The Baxter Springs Whiz Kids baseball team is pictured in this photograph from 1949. That year, the team competed in the Southeast Kansas Ban Johnson League, winning the first half of the league's split season. Individuals seated in the photo are (l to r): Charles Heavin, Delbert Lovelace, Bob Steele, Jim Kenaga, Wylie Pitts, Benny Lee, manager Barney Barnett, Duffy Harbaugh, George Garrison, Joe Daniel, John Garrison, Billy Joe Pace, and Red Lovelace. Standing in the back, on both the left and right, is coach Paul Pace. The Nilex 35 mm camera used to create the panoramic photo enabled Pace to appear twice by running in back of the photographer as the camera's field of view shifted from left to right. 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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