The Bob Feller Baseball Museum in Van Meter opened a new display today to honor the two 18-year-old Iowa baseball players who competed for the country’s high school home-run record. James Peterson of Winterset ended the season with 73 and Jeff Clement of Marshalltown reached 75, and now holds the national home run record for a high schooler. Museum director John Kelly says up to now, the trim brick building in Van Meter has exclusively shown mementoes of the Feller, an Iowan who played for the Cleveland Indians for two decades. He says Clement and Peterson have given the museum lots of mementoes including the very first home run balls they hit when they were — in Kelly’s words — “little pipsqueaks.” Kelly has high praise for the teens who won the recognition for their baseball playing but don’t seem to have let it go to their heads. He says they’re goal-driven and have good work ethics, and would make good role models for young people. The new display also includes newspaper clippings and jerseys the two wore in their games. He says it’s a beautiful display and a testament to the kids’ accomplishments.
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