MHSA(Q&)A: Historian Ron Pesch
April 16, 2012
When we receive a question on the history of MHSAA athletics that we can't answer on the spot, Muskegon's Ron Pesch is the first person we seek out for help.
Pesch took the reins as Michigan's chief high school sports historian during the mid 1990s after the retirement of legendary MHSAA record book originator Dick Kishpaugh and has contributed to various efforts and publications across the state.
One of his latest projects is the awarding of "retro" Mr. Basketball Awards. The first Hal Schram Mr. Basketball Award was given by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan in 1981 to Lansing Eastern's Sam Vincent. Three seasons ago, BCAM -- with research work by Pesch -- began awarding retro winners for the previous decades beginning with the 1920s. This winter, BCAM honored retro winners from 1922, 1932, 1942, 1952, 1962 and 1972.
Click to read more about those winners and the finalists recognized last month. Also, click for links to the previous retro winners. The retro Mr. Basketball project will last seven more seasons. Pesch explains more below.
How did you come up with rewarding a “Retro” Mr. Basketball?
The project came out of a conversation I had with (BCAM executive director) Tom Hursey at the basketball finals back in '99. Together, we hatched an approach honoring the state's past basketball greats. He let me run with it, while he worked on getting a subcommittee launched to make the selection.
How do you dig up all of this nomination info?
Between votes, I work on digging out the details. My initial target list always begins with all-state teams - if, of course they exist. All-tournament teams for the early years also serve as a starting point -- if they exist. Best I can tell, the Detroit Times, the Free Press and the News have all named all-state squads, at various points, back to about 1935. The Associated Press and UPI came to the game much later - somewhere around the early to mid 1960s. I then work on creating a crosstab on the players selected, noting the "teams" on which they were named (Class A 1st team, Dream Team, Class C 3rd team), and try to find quotes detailing their games. The result is really a reflection of the times and the history of newspaper reporting.
In early years, we can struggle to uncover a player’s first name, let alone his class in school. And statistical coverage of a player's abilities was very limited. It's simply the way things were back then. Everyone in town knew King Lewis, or Red Cherry, or Young Jacks. And the final box score only contained points, fouls, substitutions, as they were all you really needed to know about the game. But by visiting the state library in Lansing, and looking at a cross-section of newspapers, you can usually dig out what you need.
Do you collect from other sources as well?
Another source is high school yearbooks. Some resources have started to emerge online. I also tap into the MHSAA site and make contact with ADs around the state, asking for their assistance on digging out details - especially class in school. Like the current program, only "seniors" are considered for the award. Mid-year graduates can create a challenge, but the rule currently in place is a player is considered a nominee in the year in which he was last eligible for the state tournament. In other words, if you graduated in January or February of 1943, you would be considered for the 1942 ballot. It appears that a similar approach was used in selecting all-state teams.
|
Year |
Player |
High School |
Age |
Height |
Weight |
Year |
DFP |
DN |
DT |
AP |
UPI |
Tourney |
|
1971 A-1 G. |
Frank Tanana, Jr. (C) |
Detroit Catholic Central |
17 |
6-3 |
170 |
Sr. |
A1 |
A1 |
A1 |
A1 |
||
|
1971 A-1 C |
Tom McGill |
Flint Northern |
17 |
6-3 |
190 |
Sr. |
A1 |
DM |
A1 |
A1 |
||
|
1971 A-1 F. |
Lindsay Hairston |
Detroit Kettering |
17 |
6-9 |
203 |
Sr. |
A1 |
DM |
A1 |
A1 |
||
|
1971 A-1 F. |
Campy Russell |
Pontiac Central |
18 |
6-7 |
190 |
Sr. |
A1 |
DM |
A1 |
A1 |
That cross-tab table will help establish a list of nominees. A consensus first-team pick is an obvious candidate. When only a single all-state team is available, I'll do what I can to look up all-conference teams or all-area teams from around the state to see who else might be considered. While life after high school is not a considered when trying to pick a winner, a player who emerges as a star in college or in the pros may emerge as a candidate when you see his details in a local paper.
Bios are assembled from the newspaper reports, detailing as much as we can find on high school player's career. I'll tap into a variety of resources including old team histories when available. When needed, I'll toss out request to reporters, old and new, around the state. Local librarians and historians are another wonderful resource.
How does voting work?
Between sessions of the Boys Finals, the committee assembles to hash out a final ballot, and to make a selection. I don't vote, but I may guide the conversation and provide any additional details when needed, reminding members that we're focusing on their high school careers. The process is certainly imperfect. But the committee approach prevents the process from becoming a popularity contest. These guys have the benefit of watching many of the players play. And, like the current Mr. Basketball program, they sometimes surprise. But that's what makes it fun. And, of course, stirs the pot. It gets people talking about the history of basketball in this state.
Is there a theme to MHSAA basketball that has remained constant over the years?
For me the greatest thing about the basketball tournament is that it assembles a wide range of folks who want to see players they've heard about in action. And the process, for the most part, hasn't change since the 1920s. While the style of the game has changed, winning a title is much the same as it was back when our great-grandfathers played: You gotta get through the tournament. And only four trophies are awarded.
These guys were the "Magic" of their day. I'm hoping we never forget that.
Hart Teammates Reunite After 80 Years Now as WWII Vets, Great-Grandfathers
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
June 7, 2023
Walter “Stretch” Hansen and Harold Tate were good friends and high school basketball and baseball teammates at Hart High School, graduating in 1943.
No one could have guessed that less than two months after graduation (on July 2, 1943), the two friends would head to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, the first stop on their way overseas to fight for their country in World War II.
No one could have imagined how many twists and turns their lives would take over the next 80 years – from the battlefields in the South Pacific, then back to West Michigan where they both were married with children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and now Harold even has a great-great-grandchild.
And, certainly, no one would have believed that the two young boys from Hart – who forged a friendship through high school sports long before the days of computers, microwave ovens and cell phones – would still be alive at the age of 98 for an emotional reunion last month, on May 22, seeing each other for the first time in 80 years and, to cap it off, the reunion took place in their hometown of Hart.
“It was such a great day,” Hansen said about the meeting, which was set up by Muskegon-area World War II historian Richard Mullally.
“We picked right up, talking about sports and the service and everything else.”
The conversation came easy for the two old friends, who played for Hart during a “golden era” at the school – particularly in basketball, as the Pirates won 11 West Michigan Conference basketball titles between 1940 and 1954.
Perhaps the best team during that time period was Hansen and Tate’s as seniors in 1943. That team lost only once, to rival Scottville (31-25), but more than made up for it with an 80-10 trouncing of the Spartans in the final regular-season game.
Hart then crushed Scottville and Newaygo to win the District championship, only to have Michigan’s prep basketball season stopped abruptly at that point because of World War II.
That 1943 team featured four starters over 6-0, led by the duo of Hansen and Stan Kapulak (both 6-6), Joe Mack (6-2), Lyle Burmeister (6-1) and Stanley Riley (the lone starter under 6-foot at 5-11).
“The newspapers called us ‘The Hart Skyscrapers,’” said Hansen, who will be 99 on Nov. 6. “We were taller than most college teams at that time.”
Hansen and Tate’s friendship continued to blossom on the baseball field, only to have their lives turned upside down shortly after graduation 80 years ago, when all Hart senior boys who had been drafted headed to Battle Creek as a brief staging area on their way to the battlefields of Europe and the South Pacific.
Hansen served in the Army Specialized Training Program and was part of the 52nd Signal Battalion and the 4025th Signal Battalion in the Pacific Theater.
“I had an all-expense paid tour of the South Pacific,” Hansen said with a chuckle. “The Philippines, New Guinea, Okinawa, Hawaii, all over the place.”
Tate did his service in the 24th Infantry Division and the 19th Infantry Regiment, and was stationed in Japan.
During their visit last month, Harold showed off the Japanese Samurai sword and Arisaka rifle which he had sent back from Japan to Hart. The week after their visit, both took part in Memorial Day parades – Hansen in the Lakeside parade in Muskegon and Tate in his 77th Memorial Day service in Hart.
Hansen, who still has a home on a small lake in Holton and lives at a senior care facility in Muskegon, played many years of semi-pro basketball and did some coaching. He worked at GTE and has five children and 10 grandchildren.
“I have been so blessed,” Hansen said, sorting through one of his many scrapbooks. “All five of my kids are great and I have grandkids that are just amazing, everything they are doing. I don’t even know all of their names, but it’s sure been fun watching them.”
Tate returned to Hart after his military service and has been there ever since, at first working as a carpenter with his father and then becoming a rural mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, retiring 26 years ago at the age of 72. He has lived in the same home for 75 years and has three children, six grandchildren, seven great-grandkids and now one great-great-grandchild.
Tate laments the demise of his beloved American Legion post in Hart, a town with just over 2,000 residents, as the number of members has steadily declined.
One topic that brings a smile to both of their faces is the recent resurgence of the Hart High School athletic program, which drew media attention not too many years ago for all the wrong reasons – notably a football program which went 24 years without a winning record.
That string was snapped with a 6-3 mark and the school’s first earned playoff appearance last fall.
But that was just the start.
This winter, Hart’s boys basketball team finished the regular season 22-0, the girls basketball team made it to the Division 3 Semifinals at the Breslin Center, wrestling qualified for the Team Finals for the fourth-straight year and competitive cheer placed fourth in Division 4. This spring, the Hart girls track & field team won its second-straight Division 3 Finals team title, and the boys placed fourth.
“It’s a great place to call home, a great place to live, always has been,” said Hansen of his hometown, which got its name from its central position in the “heart” of Oceana County.
And who would have imagined that these two high school teammates could still come home again for a reunion at the age of 98?
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Members of the 1943 Hart High School varsity baseball team gather together, preparing for a team photo. Among those are Harold Gayle Tate (far left) and Walter "Stretch" Hansen, at 6-6 the tallest player in the back row. (Middle) Hansen, left, and Tate reunite for the first time in 80 years on Monday, May 22, 2023, in their hometown of Hart. (Below) Hansen served from 1943 to 1946 as a Sergeant in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Tate served from 1945 to 1946 as a Platoon Sergeant in the Pacific Theater during World War II. (Top photo courtesy of Stretch Hansen. Middle and below photos courtesy of Richard Mullally.)