As a youngster growing up in Albion, Dave Egnatuk knew that Jerome "Jerry" Sacharski had a huge impact on the development of T-ball.
As an adult, he was able to pick the brain of Sacharski, a pioneer of T-ball. Sacharski died Friday of natural causes at age 93 at his home in Albion.
"As I recall, he mentioned that he thought there had to be a way for a stationary ball for the kids to learn the game," Egnatuk said. "He was a really nice guy, and he was very energetic."
While the true origin of T-ball is unclear, there is no doubt Sacharski played a big part in Albion becoming one of the first communities in the nation to have T-ball.
Sacharski was teaching at Albion High School in 1954 when he took over as the head of the recreation department's summer baseball program, and there were few opportunities for youngsters ages 6 to 10 to participate.
Two years later, he eliminated the pitcher and the catcher and substituted a batting tee.
http://www.mlive.com/sports/jackson/index.ssf/2009/03/jerome_sacharski_tball_pioneer.html
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