League: Chippewa River Baseball League

Primary League

Dick Krumenauer

Class of 2010

Pitcher, 3rd Baseman

Lafayette Generals 1964; Lafayette Indians 1965-68, 73-74, 76-78

Tough, big, and intimidating.  Among his contemporaries, these are the words still used to describe Dick Krumenauer.  The whipping, three-quarter style delivery employed by the big righty enhanced an already lively fastball and put him on the path of mowing down opposing hitters at a rate never seen — and still unmatched — throughout league history.

Used as both a starter and reliever for Lafayette, “Krummy” was a strikeout monster, averaging an all-time best 14.29 K’s per nine innings during his 11-year league career.  He efficiently eclipsed the century mark four times in whiffs, doing so in 1966 (111 K’s in 65.1 IP), 1967 (122 K’s in 68.2 IP), 1968 (133 K’s in 73.2 IP), and 1976 (133 K’s in 82.1 IP).  His strikeout totals in 1967 and 1976 led the league, as did his innings total from 1976.  Krumenauer also set the pace with the totals of 7 wins in 1967, a 1.71 ERA in 1974, and a 1.53 ERA in 1976.  On his way to collecting 16 career saves — the 2nd highest all-time mark in league play — Dick led the league or tied for the league lead in saves five times, with a personal best of 4 in 1968.

His unblemished 6 and 0 league record in 1974 coincided with the Indians’ 12 and 0 league season, which at that point, was only the 6th time in league history that a team had finished the regular season undefeated.

Krumenauer’s greatest season came in 1976, when his arm and bat led the Indians to a WBA birth and their only league championship in the 24-year existence of the team.  While hitting .308 (16 for 52) with 2 homeruns and 12 RBI’s, Krumemauer was a force on the hill.  For the 10 and 4 tribe, he went 6 and 1 in 82.1 innings pitched with 133 K’s, a 1.53 ERA, and 3 saves.  In that year‘s title game, Krummy spaced nine hits, struck out 11, and laced a double within a nine-inning complete game effort for the Indians as they finally tamed the Tigers, 4-3 at Tilden.

The searing dominance that Krumenauer unleashed from the hill was never more evident than on June 2nd, 1976.  During that night’s 7-2 Indians’ victory over the Chippewa Prides, Dick struck out 25 batters in the 9-inning contest.  Over 30 seasons later, Krummy’s mark of 25 punch-outs still stands as a single game CRBL record.

With Dick in the fold, the Tribe from apple country won division titles in 1966, 1974, 1976, and 1978, qualified for the WBA in 1966, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, and 1978, and ran to the Final 8 in 1977 and 1978.

In six of his nine seasons as a regular pitcher, Dick had a sub-3.00 ERA.  In three of those years (1968,1976,1979), he was below the 2.00 mark.  Consequently, he checks in at 4th all-time in ERA.  In addition to his #2 ranking in saves, he is in the top 10 for strikeouts at #7.

Participated in five All-Star games (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1973).  Named All-CRBL in 1974, one of the two seasons the award was given before it became a yearly institution in 1978.

John Harings

Class of 2010

Pitcher, 1st Baseman

Tilden Tigers 1946-54, 56, 58-59; Tilden Terrors 1960-61

As part of a seemingly continuous line of memorable hurlers to take the field for Tilden, John Harings can be viewed as the first long-term standout from both the pitcher’s mound and the batter’s box in CRBL history.

Establishing himself as a consummate innings eater, the right-handed Harings led the league with a career high 131.1 innings pitched in 1948.  In that same season, the righty also led the league with 11 wins and 155 strikeouts while posting a 3.29 ERA and earning a decision in each of Tilden’s 15 league games.

For the 13 and 1 North Division winning Tigers in 1950, Harings was the difference.  Striking out 124 batters in 112 innings, he led the league with 2 shutouts and 12 wins against just 1 defeat.  In 1951, he captured his lone ERA crown with a 2.63 mark, going 8 and 2 in 92.1 innings with 99 strikeouts for the 16 and 3 league runner-up Tigers.  This capped an iron man start to his career in which he averaged 8 wins, 102 innings pitched, and 107 strikeouts with an ERA of 3.41 ERA during his first six league seasons.  John’s other league leading totals came in saves three times (1946,1956,1958) and shutouts two more times (1947 and 1950).

With the bat, Harings hit over .300 in four of his fourteen seasons (1948,1949,1953,1961), with his career high of .391 (18 for 46) occurring in 1961.  In the process of logging 199 career hits, John led the league with 19 knocks in 1949, 3 homeruns in 1953, and tied for the league lead in doubles with 5 and triples with 2 in 1948.

Participated in two All-Star games (1950 and 1951).  One of the main cogs in Tilden‘s ascension to league dominance, Harings played on two division winners (1950 and 1960), one league champion (1949), and one WBA qualifier (1960).

Upon induction, John’s highest all-time rankings are that of 7th in innings pitched, 9th in wins, and 9th in strikeouts.  Offensively, Harings has the most 5-hit games in league history with 3.

Jerome Gerrits

Class of 2010

Pitcher

Boyd 1940-41; Ludington 1952; Boyd Bees 1953-54

Jerome “Chief” Gerrits had the misfortune of seeing his promising amateur baseball career halted by World War II, as league play and area baseball almost entirely disappeared during the war years of 1942 to 1945.  Nonetheless, the dominance exhibited by the venerable lefty over half a century ago still resonates strongly in the CRBL’s ledger.

Pitching for upstart Boyd in 1940, Chief’s first year in league play saw him lead the loop with 124.1 innings pitched, a 1.95 ERA, tie for the league lead with 10 wins, and set a since matched single season record of 4 shutouts.  For good measure, he struck out 162 batters in fueling the Boyd team to a 10 and 4 record and a birth in that year’s league championship series verse the Bloomer Pines.  Hurling 1-0 shutouts in the opener and the game 3 clincher, Gerrits almost single-handily staked Boyd to a league title in the team’s first year of circuit play.

For an encore, Chief topped that performance in 1941 when he won the pitcher’s triple crown (wins, ERA, and strikeouts) by going 10 and 0 in 88 frames with a 0.92 ERA, 137 strikeouts, and 3 shutouts.  Gerrits’ 10 wins accounted for each one of Boyd’s victories that year as they captured their second consecutive title in outright fashion with an unblemished 10-0 record in what would be their last year of league play.  During this sterling campaign, the Chief amassed a streak of 49 consecutive scoreless innings, a mark that still stands as a CRBL record.

Playing in area leagues after World War II, Jerome returned to the Chippewa Valley League with Ludington in 1952.  Logging a 4.27 ERA in 66 innings, Chief tied for the league lead with 7 wins while losing only one decision.  From the batter’s box, Gerrits rapped 2 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, and 12 RBI’s while scoring 14 runs and compiling a personal league best .360 batting average.  Chief’s clutch play helped lead Ludington to its only division title during the franchise’s seven seasons of league competition.

In 1953, he came back to Boyd to pitch for the Bees.  Re-emerging as an ace, Gerrits went 7 and 1 with a 3.96 ERA in 72.2 innings pitched as the Bees won their only division title and qualified for their lone WBA tournament in their four year league existence.

During a part-time role in 1954, Chief went 1 and 0 with a 3.79 ERA in 19 innings while leading the league in shutouts with 1.

Although his time in CRBL history was relatively short, it is apparent that Chief Gerrits was a relied upon, dominant difference maker.  Out of his five years in league play, Chief’s teams won a division title four times and staked a league title twice.

The success Gerrits helped create is on display in his #1 all-time ranking in career winning percentage.  Upon induction, he is also ranked 3rd all-time in ERA, 5th in shutouts, and 8th in strikeouts per nine innings.