James “Jim” Benjamin Manning

ISHPEMING — In our next installment of the best athlete from each Upper Peninsula county, we have James “Jim” Benjamin Manning.

Manning was born in L’anse, Michigan on July 21, 1943, and went to Trout Creek High School. He held the Upper Peninsula basketball record for most career points in his four years at Trout Creek with 2,137.

Manning was offered a scholarship to play basketball at University of Wisconsin but chose to play baseball instead.

He signed with the Minnesota twins in 1961 at 17 years old, but had a brief career with the MLB franchise as he only appeared in five games.

Manning played in the minor leagues until 1966 and eventually went into photography after his baseball career. Manning passed away on January 1, 2020 at the age of 76.