KILGOROUND
LINDA BALLARD

He was the middle one - the third of the King Brothers. He was known as a "giant Texan of prodigious strength and temper, his name was John King, and he raged through a dozen baseball leagues in his time, leaving in his wake a monumental legend of violence and destruction."

As most legends go, part of what is told about "old John King" as he liked to refer to himself - on and off the field - is indeed fact and the other part unverifiable. The truth is that John loved baseball and hated southpaws. It was his belief that lefthanders were put on this earth as a curse that prevented him from making it into the majors.

John was raised in Kilgore to the parents of John Solon King and Lula Viola Browning. The love of baseball took him away from Kilgore and he was seen only occasionally roaming the streets during off season.

"Uncle John spent the winters at our house,"

said Tom King. "He was always playing baseball and we didn't get to see much of him.

"He did not smoke or drink alcohol, in fact, he never drank coffee. I remember him most for always talking to me about taking care of myself. He warned me about the dangers of smoking and drinking, and taught me to keep my body physically in shape," said Tom. "It was of utmost importance to him, that I listened about the smoking. To Uncle John, that was the best help he could give me. I played baseball, too, but, not like Uncle John. When I signed up with Dick Burnett, Uncle John came to watch me play," he said.

John was a heavy-shouldered man with hands like huge bunches of bananas; he moved with an uncommon grace and no minor leaguer of the day could match his powerful throwing arm.

John's baseball days were interrupted by the war. "He went into WWI at the same time as my father," said Tom. "He was in the ninth division and my father was in the 36th division. After John got back, he stepped back into the baseball field."

Upon returning, he remarked, "Fifty thousand lefthanded soldiers went to France and all fifty thousand of them came back without scratch." The stories grew about "Old John King" and his antics on the field especially when faced with left handed pitchers.

In 1930, John King hung up his spikes. Then he astonished the baseball world by becoming an umpire. "He was an outstanding umpire," said J. Alvin Gardner, president of the Texas League.

In 1931, oil was discovered at his ranch near Lubbock and he retired completely from baseball. He built a home for his wife and son that resembled Tara in Gone With the Wind.

It's been told that when his son Jack was a baby, he reached for a rattle with his left hand, and John promptly tied the baby's hand in a tobacco sack until he knew for sure the child would be right handed.

The legend of John King lives on. It is not known whether his son took up the sport or not. However, the son, right-handed Jack King, is a professional singer and it is through his voice and not the swing of a bat, that the legend of this family lives own. Jack, and his family now live in California.

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Happy Birthday today to Bob Bolding, Betty Duran, Adrienne Smith, Richard Green, Anna Hedrick Hamilton, Tim Rutherford, Randall Leach, Nora Stansberry, Louise Wilcox, David Fears, Savilla Richardson, Shelley Caraway, Kade Bittick, Derenda Allen, Terry Beverly, Kurtis Ray Hail, Amelia Free.

Celebrating another year together today are Jimmy and Janie Kinsey, Troy and Bobbie Davis, William and Synde Templeman.