St. Jude Church/School Nostalgia

**12468_laing** · March-15-10, 09:52 AM

some more info on Wish Egan I found.
Aloysius Jerome "Wish" Egan joined the Tigers in 1902 as a pitcher and [[with the exception of a quick stopover in St. Louis) was in their employ as chief scout and coach until his death in 1951. It is impossible to quantify his contributions to the Tigers as far as wins and losses. However, he was directly responsible for finding and signing many of the Tiger greats, including Johnny Lipon, Barney McCosky, Hal Newhouser, Dizzy Trout, Ted Gray, Pat Mullin, Stubby Overmire, Dick Wakefield, Art Houtteman, Billy Pierce, Joe Ginsberg, Ray Herbert and Jim Bunning. Bunning was the last future major leaguer that Egan helped sign before his death. He was also instrumental in the acquisition of George Kell from the Athletics in 1946. Egan's scouting prowess was appreciated by more than just the Tigers, as he was named The Sporting News Scout of the Year in 1944. TSN called him "Detroit’s famed talent scout." That very spring, Egan was credited with straightening out Hal Newhouser’s temper and control, resulting in Prince Hal's first winning season [[29-9). Throughout his career, Egan's job was to uncover talent, and he was considered one of the best ever in judging it. He not only provided a player with a contract, but also became that player's coach, advisor, and friend. Though largely unknown today, the legacy of Wish Egan has carried on decades after his death. He was solely responsible for moving the Tigers' spring training headquarters to Lakeland in 1934, where they remain to this day. For decades, Egan's legacy also survived on Manning Street on the east side of Detroit, where the Wish Egan Athletic Club remained a constant in the city until it was converted to apartments in the 1970s. Additionally, the Egan-Heilmann Little League played into the 1980s. One Detroit-area Egan landmark still remains: the Wish Egan Playfield off exit 224-B of I-94 in Harper Woods.

**zitro** · March-15-10, 10:07 AM

Very interesting, I was never aware of a Wish Egan club on Manning. It must have been close to Gratiot since everything else as far as I know where residential

**EMG** · March-15-10, 02:54 PM

Wish-Egan field was/is north of State Fair and I believe between Hoyt and Schoenherr.

**EMG** · March-15-10, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by zitro

Very interesting, I was never aware of a Wish Egan club on Manning. It must have been close to Gratiot since everything else as far as I know where residential

...or if by "club" we are talking about a non-residential building, could it possibly have been the building that's at the northeast corner of Boulder and [[possibly) Manning?

**zitro** · March-15-10, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by EMG

...or if by "club" we are talking about a non-residential building, could it possibly have been the building that's at the northeast corner of Boulder and [[possibly) Manning?

No, that was Frank's Market

**12468_laing** · March-15-10, 04:05 PM

I have a feeling that the address on Manning was where the president or whoever was the main contact lived. The field EMG is talking about had the Boys Club on one corner.

**zitro** · March-15-10, 04:22 PM

Originally Posted by 12468_laing

I have a feeling that the address on Manning was where the president or whoever was the main contact lived. The field EMG is talking about had the Boys Club on one corner.

This is the only building anywhere near that corner and it was Franks Market, I would assume anything related to Wish Egan would be somwhere on the west side of Gratiot

**12468_laing** · March-15-10, 04:28 PM

On the link I previously sent, the address was 16017 Eastwood - clearly a house which the head of Wish Egan must have lived in. Any of you familiar with Eastwood know this house? As for the Manning location, "For decades, Egan's legacy also survived on Manning Street on the east side of Detroit, where the Wish Egan Athletic Club remained a constant in the city until it was converted to apartments in the 1970s". Anyone know of any apartments on Manning?

**EMG** · March-15-10, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by zitro

This is the only building anywhere near that corner and it was Franks Market, I would assume anything related to Wish Egan would be somwhere on the west side of Gratiot

That is the building I was thinking of. I don't ever remember it being "Frank's Market" - but then again I didn't start riding my bike through that neighborhood until 1980, so I guess Frank's Market was before then. I seem to have a vague recollection that newspaper delivery boys would pick up papers there....but I could be wrong.

**EMG** · March-15-10, 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by 12468_laing

On the link I previously sent, the address was 16017 Eastwood - clearly a house which the head of Wish Egan must have lived in. Any of you familiar with Eastwood know this house? As for the Manning location, "For decades, Egan's legacy also survived on Manning Street on the east side of Detroit, where the Wish Egan Athletic Club remained a constant in the city until it was converted to apartments in the 1970s". Anyone know of any apartments on Manning?

I looked up that address on vpike.com and it appears to be a bluish house on Eastwood just east of Redmond, so I'll bet at least some of the St. Jude regulars from this thread ought to be familiar with it!!!

I definitely don't remember any apartments on Manning - only thing I can possibly speculate is that if there were, they must have been within a block on either side of Gratiot. It's very vague to me now, but it seems to me I used to sometimes ride my bike north on Queen to the end and it would end at Gratiot - and there were buildings of some kind in between Gratiot and Queen in that area - can't remember though that they were anything other than businesses, just like just about everything else on Gratiot.

**EMG** · March-15-10, 08:10 PM

Update: I just checked that Bringard/Queen/Gratiot area on VPike and it appears to be the site of a church - so unless there's been a massive tear down and rebuild in the last 20 years I guess my memory wasn't accurate.

**kellyroad** · March-16-10, 01:42 AM

Originally Posted by EMG

That is the building I was thinking of. I don't ever remember it being "Frank's Market" - but then again I didn't start riding my bike through that neighborhood until 1980, so I guess Frank's Market was before then. I seem to have a vague recollection that newspaper delivery boys would pick up papers there....but I could be wrong.

Know that house quite well...just 4 houses west of our home across Redmond.. It was on a double lot and there is a side room [[den). and yes the house is a bungalow with blue painted brick. The family [[at that time 60-70s) did not belong to St. Jude Church/School. One of the sons however was working as a plumber apprentice at Roulos Plumbing the same I worked there during high school......Anyone familiar with Roulo? How bout that in connecting the dots of space and time continuum....Wyandotte bar>bar owner daughter marries Wish Egan>Wish Egan athletic club organizes little league baseball for many in St. Jude area>club house on Manning>Wish Egan Organization contact on Eastwood [[just down the street)>Eastwood family had employee at Roulo plumbing>Some from St. Jude either worked at Roulo and many frequented there. Can anyone keep the association going?

**zitro** · March-16-10, 07:43 AM

Originally Posted by EMG

That is the building I was thinking of. I don't ever remember it being "Frank's Market" - but then again I didn't start riding my bike through that neighborhood until 1980, so I guess Frank's Market was before then. I seem to have a vague recollection that newspaper delivery boys would pick up papers there....but I could be wrong.

Actually EMG, you're right about that building. I don't recall the year exactly but Frank and Rudy Ruggerri closed shop there sometime around the late seventies and then it became a Detroit News newspaper station and remained so for quite a while after that.

**zitro** · March-16-10, 07:56 AM

Originally Posted by kellyroad

Know that house quite well...just 4 houses west of our home across Redmond.. It was on a double lot and there is a side room [[den). and yes the house is a bungalow with blue painted brick. The family [[at that time 60-70s) did not belong to St. Jude Church/School. One of the sons however was working as a plumber apprentice at Roulos Plumbing the same I worked there during high school......Anyone familiar with Roulo? How bout that in connecting the dots of space and time continuum....Wyandotte bar>bar owner daughter marries Wish Egan>Wish Egan athletic club organizes little league baseball for many in St. Jude area>club house on Manning>Wish Egan Organization contact on Eastwood [[just down the street)>Eastwood family had employee at Roulo plumbing>Some from St. Jude either worked at Roulo and many frequented there. Can anyone keep the association going?

I think Mkap can add to this continuum

**jcole** · March-16-10, 09:38 AM

If the person who wrote the above article wrote this:

the Wish Egan Playfield off exit 224-B of I-94 in Harper Woods

doesn't it also stand to reason they could be wrong about some of their other facts?
Unless there WAS a Wish Egan Field near the expressway in Harper Woods, and I don't know about it

**EMG** · March-16-10, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by kellyroad

Know that house quite well...just 4 houses west of our home across Redmond.. It was on a double lot and there is a side room [[den). and yes the house is a bungalow with blue painted brick. The family [[at that time 60-70s) did not belong to St. Jude Church/School. One of the sons however was working as a plumber apprentice at Roulos Plumbing the same I worked there during high school......Anyone familiar with Roulo? How bout that in connecting the dots of space and time continuum....Wyandotte bar>bar owner daughter marries Wish Egan>Wish Egan athletic club organizes little league baseball for many in St. Jude area>club house on Manning>Wish Egan Organization contact on Eastwood [[just down the street)>Eastwood family had employee at Roulo plumbing>Some from St. Jude either worked at Roulo and many frequented there. Can anyone keep the association going?

Well I remember Roulo's Plumbing - weren't they close to if not even right next to Polla's market on Kelly near Washtenaw? Roulos/Pollos---a roly-poly association?---yep I remember that.

**EMG** · March-16-10, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by jcole

If the person who wrote the above article wrote this:

doesn't it also stand to reason they could be wrong about some of their other facts?
Unless there WAS a Wish Egan Field near the expressway in Harper Woods, and I don't know about it

I assumed they were just making a broad generalization for the benefit of anyone who only knew the area in relation to I-94. I guess if you were going there from the north, you'd get off at Moross. Of course if you were coming from downtown on I-94 east it would probably make more sense to exit at Gratiot or Chalmers and go straight up that way.

**EMG** · March-16-10, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by zitro

Actually EMG, you're right about that building. I don't recall the year exactly but Frank and Rudy Ruggerri closed shop there sometime around the late seventies and then it became a Detroit News newspaper station and remained so for quite a while after that.

Yay! I'm not quite as much of a demented old fart as I was beginning to fear!

**7andkelly** · March-16-10, 07:13 PM

The blue painted brick home on Eastwood is ~ the third one east of Redmond. If I heard the family name, I would recognize it, but other than Mr. and Mrs. Boehr, the Carion's and the Veenstra's, it was more of a pass thru area on the way to Colonial Bank, George's Party Time, and Jason's Bakery [[often thru the alley). No kids in my age bracket lived there.

I'm pretty sure the Manning apartments related to Wish Egan would have to be closer to Schoenherr, W. of Gratiot.

**kellyroad** · March-17-10, 01:09 AM

Gosh and Bigorra .Top of the mornin'.....Happy St. Patrick's Day. and in two days, it's a day off from school.

**12468_laing** · March-17-10, 07:43 AM

So, has everyone heard the news about closing Osborn, Carleton, and the 25 million renovation of Denby with a new K-8 school built there? I know Detroit has to do something, but where will this money come from?

**zitro** · March-17-10, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by 12468_laing

So, has everyone heard the news about closing Osborn, Carleton, and the 25 million renovation of Denby with a new K-8 school built there? I know Detroit has to do something, but where will this money come from?

They could start by getting King Kwame to pay his restitution

And they can make MonCon pay for her own lawyers instead of making the taxpayers foot the bill. This one is the most agregious to me. What nerve

**Mkap** · March-18-10, 08:17 AM

Originally Posted by kellyroad

Know that house quite well...just 4 houses west of our home across Redmond.. It was on a double lot and there is a side room [[den). and yes the house is a bungalow with blue painted brick. The family [[at that time 60-70s) did not belong to St. Jude Church/School. One of the sons however was working as a plumber apprentice at Roulos Plumbing the same I worked there during high school......Anyone familiar with Roulo? How bout that in connecting the dots of space and time continuum....Wyandotte bar>bar owner daughter marries Wish Egan>Wish Egan athletic club organizes little league baseball for many in St. Jude area>club house on Manning>Wish Egan Organization contact on Eastwood [[just down the street)>Eastwood family had employee at Roulo plumbing>Some from St. Jude either worked at Roulo and many frequented there. Can anyone keep the association going?

KR - I did not know you worked at Roulo's. I worked there throughout High School, and still can call the entire Roulo family, good friends and associates.
What was the sons name? Maybe I know him.

**Tsomyak** · March-18-10, 10:11 AM

You can add me to the list of people on the Roulo payroll, for EXACTLY one day. Mkap's brother Matt talked me into applying for a job there. I went in on a Saturday, and they had me cleaning the back of the shop, scrubbing floors, etc, etc. After the end of the day I went in and talked to the owner. He SERIOUSLY low-balled me on my wages. I was baffled, I had worked like a dog that day. I walked out and one of his sons asked me what I was offered. When I told him he just rolled his eyes and chuckled. It seems the old man wasn't interested in hiring anyone going away to school later in the year, he didn't want to waste the training I guess. What made the episode even more humorous is that I was dating the owner's niece at the time. I didn't want to tell her family I had quit the job after a day, but, to my great relief, they actually thought the story was quite funny!

**EMG** · March-18-10, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by 12468_laing

So, has everyone heard the news about closing Osborn, Carleton, and the 25 million renovation of Denby with a new K-8 school built there? I know Detroit has to do something, but where will this money come from?

Wow, I hadn't heard that. I attended Carleton! I'll have to do some Googling on that topic!