Dick Reinwald looks through a scrapbook with images and articles of his days as a American Legion Baseball player.

Memories of playing on the 1956 Lawrence American Legion championship team are still vivid in the mind of Dick Reinwald, even 50 years later.

Reinwald, who was a pitcher and outfielder on that team, reminisced about his playing days in the 1950s and was thankful for his opportunity to have played youth sports.

“A lot of high schools didn’t have a baseball team,” Reinwald said. “They didn’t have the youth sports programs like they do today.”

Reinwald attended De Soto High and participated mostly in baseball. He also played basketball, went to movies, spent time bowling, and even played some marbles. Because soccer was not popular at the time, Reinwald eventually became hooked on baseball. But acquiring the equipment to play the sport was not all that easy.

The uniforms the team wore had numbers on the back and the Lawrence “L” on the front. However, not all the ball caps had the letter printed on them. And to get equipment Reinwald and his dad often had to travel to Kansas City.

Before the A’s came to Kansas City, Reinwald’s favorite team growing up was the St. Louis Cardinals. His favorite players were Stan Musial and Mickey Mantle.

Although those two Hall of Fame players proved to be successful at the plate, Reinwald found his niche on the mound.

In the 1956 championship season, Reinwald pitched in many big games and was 6-0 at one point in the season. Reinwald pitched the opening game in the state tournament and said he was quite nervous before the game.

In the first inning, Reinwald walked three batters and gave up four runs. However, his team still came away with a 15-4 win.

Following the game, Reinwald and a few of his teammates wanted to celebrate the win with some swimming, but the pools were all closed. But that did not stop them. He and his teammates out-maneuvered security to do so.

The team did not stay in hotels during the Osborne, Kan. tournament, but stayed in houses that were very hot during the August summer. To combat the heat, Reinwald said he and his buddies slept on the roof.

“It was cooler outside than it was in the house,” Reinwald said.

Though the team cooled down at night, they heated back up during the day. The Lawrence American Legion team clinched the state championship with a 3-1 victory against Wichita. It was the first time since 1927 that Lawrence won the state title. Reinwald did not play in the championship game, but he went on to play freshman baseball at Kansas University.

Reinwald’s 6-year-old grandson, Alex Miller, is heavily involved in youth sports and hopes to play baseball at KU when he gets older. To help him get there, Miller has some advantages that his grandfather did not.

Miller attended KU baseball camp this summer and learned a lot about the fundamentals of the game.

“It was really fun,” Miller said. “We ran around the whole baseball field, hit batting practice, and I got lots of KU stuff.”

Miller said he is involved in youth sports is not only the love of playing the games, but because he gets to meet new people.

“I like meeting new friends,” Miller said. “I want to play different sports so I can make a lot of friends.”

One friend Miller really enjoys spending time with is his grandfather.

They go horseback ridding together, and Reinwald attends a lot of Miller’s games.

Although Reinwald said the area youth sports program is certainly a positive, he added it may be a bit too much for the young kids.

“I have a grandson who had two basketballs games and one soccer game all in the same morning,” Reinwald said. “And that’s a lot.”

But because of their additional opportunities for practice time, Reinwald has seen many positives in the youth sports program.

“Kids start earlier and the athletes are so much better,” Reinwald said. “We didn’t have that when I played. But it’s a good thing the kids do now.”