Episode 18: 1971 Macon High Ironmen

Imagine a high school baseball team in 1971 whose favorite music is the rock opera, “Jesus Christ Superstar”.

Imagine its coach, a long-haired hippie-type who believes in the inalienable right of his ballplayers to be teenagers.  To grow, and learn, and make mistakes.  To value love, dignity and tolerance.  A coach not unlike the Man from Nazareth.

These are your 1971 Macon Ironmen.

At a time when all Illinois high schools played in the same tournament, regardless of size, Macon High, with 250 students, became the smallest school ever to reach the championship game.

The Ironmen were a reflection of their mellow, free-thinking coach, Lynn Sweet, whose hippie/Zen philosophy went against conventional norms. An English teacher at Macon High, Sweet brought his thoughtful and inquisitive classroom methods to the baseball field. The conservative residents of Macon, who had viewed Sweet’s methods and lifestyle with skepticism when he arrived in 1965, became his unabashed fans when his baseball team began to notch victory after victory.

The story of the ‘71 Ironmen and their coach, of baseball and cultural change, is told beautifully in a book, “One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, An Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season”, published in 2012. Author Chris Ballard, whose byline is familiar to readers of Sports Illustrated, joins this episode.

Led by a mellow, long-haired, free-thinking coach, the 1971 Macon High Ironmen represented the smallest school ever to reach the Illinois state baseball final. Against big-city teams and against the odds, the Ironmen took their "One Shot at Forever", as written by author Chris Ballard.

Coach Lynn Sweet in 2010

Cover: "One Shot at Forever"

Ironmen bench, 1971

team photo at Macon Speedway, 1971.

top row l-r: Steve Shartzer, Dale Otta, Stu Arnold, Brian Snitker, John Heneberry, Jeff Glan, Buddy Morrison. bottom row l-r: Dean Otta, Jerry Camp, Greg Boggs, Stan Evans.

reunion photo, 2010.

(l-r) Jim Durbin, Dave Wells, Dean Otta, Lynn Sweet, Sam Trusner, Jerry Camp, Jeff Glan, Dale Otta, Barb Jesse Kingery, John Heneberry.

Team Photo 1971: Back row l-r: Brian Snitker (RF), Dale Otta (SS), Jeff Glan (1B), Steve Shartzer (P and 3B), Stu Arnold (CF), Dean Otta (C), Dave Wells (LF), Mark Miller (2B), John Heneberry (P and 3B), Buddy Morrison (OF), Coach Lynn Sweet. Front row, l-r: Jimmy Durbin (P), Stan Evans (OF), Sam Trusner (equipment manager), Jerry Camp (OF), Jeff Craft (IF), Greg Boggs (OF).