Cloud Chief, Okla., and Dale Mitchell

Dale Mitchell played major league ball from 1946-56, all but a few games for the Cleveland Indians. His last year in the majors, Mitchell played 38 games for the Indians and 19 games for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He hit .292 for Brooklyn, and played four games in the 1956 World Series. Mitchell was called out on strikes as the last out in Don Larsen’s no-hitter. Mitchell always said the pitch was a ball. Watching a film of the at-bat, I agree with Mitchell.

Mitchell’s lifetime batting average was .312. In the Indians’ 1948 championship year, Mitchell got 204 hits, then followed with 203 hits the next year.

Mitchell was born in Colony, Oklahoma. He grew up in Cloud Chief and is buried there.

Cloud Chief was county seat of Washita County. The town no longer exists. Here is a link to a picture of the court house in 1898.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Chief,_Oklahoma#/media/File:WashitaCoCourthouse1898.jpg

Men in the picture are digging a water well. Oil was still hiding beneath the surface in other parts of Oklahoma.

“The Cloud Chief public schools opened for the 1892-1893 school year. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built a high school in 1938, which closed after the 1959-1960 school year. The high school was known as the Cloud Chief Warriors. The Cloud Chief post office closed on December 31, 1964. The town also lost its charter in 1964.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Chief,_Oklahoma

Mitchell played college ball at the University of Oklahoma. His career batting average was .467. His senior year, he hit .507.

“The L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park at the University of Oklahoma is named in his honor.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Mitchell_(baseball)