Former Newberry (S.C.) Post 24 Legion Baseball player Billy O'Dell stops by the Keeter Stadium press box prior to Post 193's semifinal game on Monday. (Photo by Clay Lomneth)

Former Legion player back to root for team

Chapin-Newberry Post 193’s baseball team has enjoyed tremendous crowd support throughout its run to The American Legion World Series championship game. Monday night a former player joined that fan base.

Billy O’Dell, was born and went to high school in Whitmire, S.C., and played baseball for Newberry Post 24, showed up to urge his former team on against Medford, Ore.

The 82-year-old O’Dell, who lives in Newberry, said he played Legion Baseball, “probably from the time I was 12 or 13 years old until I got too old. We played pretty good baseball.”

After Legion Baseball, O’Dell went on to play at Clemson before a 13-year career in Major League Baseball took him to stops in Baltimore, San Francisco, Atlanta, Pittsburg and Milwaukee. A pitcher, he compiled 105-100 record over his career, posting a very respectable 3.29 earned-run average. He went from a starter to a reliever toward the end of his career and collected 50 saves in the process.

O’Dell threw out the first pitch at a Post 193 game earlier this season and tries to attend as many of the team’s games as possible.

“I’ve seen them play a good bit the last two years,” he said. “It’s just a good bunch of kids. They enjoy themselves. They have a lot of fun playing. That’s the part of the game that’s forgotten now: the fun part. I enjoy watching kids from year to year and see how much they’ve improved from one year to the next.”