The Baxter Springs Whiz Kids baseball team is pictured in this photograph from 1946. That year, the team competed in the Gabby Street League based in Picher, Oklahoma, and finished with a record of 32-16-3. Seated in the bottom row are (l to r): Charles Heavin, batboy Guy Crow, Billy Johnson, and Jim Kenaga. Seated in the middle row are (l to r): Wylie Pitts, Dick Weaver, unknown, Billy Crow, Bob Steele, Calvin Mishler, and Jim Bowers. Standing in the back are (l to r): manager Barney Barnett, Jack Moore, Lowell Crawford, Bob Myers, and Smokey Leonard. The first Whiz Kids team was organized in 1944 by manager Barney Barnett. During the Whiz Kids' eight-season run, the team was exceptionally successful. It became best known, however, for its most famous player, future Hall-of-Famer Mickey Mantle, who played for the Whiz Kids for a full season in 1948 and briefly in both 1947 and 1949.
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