Gym Cracks By Jim July 18, 2002 NEBRASKANS IN THE MAJORS A look at Nebraska's contriubutions to major league baseball By Jim (Babe) Berryman MissingNebraska.com Western Nebraska How many major league players list their place of birth in Nebraska? This perusal will take some time as The Baseball Encyclopedia has 3026 pages. I did learn at least three former major league managers list the state of Nebraska as their birthplace. One individual is Darrell Dean Johnson who was born in Horace. Anyone know where Horace is located? Those of us who have resided in central Nebraska will know. Horace is/was a community in Greeley County. It is located on a county gravel road between Greeley and Scotia. You won't find Horace on the 2001-02 Nebraska road map. It has been many years since I've been on this road. As I recall the last time I passed by Horace, the community featured boarded-up buildings and maybe a farm house. Johnson played for seven major league teams (St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and Baltimore Orioles) between 1952 and 1962. He participated in two games with the Cincinnati team in the 1961 World Series. He then managed the Boston Red Sox from 1974-76, Seattle Mariners during the 1977- 80 seasons, before guiding the Texas Rangers during the 1982 season. The other men who managed major league teams were Mel Harder from Beemer (pop. 672), and Bill Southworth, a Harvard native, (pop. 976). Small town Nebraska is well represented! A popular Simon and Garfunkel song of the 60's was "Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?" My thought is "Where have you gone, Darrell Johnson?" Since he was born on August 15, 1928 I'm assuming he is still alive. I know the Johnson name is well represented in the Scotia area. Hey, I'll start by contacting people in the Scotia/Horace area. Maybe I'll have an answer for you in the near future. Look for a new Gym Cracks by Jim every week on MissingNebraska.com Previous Gym Cracks: 07-11-02: Kile Death Sheds Light Gym Cracks 07-04-02: Couch Potato Parking Gym Cracks 06-23-02: Top 10 Nebraska High School Nicknames Gym Cracks 06-06-02: Better In The 50s Gym Cracks 05-30-02: Dangerfield of Nebraska Gym Cracks 05-16-02: Baseball Sneak Aways Gym Cracks Feedback