What's in the Water in Midland, Texas?

First chapter and see if there is an outcry for more….

Written by  Bob Ittner

I grew up feeling more comfortable on the baseball diamond than on the basketball court. As others have expressed I have great memories of the Midland baseball scene where I played from age 9 to 17. I went out for high school baseball as a sophomore. Coach Selbo gave me a warm-up pitching jacket which was quite an accomplishment for a sophomore-that team ended up going to State. Someone stole the jacket and Coach Selbo blamed me for being careless so I quickly went to the outhouse. At the same time Coach Todd was telling me how good James “Boots” Reeder was doing in spring basketball. Although I continued to play baseball in the summer I never went out for the high school team again. My senior year, MHS had a new coach who asked me to come out. Over the weekend, I got my  glove and spikes together but for some reason  I did not to show up and it is a regret. I went out for basketball as an 8th grader at San Jacinto and was one of the last players chosen on the team. I was always one of the taller, skinnier guys and at some point I can’t remember when  I was 6’1 ½” and weighed 129.  I never saw the court as a player only as a spectator-I did get to watch Dubby Malaise at Odessa Bonham(?) who was great then and great at Texas Tech. In the ninth grade, I didn’t get to play until the last part of the year when  I did start a few games. After the season  Warren Lynn and myself, Mike Goslin and Melvin Freeman from Cowden were invited by Coach Todd to come to MHS to participate in spring drills. Sam Cox, the SJ coach, had encourage me to start jumping  rope which I did and continued through my college career. I started on the B team as a sophomore for the 59-60 season but the real news was one of the best teams MHS ever had on the Varsity: Mike Humphrey and Mike Marsh (Moose and Goose-6’8” ), Dick Campbell, Charlie Dishman (Charlie D.), and Bob Davis with Knox Nunnally coming off the bench. They were undefeated and beating  everyone by 20 points or more including Borger who they defeated  twice by 25 or 26 points. In Bi-regional, they lost a coin flip and ended up playing Borger at Borger and losing in OT-what a disappointment. Both Marsh and Humphrey were All-State,  Charlie D. second team, and Bob Davis honorable mention. Humphrey was all-conference at UT, Marsh and Davis played at SMU, and Charlie at UT/Hardin Simmons.