accidental rabbit trails . . .: Bernie Gerl

Bernie Gerl, former baseball player for the Duluth Dukes, an all-star, a leader of that baseball club in 1948, and an all around good guy, passed away on November 7, 2020 at the age of 94.

I initially learned about Bernie because he played for the minor league baseball team Duluth Dukes back in 1948 and so was on the bus that crashed that year, killing 5 on the bus. That and the Spokane Indians' bus crash in 1946, killing 9, are the two terrible accidents that minor league ball suffered over the years - but they occurred within 2 years of each other, causing concern at that time around baseball about bus travel. Readers of my blog will know that I wrote a novel (and now a screenplay) about the Spokane men of 1946, imagining their spirits living on after the crash - a silver lining to the worst pro sports accident in U.S. history.

What readers don't know - what I did not know myself, during the writing - was that my father saw Bernie and his Dukes' teammates play in Eau Claire Wisconsin, against the Eau Claire Bears, the last game before that 1948 crash. My Dad told me after I told him of the novel I was writing. "I think I saw them play their last game," he said. No, it was the Dukes' last game, not the Indians' team. I know of that crash, I told him. It's the only other one in minor league baseball...

So a 12-year-old was one of about 1,500 people to see men on the 1948 Dukes' team play that final baseball game - he grows up, has a family, never talks to his kids about that game - and then one of his daughters happens to move to Spokane, Washington, happens to learn of the other bus crash from 1946, and finds herself compelled to write about this other 1946 crash.

I don't think there are odds for that kind of coincidence. It's like the story was in my DNA somehow.

So Bernie Gerl - the last survivor of the 1948 Dukes' crash - well, he was a special man for me, tied to history as he was (both baseball and mine). Though the bus crash derailed his rise to the major leagues, it also left him as the holder of memories for those on that Dukes team who died too young. It never left the memories of some.

It must have been strange for Bernie, to be forever tied to one day in history - and to have that day be so tragic. He survived because a nearby farmer braved the flames and pulled him to safety, but he was still in the hospital for 40 days. He went into the hospital weighing 190 pounds, and left weighing 120. Yet he was one the lucky ones. Others did not survive. The grief must have overwhelmed both him and the other survivors, all while they received the public's condolences and concern.

From what I have heard, Bernie turned out to be a perfect steward for the 1948 Dukes. He was a big storyteller, with sound effects and hand gestures. He loved remembering moments from the field, and moments from life. He would go to Duluth every year, starting in the 1990s (the 50th anniversary of the bus crash) - until the trip became too arduous from his home in Joliet, Illinois - to relive those stories, to remember his teammates, at the exact same stadium where he had played so long ago. Duluth's Wade Stadium remains standing, and still has a team - it's the Huskies now, not the Dukes - a collegiate team, not minor league. But it's baseball, and has been for decades.

I went once, to that stadium. It was sobering, to realize how many dreams it has held. Few stadiums still exist from that time - but both Duluth and Eau Claire, WI have held on to theirs.

All of this comes up for me when I remember Bernie Gerl.

I remember too, how Spokane's local baseball historian, newsman Jim Price, interviewed Bernie in 2016 as a way to remember both the 1946 and 1948 teams, and how I let Bernie's son Chuck know about the article. Chuck appreciated the heads up. It turns out, Bernie had told Chuck he'd gotten a call from "some guy in Spokane who knew about the wreck and just wanted to talk baseball" - but hadn't remembered the part where Jim had said "I'm writing an article for the newspaper." Mystery solved!

A great story of Bernie and Hank Aaron - Bernie was catching for the Dukes, a young Hank Aaron was playing for the Eau Claire Bears. Bernie had seen that Hank's lead off 1st base was often too large, and concocted a plan with the Dukes' first base man to throw the kid out. The next time Hank Aaron was on first, Bernie signaled his first base man... next pitch... we'll catch him... The next pitch, Bernie caught the ball, gunned it to first and - the first base man had forgotten all about the plan. The baseball sailed into right field. Hank Aaron got his stolen base. Of all the baseball stories over all the years, Bernie had kept this one to himself until one of his last visits to Duluth, when someone asked, "Hey, do you have any Hank Aaron stories?" It was a glorious telling, from what I understand - with sound effects and all.

Bernie's grandkids have shown real sparks of baseball talent - gifts inherited from the man himself, no doubt. I have loved, via Facebook, watching the kids play ball. Ben, the oldest, has become a noted pitcher. He's headed to the pros, as far as I'm concerned - combining natural ability with hard work.

A tragedy occurred after Bernie died - just a couple months after his passing, on January 27, 2021, his wife Bernadine Gerl passed away. They had met through baseball. They postponed their October 1948 wedding because of the bus crash (with the wrong dates engraved on their wedding bands for always). They had lived a rich life together, raised a family together. May they rest in peace together too.

And then there was a gift. Grandson Ben Gerl - the talented pitcher - was signed to play in Duluth this summer. He is making his way, following in Bernie's footsteps. "A chip off the old block," the headline read. The day Ben takes the field for the first time, to pitch that first pitch, with another catcher behind the plate where his grandfather caught, decades ago... That will be a special day. Bernie would be so proud.