In 1959, the East Sacramento Little League constructed a baseball field at the intersection of 60th Street and M Street.  It was a beautiful field with forest green fences, built-in dugouts and a lush green outfield.  We all signed up for little league baseball that year.  But, after the baseball season ended, we discovered another great use for the field:  tackle football without pads.  Up until then, we had no grass field to play on, so we usually just played touch football in the street on Janey Way.  This field offered a whole new option for us.
At first we just played among ourselves, usually in four on four games.  However, subsequently we began to play games against other neighborhood gangs:  the O Street boys, the T Street gang and a group of kids from around East Portal Park.  The games were typically friendly rivalries and no one suffered anything more than a cut, bruise, or bloody nose, despite the lack of padding.
I recall one game, however, that turned out to be pretty rough.
One day, a group of us showed up at the field to toss the ball around and maybe play a little game.  We found another group of boys on the field.  No one recognized these boys.  A couple of them were large Neanderthal looking characters calling themselves “big hand” and “big foot.”  I think they were brothers.  They looked pretty ominous.
Eventually, one of the boys came over to challenge us to a game.  Naturally, we had to accept the challenge.
The two groups agreed to a game of four 10-minute quarters; one of the spectators agreed to time the game. Out to the field, sans pads, we went.  They got the ball, and scored first, pretty easily. We followed with a score of our own.  But, the first half ended in a 7 to 7 tie.
At half time, we worked up a strategy for tacking the big guys—gang tackling.  It worked.  They scored the first touchdown of the second half, but we followed with a score of our own making it a 14 to 14 tie.  Then we kept them from scoring again
We got the ball back with about 5 minutes left in the game.  I handed the ball to Al Wilson on first down for a 10-yard gain.  Then, I threw the ball to Lou Viani for a 20-yard gain. On third down, I ran a quarterback draw play up the middle.  When I hit the 10-yard line, one of their players grabbed me.  I kept running.  At the 5-yard line another defender latched on to me.  Finally at the one, the big guy hit the pile and knocked us all into the end zone.  We took a lead, which we never relinquished.
They got the ball back in the end, but failed to score. 
After the game, the strangers gathered on the side of the field, picked up their gear and left with heads hung down. We all stood in the center of the field and congratulated ourselves on a great victory. To celebrate our victory, we walked over the A and W drive-in on 65th Street and Elvas Avenue for a celebratory root beer.
The strangers never came back to our field again.  We must have made a lasting impression on them.  Now our days of tackle football without pads are just another bone-crushing Janey Way memory.

The East Sacramento Little League held opening day festivities on Sunday, March 10. According to their website, the day was marked by beautiful weather, great attendance, and lots of excitement for the upcoming season. Scores of families turned out for the celebration, which included team introductions, an appearance by Dinger from the River Cats, and a series of exhibition games.

The Board has been working hard to get ready for our upcoming season and we are all really excited to see the girls hit the field!

Official rosters are in the works so your coach should be contacting you within the next couple of days and practices can start as early as February 24.  Your coach will let you know your specific practice schedule.

The Second Annual Season Kick-Off Dinner is Sunday, Feb 24.  Pocket Girls Softball secured a couple of exciting motivational speakers and have lots of fun planned.  Buy tickets in advance so the group can plan for the appropriate amount of food.  Visit the store to purchase your tickets.

Pocket Girls Softball needs you.

First, one of our most important Board positions is still empty – Sponsorship/Fundraising Coordinator.  Second, help is needed for the kick-off dinner. There are volunteer openings for tasks such as coordinating the dessert auction, raffle, drink sales, etc. as well as jobs such as set up, food service, etc.  Please let the group know ASAP if you can help with this event. Finally, we will be collecting raffle items for our Kick-Off Dinner.

Contact:  Board@pocketgirlssoftball.org for more information.

REMINDER:  Online registration ends on Tuesday, January 8th, 2013.  Register now for the coming 2013 season at www.lppll.com.

2013 Tryouts will be held at Dooley Field and are scheduled for Jan. 12 and Jan. 19, weather permitting.  Check www.lppll.com prior to tryouts for information on any last minute changes due to weather conditions.

Reminder that all players league age 8 or older (who will be 8 years old by April 30, 2013) MUST attend at least one tryout.

Tryout times: Please arrive 20 minutes prior to your tryout time to sign in.

12 year olds – 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Dooley 1

11 year olds – 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Dooley 1

10 year olds – 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Dooley 1

9 year olds – 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Dooley 2

8 year olds – 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Dooley 2

13 and 14 year olds – To Be Announced.

Softball times may change depending on need. Please check website prior to Jan. 12 for more information.

Rio Americano senior Guillermo Salazar is a gifted athlete with dreams of playing college baseball on scholarship. And while baseball is his first love, Salazar is also talented enough to play varsity football and basketball for the Raiders.
With Rio at the time already four games deep into the football season, Salazar asked head football coach Christian Mahaffey for permission to miss the Raiders’ Oct. 13 home game against league opponent Whitney in order to attend a baseball showcase in front of college scouts in Peoria, Ariz.
Mahaffey gave Salazar a choice – either play in the Oct. 13 game or quit the team. Salazar chose the latter. As far as both sides were concerned, this was the end of the matter. Salazar, a wide receiver/defensive end was set to turn in his pads and prepare for the baseball showcase.
That’s when 11 of Salazar’s teammates stepped up and quit the team in solidarity with their comrade. When news of this spread through the school, Rio Principal Brian Ginter intervened. Ginter decided that instead of releasing the 12 players from the team, he intended to reinstate them and make them serve a one-game suspension for insubordination.
Mahaffey, who had been on the football coaching staff at Rio for 17 years and head coach for the last four, did not agree with the decision. So much so that after a meeting between parents and administrators, Mahaffey was fired as head coach along with long-time assistant coaches Jason Wallace and Kendell Hutchings.
While initially some believed that Mahaffey forbade his players from playing other sports, he actually encouraged them to play other sports. He felt baseball, a spring sport, should not interfere with football, a fall sport, in the middle of its season.
“I think Guillermo is a fantastic kid and I hope to watch him play baseball at Sac State in the future,” Mahaffey said in an email. “(But) Brian Ginter was wrong and he taught our kids a horrible lesson. That I am sure of.”
Mahaffey likened the reinstatement to the students bullying their way back onto the team. Ginter said that his decision was based on the fact that “there are no written guidelines for the kids” that forbid them from participating in off-season sports activities.
Despite the dismissal, both Ginter and Mahaffey said there is no animosity between them.
“It was unfortunate how it unfolded,” said Rio’s Athletic Director Karen Hanks. “We’re moving forward.” The particulars of a meeting between parents, coaches and administrators are being kept private, according to Hanks.
After the decision to let Mahaffey and his two assistants go, Ginter said the school started to receive emails from interested parties concerning the now vacant head coach position. The emails totaled a dozen or so in all, according to Ginter, but it was one from the son of long-time area football coach Max Miller that really got his attention.
Miller, whose grandson John is a member of the current Rio varsity team, agreed to coach the Raiders for the remainder of the season. Most recently Miller led the Folsom Bulldogs to a state championship in 2010.
“It didn’t turn out exactly as I wanted it to, but I’m really happy to be back,” said Salazar.
Despite being short 12 players on Oct. 5, Rio came out and obliterated league foe Cordova by a score of 30-6 in the league opener. Rio currently stands at 3-3 on the year with a 1-0 record in league play. They face Whitney on Oct. 13, where they will once again be without Salazar, who will be in Arizona for the weekend showing off his skills for college baseball scouts.
With a depleted team against Cordova, Salazar believes that the Raiders showed that they are a team to be reckoned with. “They showed that our team can be great even with low numbers. Our junior athletes are really good and they stepped up.”
“This was the only team in the United States of America who had only two days to prepare for a football game,” coach Miller said. “On offense we only ran four different plays and our fullback ran for three touchdowns,” he said.
The victory over Cordova was big for the depleted Raiders, but Whitney poses a different set of problems. The Wildcats sit with a record of 5-1 and are coming off a 63-14 win over league opponent Mira Loma. Whitney has outscored opponents 238-48 in its six games.
Miller was the head football coach and athletic director at Rio from 1972-80. He called those eight years “some of the best of my life.”

benn@valcomnews.com

In the late 1940’s and early 50’s high school baseball in Sacramento was at its zenith. McClatchy, Sacramento, and Christian Brothers all had outstanding teams and talent. Roger Osenbaugh and Jim Westlake of CKM signed pro contracts after the 1948 season followed by Woody Held (Sac), Richie Meyers (Elk Grove), Tony Stathos (CKM), John McNamara (CBS), and Harry Dunlap (Sac). Sacramento Junior College combined the city’s best baseball players to go for the state title for three straight years from, 51 to 53, winning the state title in 51 and 53 at the Edmonds Field.

Possibly the greatest high school baseball teams to ever play in Sacramento were the McClatchy teams of 1951 and 52. The 51 team won 22 without a loss and the section title, and the 52 team followed with 18 more wins before losing to CBS after McClatchy’s win streak reached 40 games.

With a McClatchy Athletic Hall of Fame starting this fall after 75 years, these two teams and their players were picked as one of the three greatest teams in McClatchy’s first 25 years. They will be honored on September 20, with a dinner at the Elk’s Club and on the 21st at half time of the McClatchy football game.

Led by the Rose brothers Earl (51) and Ralph (53), Peter Stathos (52), and Dick Traversi (52), six Lions made all-city in 51 and five made the all-city team in 52. Chris Chrstian, JC Masters, and Ralph Rose were the pitchers with Earl used in relief. Traversi played first, Stathos, second, and Earl Rose played in the outfield.

McClatchy hit .309 as a team with Earl Rose setting a school record getting 49 hits in 94 at bats for a .521 average. This record has never been broken. Junior Peter Stathos also broke the school record hitting .512. He had 42 hits and drove in 28 runs. Traversi was a unanimous choice for All City getting 28 hits and being an excellent glove man at first base. Traversi would go on in his senior year to lead the city in scoring for the McClatchy basketball team.
The pitching staff was led by seniors’ Chris Christian and JC Masters. Christian had eight wins and Masters had six. Bob Jones was the catcher and made all-city. Outfielder Jerry Pesavento and shortstop Bob Ayres made honorable mention.

McClatchy started the season with wins over Willows, San Juan, and Grass Valley. They reached nine straight when they beat Grant 11-2 and came closest to their only loss when their game with CBS was called for darkness after eight innings with the score 11 to 11. McClatchy had led 9-0 but four errors allowed the Pete Mikichich led CBS to tie the score and send it to extra innings.

Chris Christian next threw a one-hitter at Sac and the Lions won easily 11-2. Masters came back to beat the Dragons for their 15th straight 6-3. The Lions had to come from behind in this one as the Dragons scored two in the first. Stathos drove in two runs in the second and Ayres tripled home Masters to put the Lions ahead for good. Ralph Rose then threw a two-hitter to beat St Mary’s for their 16th straight. McClatchy beat Woodland 8-2 and came back for a close 6-5 win over Sacramento for their 22nd and final win of the season.

Coach Cliff Perry commented that, “This was the best team I have ever coached. Earl Rose was obviously the top senior with his .521 average, but seniors JC Masters, Chris Christian, Bob Jones, Dave Thomas (21 steals) , and Jerry Pesavento will be tough to replace.”

The 1952 season started up right where it left off with Ralph Rose, Roger Herscowitz, Don Deary, and Mike Toomey being the main pitchers. Sophomore Bill Werry handled the catching., Traversi played first, Stathos, second, Bob Ayres, short, and Bruce Parsons/ Hui Jackson third. Rose, Gene Huyrch, Jan Aitken, and Parsons were in the outfield.

All-city performers included: Aitken, Ayres, Stathos, Traversi, and Werry in the Sacramento Bee, and Aitken, Rose, Stathos, Traversi, and the Sacramento Union. Huyrch and Ayres made honorable mention. Peter Stathos led the team in hitting with a .438 average, Traversi hit .417 and Rose was .407. Werry .417 and Huyrch each hit four triples and Huyrch had six home runs. Stathos was chosen to play in the East-West All Star game in Oakland after the season.

The Lions started the 52 season fast with eighteen straight wins before falling for the first time at the end of the season They did win the city championship for the third straight year. Highlights included a 21-2 win over Rio Vista, 29-1 win over Turlock and their 35th straight win a 9-2 victory over St Mary’s of Stockton.

The streak finally came to an end in May when Dave Higgins (all-city) from Christian Brothers beat the Lions 11-4. McClatchy was never in the game as Higgins pitched six shutout innings before McClatchy scored twice in the 7th and 8th.
When asked about the McClatchy 51-52 baseball teams that won 40 straight games, Stathos commented, “We had a great coach, Cliff Perry, and great players, Traversi, Aitken, Ayres, and the Rose brothers. We had great pitching, JC and Chris in 51 and Ralph Rose, Herscowitz, and Deary, in 52. Werry and Hurych came out of nowhere to really help us in 52. Forty straight wins. Wow, nobody will ever do that again.”

This is the first in a series of articles as part of the McClatchy 75th year celebration, and the institution of a McClatchy Sports Hall of Fame. A banquet will be held on Sept. 20, at the Elks Clubs honoring 50 individuals and five teams from the first 25 years (1938-1962). All McClatchy graduates and family are invited to participate. For information: go to RestoretheRoar.org or contact Jim Coombs at (916) 422-9082 or Bob Sertih at (916) 441-0657.

More than 200 people arrived at Christian Brothers High School to attend a dinner honoring the latest inductees to the La Salle Club Baseball Hall of Fame on April 28.

NEW INDUCTEES. Left to right, Bob Puccinelli, Don Murphy, Ken Hottman, Mike Furtado, Rich Separovich, LeRon Lee, Jim Barr and Pat Fall were named to the 2012 class of the La Salle Club Baseball Hall of Fame. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

For those who are unfamiliar with this annual event, the gathering serves as one of the club’s most important fundraisers.

In its dedication to provide financial assistance to the high school’s athletic programs, the club raises funds through the event, while honoring some of the most accomplished baseball players, managers, scouts or umpires of the past.

This year’s Hall of Fame inductees were Jim Barr, Pat Fall, Mike Furtado, Ken Hottman, LeRon Lee, Don Murphy, Bob Puccinelli and Rich Separovich.

Although the La Salle Club is directly associated with Christian Brothers High, the criteria to be inducted as a member of the Hall of Fame extends beyond the high school. Or in other words, inductees need not have any connection to the high school.

And by adding non-Christian Brothers High associated members, the Hall of Fame offers a much more thorough representation of baseball talent from the region.

Furthermore, the mere existence of the club provides additional evidence of Sacramento’s longtime notoriety as a baseball city.

Hall of Fame members are all notable baseball people who have performed or resided in the greater Sacramento area.

All inductees are named by the La Salle Club Baseball Hall of Fame Selection Committee.

HONORED. LeRon Lee shows off his La Salle Club Baseball Hall of Fame award with his wife, Vicquie Lee. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

This year, an amendment was made to the requirement that a person being inducted into the hall be living. Posthumous selections will be made for the first time next year.

As part of the evening’s program, a tribute was made to the seven Hall of Famers who passed away during the last 12 months.

Following the dinner, which was served by Christian Brothers High parents and students, a special recognition was given to the 1962 Bishop Robert J. Armstrong High School championship baseball team, which was led by its head coach, Dick Sperbeck.

The team, which made history as one of the most successful high school baseball teams in the city’s history, posted a 22-2 won-loss record, beat four Northern California conference champions and was eventually recognized as the state’s “Team of the Year” by Cal-Hi Sports.

As part of the program, Sperbeck shared various memories about his former players who were in attendance at the event.

One of these former players was Carmichael area resident Bernie Church, who serves as president of the La Salle Club.

Church, who was a teacher for 36 years and a baseball coach for 20 years at C. K. McClatchy High School, received additional recognition earlier in the day when McClatchy’s baseball field was named in his honor.

In commenting about his recent honors, Church said, “It was a pretty special week. That’s for sure.”

ATTENTIVE. Attendees of the fundraiser listen to one of the evening’s speakers. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

As the featured segment of the evening, the Hall of Fame award presentations for new inductees was well structured and enhanced by a comprehensive program, which was composed and edited by 1970 Christian Brothers High graduate Rick Cabral.

After being individually introduced as newly inducted members of the hall, each of the inductees shared some of their baseball experiences.

The following are biographical information and excerpts from these new Hall of Famers’ acceptance speeches:

Jim Barr

Barr attracted many Northern California baseball fans, as he played 10 of his 12 years in Major League Baseball as a successful pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.

In describing the game, he said, “Baseball is a way of life.”

His love for baseball and the relationships he has developed while being involved in the game has kept him active in the sport since his youth.

Barr, who later excelled in men’s senior league games and was a pitching coach at Sacramento State University, presently works with the Granite Bay High School baseball team.

Pat Fall

BASEBALL MEMORIES. The event included a special tribute to members of the 1962 Bishop Robert J. Armstrong High School baseball team. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

A 1966 graduate of McClatchy High, Fall earned all-city honors as a pitcher during his senior year at McClatchy.

His talents on the diamond led him to be drafted by the Kansas City (now Oakland) A’s. He played in the A’s organization and later in the California (now Los Angeles) Angels organizations and was the winning pitcher of the National Division of the Winter League championship game for the Carmichael Merchants in 1971.

Fall paid tribute to Sacramento’s many baseball sponsors, saying, “Without the sponsors, we wouldn’t be able to play the game we play.”

Mike Furtado

Furtado was a standout pitcher at McClatchy High and Sacramento State during the 1960s, played many years of bush league baseball and later achieved success coaching the Elk Grove High School varsity baseball team.

Furtado, who mentioned that he met his wife through baseball, closed his speech saying, “Those were some great years (and) years I’ll never forget. And as (Roberto Clemente) said, ‘Baseball has been very, very good to me.’”

Ken Hottman

AN ANNUAL EVENT. The 58th annual La Salle Club Baseball Hall of Fame event was held April 28 at Christian Brothers High School. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

After successful years playing baseball at Elk Grove High and Sacramento City College, Hottman played seven years of professional baseball, including a year with the Chicago White Sox. He also played Winter League ball in Sacramento.

In remembering his playing days in Sacramento, Hottman noted that the high level of competition resulted in an even higher level of achievements by those participating in the games.

Don Murphy

Murphy, who graduated from Bishop Armstrong High in 1964, played catcher for Sperbeck’s teams for two years.

His baseball highlights also included catching for American River and St. Mary’s colleges, playing in bush league games and catching a no-hitter thrown by Bob Forsch of Sacramento.

Murphy said that baseball taught him valuable lessons in life.

“Through baseball, I learned how to win, how to lose, success, failure, teamwork, competition,” Murphy said.

LeRon Lee

A former all-city baseball star at Grant High School, LeRon Lee played eight years in Major League Baseball and 11 years of professional baseball in Japan.

Lee, who also played in the Winter League, credited Sacramento for being the place where his success in baseball began.

“It all happened before I left (Sacramento) and it all happened because we had such great competition, great coaches (and) great players to work with,” Lee said.

Bob Puccinelli

Puccinelli, who was an outfielder for Sacramento High from 1953 to 1955, was named to the all-city team of The Sacramento Union during his senior year.

His other baseball highlights include participating on the 1957 College World Series champion University of California, Berkeley team and signing with the Cleveland Indians organization.

The theme of Puccinelli’s speech was the “we concept” and the benefits that could be had by working as a team.

Richard Separovich

Richard, who was also a high school all-star in 1955, was a standout baseball player at Christian Brothers High.

He also played for Southside American Legion, several Winter League teams, the Sacramento Solons Rookies and Sacramento State.

Richard, who coached the Charles M. Goethe Junior High School (now Rosa Parks Middle School) baseball team during the 1970s, expressed his appreciation to the voters for allowing him to join his other family members in the Hall of Fame.

Separovich family members in the Hall of Fame also include Richard’s father, Michael, and Richard’s uncles, Tony and Mark.

Since the Hall of Fame’s inception in 1953, more than 400 people have been inducted into the hall, including Wally Westlake, Johnny McNamara, Cuno Barragan, Ronnie King, Woody Held, Joe Marty, Eddie Fitzgerald and Joe Kirrene.

lance@valcomnews.com

Note: This is part two of a two-part series regarding Land Park resident Lou Coppola.

Land Park’s longtime resident Lou Coppola has certainly drawn much attention for his ongoing work with the Nor Cal Big Bands Preservation Society and his longtime career in radio. Another detail about his life was his involvement in sports, both on and off the radio airwaves.

Voice of the Solons

RADIO BEAT. Lou Coppola, far left, sits alongside KGMS radio owners, left to right, Irv Schwartz, Jack Matranga and Steve George, at an Adlai Stevenson for president speech on the state Capitol grounds in October 1952. / Photo courtesy, Lou Coppola

Many former fans of the Sacramento Solons – the Pacific Coast League baseball team that provided entertainment for local sports fans long before the 2000 debut of the Sacramento River Cats – remember Lou. Or they at least remember his voice.

It was Lou’s voice that was heard at Edmonds Field at Riverside Boulevard and Broadway during the Solons’ latter years in Sacramento.

The son of Italian immigrants Emilio and Rosa Coppola, Lou worked at the stadium as the Solons’ public address announcer from 1956 to 1958 and in 1960.

‘Can-do’ attitude

Obtaining the job was a self-motivated endeavor, Lou recalled.

“I had heard that (Solons co-owner) Fred David was not happy with the guy who was doing the PA, so I went over there and I said, ‘Hey, I do PA, no problem. I’m at home and I’ve done it at all these places. I’ve done radio in Korea and I’ve done radio in Pittsburg and in Oroville and I’ve covered every sport.’ He said, ‘Would you like to go to work?’ And I said, ‘Sure.’ He said, ‘I’ll pay you $10 a night.’ That was a smile. Boy, $10 a night to do the PA!’”

Lou noted that that amount of money was a large upgrade from his former days of being paid $2 per night as the PA man for city softball games in Concord.

He added, “To get the $2 a night, I had to drag the field and line it for the games. In those days, $2 just went so far.”

Play-by-play announcer

Lou’s career also included providing play-by-play radio coverage for Sacramento State College (today’s Sacramento State University) and Christian Brothers, El Camino and Woodland high school sports, promoter J. C. Agajanian’s 200-Miler at the old State Fairgrounds, an LPGA tournament at Valley Hi Country Club and local tennis and boxing competitions. He also interviewed many Major League Baseball players during spring trainings in Tucson, Ariz.

Crafting an image

In 1959, Lou helped create mental images for many radio listeners who tuned into KCRA’s AM radio station for Solons home and away games. KCRA later added the FM station, KCTC.

During one of his recent interviews with this publication, Lou described his memories of that year.

“Only one year did (KCRA owners, the) Kellys decide, ‘We want to take (Solons radio broadcasts) away from KFBK,’ and they made a bid and got it,” Lou said. “I think they paid $32,000. (At Edmonds Field,) I did the engineering, but (Stu Nahan) would do the play-by-play for maybe the first six innings and then he’d have to leave to go do the 10:30 (p.m.) sports on (KCRA) Channel 3 for the TV side. I continued (the play-by-play) by myself, finishing up the game. I also was the official scorekeeper at the same time. I had to score while Stu did the play-by-play and then I did the play-by-play and continued scoring.”

Re-creations

ON THE AIR. Lou Coppola is shown during his KCRA radio years in this 1970s photograph. / Photo courtesy, Lou Coppola

Lou also shared his memories about providing re-creations of Solons away games for the KCRA radio station.

“The re-creations were fun,” Lou recalled. “We borrowed a lot of the things that we heard from other people doing re-creations and the fact that you had to have a certain kind of crowd noise there to emphasize whether it was an important play during the course of the game. We would have to make it sound special that the ball hit the bat and it was going to be a good hit. You had to make that sound. And you would have a little mallet and the mallet would make the sound of the ball hitting the bat. We would have a little hanging bat with a flat surface and one side had been shaved, so when you hit it, it wouldn’t bounce off. The catcher was so close to our microphone – we pretended he was – ball one, outside, ball two. We wouldn’t call curve balls. We could say, high and inside, we could say high and outside, we could say low. From our vantage point, we couldn’t tell really what were the breaking pitches. We could only tell by the speed of the pitch which was a fast ball, which was a breaking pitch. And there weren’t too many pitches in the dirt. The pitchers for the Solons were all very, very accurate. I don’t think they gave a lot of walks, as I remember.”

And in recently re-creating one of his often-used re-creations, Lou slapped the inside of one of his thighs. He then explained that the sound made by this action was used to simulate the sound of a hardball hitting a catcher’s glove.

Tony Koester

Although Lou and Nahan provided radio play-by-play in 1959, the most notable play-by-play Solons game announcer was KFBK’s Tony Koester, who spent about 20 years working in that role.

During the Solons’ final season in 1960, Lou returned to his former position as the Solons’ public address announcer.

Met Solons players

Lou said that he had the opportunity to see many notable Solons players, including infielders Harry Bright, Milt Smith, Nippy Jones and Leo Righetti, catchers Cuno Barragan and Bob Roselli, centerfielder Al Heist and pitchers, Bud Beasley, Marshall Bridges, Roger Osenbaugh and Bud Watkins.

These players played under the managerial direction of the rotund and jovial Tommy Heath.

Unique baseball memory

Although Lou has a great number of baseball-related memories regarding Edmonds Field, when asked to describe one of his favorite moments at the old ballpark, he shared a memory that was not directly associated with the game itself or anyone on the playing field.

“One of the best things that I can say about Edmonds Field is that my son attended a lot of ballgames (at the stadium) – actually before he was born,” Lou said. “The year was 1957 and it was my second year at the PA. I had a box seat for my wife (Betty) given to me by Fred David along the first base line and she was allowed to sit there with Charlie slowly growing inside (of her). And on the night of July the 4th, 1957, Mrs. Coppola, Betty, was saying, ‘I don’t feel good and will you tell Lou, I’m going home?’ And she told the usher to tell me that and he said, ‘She’ll see you at home.’ She got home and I had to do an extra inning ballgame that kept me up past midnight. So, when I got home, it was about 12:15 (a.m.) – we lived in Hollywood Park then – and about a half an hour later, she said, ‘I think we’ve got to go to the hospital. I think the time has come.’ We got over in about 15 minutes to Sutter Memorial (Hospital) and we had in 35 or 40 minutes a new boy, a new son, Charles Christopher Coppola.”

And as a sort of icing on the cake, Lou added that the Solons won the extra inning affair, 2-1.

Unfortunately for the baseball city of Sacramento, after the 1960 departure of the Solons, it was without a professional ballclub until 1974, when another PCL team, which was also known as the Sacramento Solons, began the first of its three years playing at Hughes Stadium.

Another professional baseball drought followed until the arrival of the River Cats.

‘Thrills galore’

Lou, who also played as the catcher for the Concord Athletic Club’s traveling team from 1947 to 1950 and spent 19 years playing on a Golden Seniors Softball Club of Sacramento team, said that he fondly looks back on his days of working for the Solons.

“It was low key, compact and kind of challenging (working in the PA box), but it was just enriching,” Lou said. “For a baseball guy who played in high school and semipro for about 10 years in the Bay Area, it was a great experience working for the so-called ‘open league.’ It gave me thrills galore. It was good baseball, good offense and defense and good guys.”

While sitting in his Little Pocket home recently, senior softball player Bob Nevis spoke about a major injury that he suffered during his youth.

SACRAMENTO NATIVE Bob Nevis has achieved much success in baseball and softball despite acquiring a disability during his childhood. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

“I was playing tackle, sandlot football when I was 11 years old and I tore some ligaments in my right knee,” said Bob. “I went to the doctor and they drained it and it continued to bother me off and on for a year before I was taken to a specialist in Sacramento and it was discovered that I had developed tuberculosis in the bone. When they operated and scraped the TB off, they fused my knee and it would never bend again.”

For many or perhaps most people in his position, such an injury would end their participation in competitive sports. But Bob is neither many nor most people.

Instead, this Sacramento native has achieved the type of success on the ball diamond that many able-bodied people dream of accomplishing.

Bob’s roots are in the Sacramento area. His father, Joseph Edward Nevis, was born in Sacramento and his mother, Loretta May (Jacinto) Nevis, was born in the Delta town of Hood. One of four children, he grew up here and was a 1955 graduate of Christian Brothers High School. Bob’s family history in America began on Sept. 1, 1901 with the arrival of his grandparents: Dan and Mary Nevis, who came from the island of Pico in the Azores Islands.

For Bob, 74, who wore a San Francisco 49ers sweatshirt during his interview, sports has been an extreme interest of his since nearly about the time he began to walk.

And although he does not walk as well as most people walk, Bob explained how his love for sports and keeping active has allowed him to exceed expectations.

“I was in a TB ward in Weimer (Placer County) for a year and three months and then when I got out, I was on crutches for a while,” said Bob. “The kids used to say that I could outrun some of the kids on my crutches. I pole vaulted (with the crutches), taking 9-foot strides and that is not an exaggeration. In all my life, I have never seen anyone else run on crutches that way and nobody else has either that I know of. I ended up playing hardball with my brothers and a bunch of guys who we grew up with and we won a lot of championships.”

Bob cherishes his days of playing in winter and spring baseball leagues during his youth and his yellowed newspaper clippings from these years appear as precious as trophies to him.

During his interview with this publication, Bob spread out the clippings on his kitchen table and said, “These are from my days of playing ball when I was a young man.”

All of the clippings, with the exception of one, highlighted the very successful Gerlinger’s of the National Division of the Sacramento Municipal Spring Baseball League. Gerlinger Motor Parts, which was the team’s sponsor, was located at 2020 K St. and owned by South Land Park resident George Gerlinger.

The clippings provided additional evidence that Bob was more than just a minor contributor to the team.

The following are some of the word-for-word highlights of Bob’s undated clippings:

• Bob Neves (sic) yesterday pitched Benny Wolf’s Gerlinger’s to a 14 to 0 win over the Northgate Gators for the championship of the City Spring Baseball League’s American Division.
• Bob Nevis, with a four-hitter, yesterday chucked the Gerlinger’s to a 13 to 5 triumph over Aerojet in a Spring Baseball League contest.
• Chuck Griffith and Bob Nevis combined to hurl a four-hitter yesterday as the Gerlinger’s tripped the Lemon Hill All Stars, 3 to 2 in an American Division of the City Winter Baseball League game at Leiva Field. Gerlinger’s scored its runs on a towering home run by (Bob’s brother) Bill Nevis, who also doubled and singled, and a two-run double by Mike Furtado. (Note: Furtado, who is Bob’s cousin, later won league championships at Sacramento State College in 1965 and 1968 and was a teacher, vice principal and baseball coach at Elk Grove High School).
• The Gerlinger’s of the National Division of the Sacramento Municipal Spring Baseball League won their ninth straight contest yesterday with a 7 to 3 triumph over the Mac’s (Oldtimers). Bob Nevis pitched the win and aided his own cause with two doubles and a single.
• Home runs by Bob Nevis and Jerry Branch helped the Gerlinger’s to a 7 to 6 victory over the Orangevale Lions in the American Division of the Winter Baseball League yesterday on the Grant Field.
• Gerlinger’s toppled Mac’s Oldtimers, 14 to 5, yesterday in the Spring Baseball League. Larry Meredith had four singles and Bob Nevis a triple and a single for the winners.
• Gerlinger’s won its 12^th consecutive National Division Spring League baseball game yesterday, downing the KSFM DJs, 6 to 3.
• The Gerlinger’s, wrapping up a perfect season, yesterday posted their 13 straight victory in downing the Post Office, 5 to 3. Gerlingers won the Spring League baseball championship.

BOB NEVIS stands prepared to field a ball at first base. Nevis has also experienced success as a pitcher. / Photo courtesy, Bob Nevis

Bob also remembers hitting three triples in a game at Southside Park in about 1962.

At various times, the Gerlinger’s success was aided by such players as Larry Bowa, Spider Thomas, Don Semon, Bernie Church, Don Zets and Hank Falconer (who was signed by local agent Ronnie King and tried out for the Pittsburgh Pirates), who were all scouted by professional clubs.

The late Sacramento Bee editor Marco Smolich dedicated an entire article to Bob in 1953 and noted in part of his story that Bob, who was attending The Sacramento Bee-KFBK Baseball School at Edmonds Field, was the “personification” of “hustle.”

In about 1965, Bob, who worked for 57 years as a residential home painter, hurt his right hip and quit playing league baseball. He raised a family in Sacramento and has three sons, Lance, Mike and Joe, and a stepdaughter, Schnee.

It was not until 1993 that Bob was playing competitively again, as he joined the league, Golden Seniors Softball Club of Sacramento.

Bob continues to play softball today and has experienced much success on a tournament team.

Among the highlights of his participation in tournament play was winning the California Cup in Woodland and the Silver Medal in the World Series in Phoenix in 2009 and the Hall of Fame Tournament in Manteca in 2011.

While playing on the exhibition team, the Can-Sirs, a cancer awareness team for men, Bob was awarded the Most Valuable Player award in 2011. Bob is a prostate cancer survivor.

Bob, who is known for his sense of humor, quipped, “The (MVP) award can’t be for the Most Valuable Player. It must be for the Most Valuable Portuguese.”

Another highlight for Bob is having the opportunity to play ball again with his brothers, Jerry and Bill, as the three brothers play together in the Travelers League, which is not affiliated with the Golden Seniors.

MVP. This patch represents Bob Nevis’ accomplishment of being named a senior softball most valuable player in 2011. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

In thinking back on his years of playing baseball and softball, Bob said that he has enjoyed many good times and hopes to continue playing softball for many more years.

“I’m glad that I continued to play ball and overcame the self consciousness of thinking that I can’t do something,” Bob said. “I’ll continue to play ball as long as I can be of help to my team. I’ve enjoyed every minute with my teammates and the camaraderie and the couple of beers and the stories and the jokes and the lies. It’s been all great.”

Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part series about East Sacramento native Gregg Lukenbill’s many activities in the capital city.

Gregg Lukenbill will forever be remembered for his involvement in bringing a National Basketball Association team to Sacramento. But he has also been active with many other activities during his life.

As presented in part one of this series, Gregg, 57, grew up in Sacramento, graduated from Sacramento High School and attended American River College, Sacramento City College and Sacramento State University.

GREGG LUKENBILL points to a map that shows lines representing most of the places he has traveled to in the United States. / Valley Community Newspapers photo, Lance Armstrong

He was also involved in construction for many years in the capital city, thus helping to make his life story very much a Sacramento story.

And in spending his youth in Sacramento, Gregg was among the many locals who were disappointed with the departure of the Sacramento Solons of the Pacific Coast League.

A lesser known fact about Gregg is that he attempted to bring post-Solons professional baseball to Sacramento.

Baseball efforts

Long before Gregg worked to acquire an NBA team for the city, Gregg placed a lot of his energy toward having a baseball stadium constructed off Bradshaw Road on county-owned property.

County Supervisor Pat Melarkey was essential in having this property used for a stadium, as he informed Gregg that the property was available to be leased or purchased.

A lien had been placed on the property because of unpaid taxes of $800.

Through Melarkey’s assistance, the property was leased by Gregg and his father Frank.

Unfortunately for the further progression of the stadium construction project, this endeavor fell by the wayside due to the passing of Proposition 13 and neighborhood opposition.

This failure to build a baseball stadium off Bradshaw Road led Gregg and his business partners to refocus their attention on acquiring a site that they could purchase for a future sports facility.

Arco Arena

Gregg’s business advisor Steve Cippa of Coldwell Banker arranged for the purchase of the abandoned crop dusting airport, where part of today’s Power Balance Pavilion is located in Natomas. Adjoining property was also acquired for the sports facility project.

Because of opposition from the city council and the city planning commission, about eight years passed before the atmosphere and proper zoning for the facility was secured.

Eventually Gregg and his business partners purchased the Kansas City Kings of the NBA and had a 10,333-seat temporary arena constructed.

The second and “permanent” Arco Arena – now Power Balance Pavilion – opened in 1988.

In addition to the arena’s typical events, one of the earliest attractions at the arena occurred in 1989, when Gregg arranged for one of the venue’s most unusual events.

“We were looking for some creative thing we could do to raise money, so I said, ‘Why don’t we make the world’s largest drive-thru?’ It was my idea. I knew that we could open the doors and create a drive-thru.”

As a result of this idea, cars lined up for several hours on a Saturday, as people ordered food and beverage from a very unique McDonald’s drive-thru.

Gregg, who was also very involved with the construction of downtown’s Hyatt Regency Hotel, sold his share of the Kings to Jim Thomas in 1992.

Doubts about Anaheim

As many Kings fans and residents of the Sacramento region are well aware, the Kings were on the verge of being relocated to Anaheim after the end of the season last year.

In discussing the topic of this well-documented potential move to the south, Gregg said, “I have my doubts about Anaheim,” Gregg said. “If you put three (NBA teams) in L.A., why wouldn’t you put three in New York and maybe even four, another one in Chicago? What you’re dealing with is a situation of the structure of the league – from a television market standpoint – and its economic advantages of being a large market. It goes back to that whole competitive balance relationship. How do you create a bicameral competitive balance in sports? What do you do in the NBA? The NFL solved the problem by basically taking all revenues and distributing equally to every team. It’s essentially socialism, socialized capitalism. It’s a battle for the (NBA) to try to sustain the allusion of competitive balance.”

On a new arena

And in regard to the ongoing arena issue in Sacramento, Gregg stressed the necessity of approaching the problem on a wider spread scale.

“I still think that they need a regional solution to this thing, but maybe they’ll get it done (through the city),” Gregg said.

History, travel buff

When it comes to the topic of history, one would find it difficult to encounter someone who is more passionate about the subject than Gregg.

Gregg is so intrigued by history that he said that he would likely have taught history had he not become involved in the local construction industry.

Some of Gregg’s personal hobbies alone demonstrate his love for history.

“I have a thing for national parks and monuments,” Gregg said prior to naming some of the many national parks and monuments that he has visited.

In his East Sacramento home, Gregg has a map that shows lines on it that represent most of the places he has traveled to in the United States.

Gregg also has a collection of hundreds of pinback buttons from both Sacramento and places where he has visited throughout the world.

Many of the buttons are from national parks and monuments that he has visited.

Traveling with his wife, Sally, is one of Gregg’s greatest passions. And altogether Gregg has visited 46 state Capitol buildings and has been to all 50 states more than once.

Another one of Gregg’s hobbies is collecting history books and his ability to discuss the lives of past U.S. presidents provides evidence that he has also read many of the books that he owns.

Although Gregg does not shy away from diplomatically voicing his opinions regarding his frustrations with various actions taken by the city, one thing is for sure; he maintains an unwavering love for his hometown of Sacramento and its storied history.