

LOGAN, W.Va. — Bill Wooten has fond memories of his youth.

Fifty years ago he was the catcher of the Logan Civic Little League’s State Championship all-star team of 1964.

And what a heck of a team it was.

Logan claimed area and district championships and then went on to win the state championship, the first ever for the Logan Little League.

The team was then shipped out to Norfolk, Va., to play in the Southeast Regional against state championship teams from other states.

And what a ride it was.

Logan kept winning but its luck finally ran out in the semifinals when the local boys were ousted 5-4 by Houston, Texas, leaving the team just two wins short of reaching the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Texas.

But to show you the character this team had, the ‘64 all-stars had one more mission.

And that was to destroy Tallahassee, Florida, in the third-place consolation game of the Southeast Regionals.

Irked by the close loss to Houston in the semifinals, the Logan All-Stars took it out on the Florida State Champs, giving them a going away present as Logan clobbered the team from the Sunshine State, 17-3.

Fifty years later, the 1964 Logan Little League All-Star team was honored prior to Saturday afternoon’s Logan vs. Point Pleasant varsity game at Logan High School’s Roger E. Gertz Field.

A total of five former members — players Bill Wooten, Steve Vance and David Steele — were able to make it. Assistant coach Elba Samson and Jim Bailey, representing his late brother and team member Jerry Bailey, were on hand and received a warm welcome from the fans.

All five men tossed out ceremonial first pitches before the game.

Wooten, who later played for Logan High School’s baseball team and professionally in the minor leagues with the Class A Bluefield team of the Baltimore Orioles organization, said it was a thrill to be back.

“Fifty years have flown by,” Wooten said. “I am a little boy trapped in this old man’s body.”

Wooten said he has thought often of some of the departed team members and how well the community of Logan got behind the ‘64 squad…

Click here for more. 

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

And get our latest content in your inbox

Invalid email address