Post, who had short stints with the Reds in 1949 and from 1951-53, was a regular with the team from 1954-57 and 1960-63 around two-plus years with the Phillies. He hit 40 home runs in 1955 and 36 in 1956.
He was a personal friend and a friend of my parents who was perhaps the most humble of major-league players I’ve known. Post was a hero not only to the people in St. Henry but in the surrounding communities like Celina, Coldwater, Maria Stein, Minster and my hometown of Fort Loramie.
Wally Post didn’t think he was any big deal because he played major-league baseball. When the season ended, he worked at the tomato canning factory in Minster operated by his father-in-law.
After his death the Wally Post Open was established and it was boosted in no small measure by the appearance every year of his friend and former Reds teammate, Joe Nuxhall, who drove up from Hamilton until he died in 2007.
In recent years Nuxhall’s son, Kim, has participated in the event. On Thursday, Kim arrived with some friends in one last trip for “The Old Left-hander’s” van, which the family is finally going to sell.
This was the 34th Wally Post Open. Wally’s three daughters and his son, John, had no idea the event would continue for this many years. John said Thursday that he thought it might lose its appeal after Nuxhall’s death.
That has not been the case. The needs of cancer victims continue, and the Mercer County golfers continue to respond to the tournament. “We have no difficulty filling this thing every year,” John said.
Members of the extended Post family all pitch in to organize the event, handling the registration, gathering prizes, ordering shirts and hats, etc. For them it’s a labor of love for a great cause in the name of a great man.
Women's event in doubt: The city of Dayton was anticipating a busy few days of tournament golf next weekend when it was announced that three 36-hole events would be conducted simultaneously at Community Golf Club.
Plans are to have a new City Women’s Amateur Stroke Play Championship operating alongside the annual City Men’s Stroke Play competition and the Senior Men’s Stroke Platy event.
That, of course, was when Community had a head golf professional on site. Circumstances beyond the city’s control dictated the suspension of golf pro Chadwick Walther early in the season, so it’s likely that nobody in the pro shop has been promoting the tournaments.
Additionally, there are some conflicts with other tournaments that weren’t considered or could not be considered when the city made its plans.
As a consequence, only the senior event is drawing significant interest from potential participants. The deadline for entering any of the events is today.
As of Friday afternoon, there were four entries for the women’s championship and a shocking few for the men’s event. Unless an extraordinary number of women sign up this weekend, there may be no women’s event.
Over the years the city has never really conducted a women’s tournament. The Dayton Women’s Golf Association, which limited its competitors to those from the country clubs, ran what was referred to as the city amateur championship from 1933 to 1977. It was a match play event.
In 1975, a group led by Diana Schwab established the Dayton District Women’s Golf Association to conduct tournaments open to all women. The DDWGA, which has separate match play and stroke play competitions, has sponsored tournaments ever since. They are conducted within the framework of the Miami Valley Golf Association.
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