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Fieldhouse Co-Founder
Jim Medlock 1938-2005
Jim Medlock, co-founder of The Fieldhouse, founder of the American National
Baseball organization, co-founder of the St. Louis Amateur Baseball
Association, member of the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, husband,
father, grandfather and great-grandfather, passed away early on the morning of
September 8, 2005 after suffering a heart attack.
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Don't let the tie fool you - Jim was all about baseball. He was
just nostalgic and remembered when Connie Mack wore a tie in the
dugout. |
From Bernie Miklasz' "Bernie's Bits" column, 9/9/05:
Our condolences to family and friends of legendary amateur baseball coach Jim
Medlock, who died suddenly Thursday. Jim was a true pioneer who coached or ran
leagues for thousands of youngsters in our community over the last 30 years.
He's irreplaceable.
From Mike Elder, North County Suburban Journals Sports Editor:
I would like to offer my condolences to the family of long-time area baseball
coach Jim Medlock who passed away last week. I can't think of anybody who did
more for the youth of North County than Jim, who coached the local American
National, did. "He's irreplaceable," said Fred Wilke, who coached one
of the American National teams out in St. Charles. "It'll take many people
to begin to do the things Jim did."
From STLtody.com Prep Sports 9/9/05:
As the elder statesman of the baseball community in the St. Louis area, Jim was
admired and respected by all. He touched baseball at all levels by his
involvement in little league, high school, college, and professional ball.
Jim’s love affair with baseball began with his participation in the George
Khoury little league program as a child. The many competitive teams in North
County taught him the fundamentals of the game that he would later pass on to
so many others. As a teenager, he played at Hadley Technical High School in the
city before serving a six-year hitch in the Navy. After returning from his
journeys in the Navy, Jim became involved with the competitive Senior Khoury
league. However, he quickly moved from player to coach, a move that would
change the lives of many.
The newly-minted Coach Medlock cut his teeth on the coaching profession guiding
his three sons and their teams. True to his nature, he was interested in not
just the successes of his kids, but became the Umpire-In-Chief for the
Hazelwood Khoury League to help all the kids.
In the early 1970’s, Jim moved on to coach the Kirby Classics team. He
followed that with 13 years of work with the American Legion program, beginning
in 1975. He coached the Bellefontaine Neighbors team and was a member of Legion
Post 444 in Florissant. During those 13 years, Jim also spent 10 years as head
baseball coach at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley.
In 1988, Jim joined with several other baseball-minded people to expand the
horizons of the local baseball scene and open up more opportunities for young
people, forming the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association.
“Jim was instrumental in the establishment of the St. Louis Amateur
Baseball Association and his teams have always been a model representative for
everything the league stands for,” said Chad Fix, SLABA vice president and
head of the Sportsprint Stallions program. “No one was more dedicated to
making sure SLABA puts its best foot forward in everything we do.”
A leader from the get-go, Jim served as Chairman of the Board of the fledgling
SLABA organization from 1988 until stepping down in 2004. Jim was always
competitive when American National team played, but he was more interested in
coming up with ways to improve the organization for all teams involved. He
always had a vision of what would be next, and although his ideas often
differed from many people, he always found a way to develop an idea into a
reality.
One of Jim’s major ideas was to expand the SLABA program, which served
most of St. Louis County, into St. Charles County. Originally an offshoot of
Jim’s American National program, the American National West program has
grown to eleven teams while the original four teams in Hazelwood continue to
thrive.
“His tremendous accomplishments on the field speak for themselves, but I
have always had an even greater respect for his love of the game and his
tireless efforts to make sure every player reaches his full potential,”
Fix said. “I don’t think people will truly understand the void his
loss will bring to our league and to amateur baseball in St. Louis until the
next summer baseball season begins.”
In the search for money to support his organization, which any program head can
tell you is a never-ending activity, Jim organized nights at the races, mouse
races, trivia, and every other type of fund-raiser that can be imagined.
Finally, a trip to Jefferson City in the early 1990s provided the answer, as
Jim obtained a bingo license and found his organization a weekly source of
funds.
For over eight years he ran a bingo in North County that was the talk of the
bingo community. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say he operated a bingo
under the watchful eye of his wife, Merle. Merle, Jim’s wife of nearly
fifty years was the bingo player in the family and she knew just what the bingo
players would appreciate. And so, if any couple can get closer, Mr. and Mrs.
baseball worked hand in hand to make the bingo the best in town. Jim still was
allowed to be the boss on the baseball field but you’d always find Merle
close by, scorebook in hand, through Jim’s final season coaching the
American National varsity team this summer.
As the money rolled in from bingo, Jim’s idea machine went into full gear.
To play baseball correctly, he decided you needed the best of facilities. He
went to work on high school fields that now have fences, batting cages,
scoreboards, grass infields, sprinklers, concession stands, bathrooms,
shelters, press boxes, dugouts, and many other amenities. Many high schools
benefited from the hand of the coach but his home field at Hazelwood West was
always a special place. Principal Steve Jurkins, who coached in the American
National program and whose two sons went through the program, summed it up by
saying, “He gave our kids an outstanding place to play and always had them
play at a high level of competition.”
Coach Medlock’s teams weren’t always successful on paper, but he
always had a better team at the end of a season than he had at the start. Jim
found tournaments around the country to give his teams the best competition
that he could find. His team once played the American Legion, PONY, and NABF
World Series winners during the same regular season. His American National team
then qualified for the PONY World Series that year, one of an area-wide-high of
four World Series appearances – in 1990, 1994, 1999 and 2000. Long-time
assistant and friend Jim Forkin remembers the first trip to the AABC World
Series in Farmington, NM, “It really was a special time, they even had a
parade in the city for the teams,” Forkin said.
Coach Medlock had league, tournament, and other awards that are too numerous to
mention but his real joy was in seeing one of his players receive an offer to
play college ball. Jim wasn’t concerned with his own reputation in finding
his players a place to play, he wanted to find places that his boys could be
successful. College coaches soon learned of his ability to judge talent and
they often sought Jim’s advice on a player. If Jim told them a player
could play, coaches had confidence in recruiting the player.
Colleges were not the only baseball people who recognized his talent at
spotting players. Jim scouted for the St. Louis Cardinals for a number of
years, helping the hometown club sign Brian Rupp, Jerry Daniels, and Kyle
McClellan to contracts as well as reporting on many other players. He also
scouted for the Houston Astros and was a member of the local major league
scouting organization. Jim’s scouting work garnered him a spot in the St.
Louis Major League Scouts Hall of Fame. In 1995, he was also honored for his
dedication to the local baseball scene with induction into the St. Louis
Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.
Off the field, although Jim was rarely off the field, he was a successful
insurance agent, establishing and growing his business in Hazelwood for the
last 25 years. In recent years, he also helped found Fieldhouse Sports Inc., a
company that provides baseball training and batting cages.
At age 67, Jim was still coaching and enjoying the game every day. He organized
a fall ball league this fall. Playing the game correctly was special to Jim,
and he arranged for the fall league to use wood bats. “I love to watch the
kids play real baseball”, he explained to anyone that wanted to talk
baseball. “Real baseball” was Major League baseball, and Major League
Rules using a wood bat, a real thought for all of us that play the game with
tin bats.
Jim’s favorite charity is the Vicki Medlock Turnquist Scholarship Fund at
Commercial Bank of Westport, 2330 Westport Plaza Drive, Maryland Heights, Mo.
63146. His family would appreciate contributions to this fund that helps
baseball players go to college.
Among survivors are his wife, Merle Medlock of St. Peters; three sons, Tom
Medlock of Kansas City, Steve Medlock of Florissant and Mike Medlock of Lee's
Summit, Mo.; a daughter, Cindy Lohman of St. Peters; 12 grandchildren; and a
great-grandchild. |
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