What's that glow from 2003? Benefits of Bartlesville ALWS still resonate 20 years later

Even 20 years later, the magic of the 2003 American Legion World Series in Bartlesville continues to linger in the hearts of those that experienced it.

And, it continues to benefit the baseball community in more practical ways.

The “Big A” fans that hang inside the grandstand roof and provide comfort for those grueling summer days, the chair-back seats, the metal bleacher stands that run parallel to the first and third base lines, press box internet connections, the massive secure metal roof that shelters the grandstands, and many other improvements are directly tied to Bartlesville’s historic role as host of the 2003 ALWS, which took place 20 years ago this August.

It was a big deal.

A total of more than 20,000 paying customers would attend the ALWS games — in a stadium whose maximum seating was a little more than 3,000. The total attendance reflected the solid numbers at every game.

The final grade, judged by the comments of the out-of-towners, was an A-plus.

“It was great,” Debbie Mueggenborg said recently. “I think we outdid ourselves. … I think the most rewarding part for me was to meet people and have them tell us what a great job (the city of Bartlesville) had done. The parents came up and told us how appreciative they were that it ran so smoothly.”

“They were a great committee to work with,” said Bob Pomeroy, who served on one of the sub-committees, namely publicity and promotions. “We worked hard on making sure everybody in town knew what was going on.”

Mueggenborg served along with Charlie Bowerman as the co-chairman of the Bartlesville American Legion World Series Committee.

Bartlesville remains the only town in Oklahoma to have hosted ALWS in its 97-year history. In fact, it has never been played in adjacent states Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and New Mexico. And, it hasn’t taken place in Texas since 1931.

So, how did an Oklahoma community with a population of 35,000 people earn the prize (awarded back then for a different site every year) — not only for 2003 but for an encore in 2007?

How Bartlesville landed the American Legion World Series

Perhaps the biggest selling points were: 1) A rock-solid summer American Legion baseball program for the previous 66 years, 2) The 70-year-old cement-based baseball palace known as Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium, 3) A wealth of highly-competent professional business and community leaders committed to supporting the event, 4) A strong local economic base, and 5) Bartlesville’s success in hosting the multi-state 1998 American Legion Mid-South Regional, just one step below the ALWS.

“Legion baseball was big in Bartlesville,” Pomeroy said. “A lot of people were going to the regular games and they were excited about us hosting the world series.”

The stadium exuded a nostalgic charm. Mickey Mantle had hit a homer there as a minor leaguer and it had been home for six seasons to a minor league team in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization. It was on the roadmap of many future Major Leaguers, including Matt Holliday, Tim Pugh, Russ McGinnis, Dylan Bundy, Archie Bradley and many others, as well as future NFL players David Baker and Bobby Joe Green. Satchel Paige also pitched in the Bartlesville stadium for at least one game.

The 2003 ALWS would bring in a new crop of young, shining baseball talents spread out through eight teams representing the states of Minnesota, North Carolina, Connecticut, New Jersey, Arkansas, Oregon, California and Ohio. (There were two different teams from New Jersey: West Deptford and Haddon Heights.)

Minnesota (Rochester) would emerge as the 2003 ALWS winner.

Dan Lyons of the Minnesota team would be selected (Washington Nationals) in the 14th round of the 2007 draft. Lyons never got above the Advanced-A level, but he played pro ball (minors and independent) for 12 years. His Rochester teammate Jay Kasner earned All-American honors at St. John University.

Several other players in the 2003 field ended up on draft lists, although it appears none went on to MLB greatness.

The greatness was Bartlesville’s ability to put on such a massive event with such small experience, a seemingly limited volunteer base, a stadium that required more than $1 million in upgrades and a divisive controversy swirling around the local Legion team, the Bartlesville Doenges Ford Indians.

Why Bartlesville appeared in danger of losing the ALWS

The turmoil flared up in 1999 when the local Bartlesville American Legion Post #105 decided to take complete control of the baseball program, instead of maintaining the mostly hands-off policy of the previous few decades.

The effort met resistance from some of those that had been running the program. Polarization resulted between those backing the Legion post's takeover and those supporting the program's leadership to that point.

Meanwhile, in 1999, the American Legion National Baseball Committee tabbed Bartlesville to host the 2003 ALWS, as well as the 2000 mid-south regional.

But, the hard feelings about the team's leadership had divided many leaders that needed to come together for the common good. In fact, it appeared Bartlesville might be in danger of losing the ALWS.

“There was a lot of turmoil in Legion ball here at that time,” Mueggenborg said. “Because of the turmoil in the baseball community, we were afraid that the Legion would take it away.”

But, then an unlikely hero stepped in behind the scenes — E-E Publisher Joe Edwards — to unite the city's influential vanguard. First, he asked Mueggenborg to chair the Bartlesville ALWS Committee.

“I said to him, ‘I don’t feel I have the clout to go to a Phillips or any other big companies to ask for money,’ They wouldn’t know who I was.’ I said, ‘I’m a nobody," she recalled.

Edwards, who died in 2006, convinced former Phillips executive Charlie Bowerman to be a co-chairman with Mueggenborg.

“I didn’t know him (Bowerman) well at the time,” she said. “Charlie said he would and we worked together and that’s how we got to be such good friends with him and his wife.”

Mueggenborg and Bowerman proved to be a Dynamic Duo — of the gentle persuasion type. They utilized the power of their friendly, sincere and confident personalities to set in motion the preparation.

"It was amazing," Pomeroy said. "The people in Bartlesville and the merchants of Bartlesville really supported it. It was huge. Charlie asked me to put together a golf tournament at Hillcrest in conjunction with the world series. A lot of the visiting parents brought their golf clubs."

Pomeroy recalled a related incident on how the city and visiting families connected. While he ran one day on the Pathfinder, behind the high school, he noticed some out-of-towners enjoying a walk.

"They said, 'We love it here,'" Pomeroy said.

They already knew about the golf tournament but didn't know the directions to Hillcrest; Pomeroy filled in the blank.

"Low and behold, I ran into the same people the next day at the same (golf) tourney," he said. "We heard a lot of accolades from people who visited Bartlesville."

The effort was divided up into working committees populated by other influential community leaders and members.

Lasing impact

Around this time, the massive upgrade — which literally extended from the field level to the top of the grandstand — began. The list of changes would be too massive to go into much detail here.

A quick list: The old wood-rotting roof was replaced, state-of-the-art field lights were installed, the huge fans were installed, internet capability was provided in the press-box, chair back seating replaced wood bleachers, a whole front section of box seats at the bottom of the stands were removed to create more space to the backstop, the parking lot was completely rebuilt, the metal bleachers along the foul lines were put in, new sunken dugouts were built, fences were put in parallel to the foul lines all the way to the wall — and so on.

Much of the cost was paid for by cash donations or by work in-kind on some of the construction projects. Mueggenborg said the planning for the 2000 regional was the catalyst for many of the good things that followed with the 2003 ALWS.

“We wanted the Mid-South to come off really strong,” she said. “Once we had the Mid-South done … we started raising money and getting other people involved.”

The event itself turned out to be a whirlwind of good memories, including a parade downtown for the visiting players, a major pre-tourney banquet, a home run derby and plenty of VIPs in attendance, including Bill Hasse, the Baseball Hall of Fame Senior Vice-President and several others, including colorful visiting public announcer Dick Jonckowski.

The competition sizzled. In the championship game, Rochester (Minn.) outlasted Cherryville (N.C.), 5-2, in front of a sellout crowd of 3,000.

After it ended, the praises mushroomed. At the awards ceremony, Jonckowski stated: "We feel the Bartlesville people have done a better job than anyone with the World Series and that's the truth."

The economic impact grew into the millions for Bartlesville, but the emotional impact and goodwill proved even more valuable.

"There was a pride in our community that everyone showed," Mueggenborg said. "Everyone treated the visitors so kindly and made them feel so welcomed."

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Bartlesville joined forces for successful hosting of 2003 ALWS