Oshkosh: Looking Back

The book examines the history of sports in Oshkosh. It includes stories of basketball, baseball, football, bowling and golf and by those who played the game. It is also about the past, a time slowly receding in our memories.

The story of the Oshkosh All Stars is the featured story. It was our own professional basketball team that brought home the World Professional Basketball Championship in 1942.

It’s also a story of Lonnie Darling and its featured player, Leroy “Lefty” Edwards. Edwards was considered the best player of his time and helped carry the name of Oshkosh throughout the country.

There other story lines as well. Oshkosh has a long history of amateur and professional baseball and those stories are an integral part of the book as is the city’s bowling history and three of its finest performers.

The current controversy over the land usage on the city’s municipal golf course sold recently to the Oshkosh Truck Corporation leads to a number of stories about the history of the Lakeshore Golf Course and the impact it has had on many who played there.

Oshkosh is not Green Bay but has its own football story. The book features the Oshkosh Comets and four from our city who played for the Green Bay Packers.

A book on the history of Oshkosh sports would be incomplete without including two resident Olympians. Their stories, unknown to many, are told here.