LATE ADDITION: Mel Murken, BHS-59, has a birthday Saturday 4-10. Box 133, Rippey 50235.
MUSTAPHA BECAME BOONE'S BEST PITCHER
The Kornerman grew up on the north side, near 17th and Crawford. There was just one house and a portion of 17th street between the Kelley and Mustapha homes.
Day or night, winter or summer, few days went by that the loud "plop" of a baseball attacking a glove was not heard in the neighborhood.
It was a ritual that began when a very young Jack Mustapha Jr., BHS-65, started throwing to his dad, Boone Fire Chief, Jack Mustapha Sr., BHS-29,......and it continued through Little League, Babe Ruth League and Toreador competition.
By the way, in the late 1920's, Jack Sr. was quite an athletic star in his own right.......for the Toreadors, and then into the 30's for Northern Illinois University where he became a Hall of Fame inductee.
Anyway, talk about hard work, dedication and a big boost from his dad...... it all resulted, eventually, in a successful payoff for the younger Jack.
There was some Boone High School baseball played in the 1941-46 era, then a shutdown until Coach Bill Sapp arrived in town from Grand Junction and got the sport revived in 1959.
Look, there were some very good pitchers in the community prior to the establishment of the youth program in the 1950's. Don Reed, BHS-42, spent five years in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system.
Denny Adreon, Jon Gustafson, Bobby Hopkins, Tom Price, Jeff Sebring and Blane Reutter quickly come to mind and Dick Sapp was the winning pitcher in the 1967 state championship game. I'm sure there were others deserving of mention.
Still, all things considered, Jack Mustapha Jr. would have to rate as the greatest Toreador pitcher in the school's history.
He sailed through Little League with pitches that other young players simply couldn't "couldn't catch up" with.
He continued to be a bright star throughout the entire youth system. A highlight, though, was his performance as the top pitcher on the 1962 Babe Ruth team that won state and regional championships and was one of just eight Ruth teams in the world to earn their way into the Ruth World Series in Bridgeton, New Jersey. A full story on that '62 team will follow in a coming edition.
Just a year later,1963, as a high school sophomore, the hard-throwing Mustapha recorded a 10-0 mound record for the Toreadors. He had 131 strikeouts in just 82 1/3 innings of work. He still threw exceptionally hard but to stifle more experienced high school hitters, he added a devastating breaking ball to his repertoire.
In his junior year, 1964, he suffered the first and only losses of his entire high school career.
Despite the fact he allowed just three hits with nine strikeouts, Marshalltown defeated him and the Toreadors, 3-1, in a first round Sub State game.
Dowling, unbeaten at the time, collected seven hits and nine runs in an 11-0 setback. But only four of the nine runs were earned against a less than stellar BHS defensive effort.
Jack's season record as a junior was 12-2 with 174 strikeouts in 97 innings and a 1.44 earned run average.
He dialed up three no-hitters, plus a nine-inning one-hitter, and in those four contests, he struckout 19, 15, 14 and 14 respectively.
Illness resulted in a slow start in Musty's senior season, 1965. He missed nine early season games. His first start of the season occurred in the Boone team's 15th game.
Still, he finished with a 9-0 record and was brilliant in post-season play as the BHS team won 12 of their last 13 games enroute to the state high school championship. Nine of those victorious games were in tournament play.
In six starts in the tournament series, he posted four no-hitters and two one-hitters. That's just two hits allowed in six games against good tourney competition.
The Toreadors defeated Burlington in the state championship game, 2-0, as Mustapha hurled a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts.
For his entire senior season, he fanned 135 batters in 62 2/3 innings and posted an 0,28 earned run average. That brought his complete high school record to 31-2 with 430 strikeouts in 243 innings, seven no-hitters and four one-hitters, plus that state title.
Shortly after his high school career ended, he pitched for a team that was facing the perennial state semi-pro champion Slater Nighthawks......featuring a roster collection of the best of surrounding college players. Oh yes, he defeated them.
Jack entered Iowa State University, pitched and starred for the Cyclone freshmen team. Frosh were not allowed to play varsity baseball in those days.
Military service then beckoned and injuries received in combat during the Viet Nam conflict, plus the passage of time, halted any further competition.
Some time down the line we'll be adding a story, in depth, on that 1965 team and the 1967 squad that also captured a state championship.
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BOONE CONNECTED DEATHS: Terry McGinnis, 69, Boone. Married Jerry McGinnis in Boone in 1998. Worked for ISU for 25 years, prior to retirement in 2016. Survivors include her husband, two daughters, including Julie Holmberg of Boone and a son..........James (Jim) Westbrook, 74, Madrid. Navy vet. Grew up in Ames. At DMACC, studied welding and machine repair. Married Marylou Lansing in Boone in 1974.Worked for General Filter in Ames for 20 years and at the Bulk Mail Center in Urbandale for 10 years. The couple settled in a home near Madrid. Survivors include his wife, two sisters, a sister-in-law and an aunt and uncle........Troy Gene Gibson, 51, Boone. Born in Boone. His mother was the late Kay Gibson. Troy was the last graduate of the Boone Christian School in 1989. Survivors include a brother and two sisters........Jeffrey Allen Starcher, 50, Boone........Kenneth Springer, 88, Boone. Born in Boone. Married Laura Lundberg in Boone in 1953. They later divorced. Ken was a plumber at ISU for 27 years and then worked at Van Hauen for 10 years. He was an Iowa National Guardsman for 11 years. Survivors include a son, a daughter, Kerin Peterson, and a sister, Joyce Appenzeller, both of Boone.......Harold Berg, 95, Ogden. Army vet who was injured in World War II and received a Purple Heart. Married Lois Mae Jones in Des Moines in 1948. He was a Mason until joining his brother, Bob, at Sycamore Construction in Illinois for a 25 year period. In 1966, he moved his family to Ogden and joined IDS Financial. His son, Keith Berg, joined his dad in the business in 1987 and is still operating that business today. Harold was a proud pilot who owned his own plane. Survivors are two sons, including Keith of Boone..........Erik Lingren, 41, Ames. Born in Boone. His parents, who survive, are David and Rebecca Hasstedt Lingren. AHS and DMACC trained. He worked 25 years at West HyVee in Ames, most recently in the meat department. A big sports fan, he was well known as an occupant of the DMACC scorer's table. In addition to his parents, survivors include a sister, paternal grandmother and his aunt, Rose Braynard, of Ogden.......Herbert Holden, 92, Ames/Madrid. Married Shirley Smiley in 1948. In Ames, he worked for the railroad and then the DOT.
The last few years he had lived at the Cedars in Madrid. Survivors include three adult children and his brother.
K-----K
Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 928 South Jackson, Boone, Iowa 50036-4932. Phone number is 515-432-1530. Leave a message. To email your stories/memories/comments....
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