When I retired in 1994, I received a plaque with a facsimile of my badge from the San Diego Country Probation Department. Later, I learned that my actual badge (#36) had been given to my friend and fellow supervisor Clyde Weston upon his retirement the previous year. Knowing Clyde, he wouldn’t have known or cared that “36” wasn’t his badge number. In 1993, I was given a small pin to acknowledge my 30 years of dedicated service to the County of San Diego. The County newspaper noted that Swank “worked his way up through the ranks.” Now what?
I had planned to write a book about my probation experiences, but in the autumn of 1994, the San Diego Historical Society asked me to write an article about the Lane Field Padres for The Journal of San Diego History. “Runs, Hits and an Era,” an exhibition featuring the Pacific Coast League, was coming to their museum in early 1995 and they needed somebody with a baseball background for assistance.
William G. Swank and James D. Smith III wrote “This was Paradise” which was published in The Journal of San Diego History. Whitey Weitelmann was featured on the cover. At the opening of the exhibition, I was introduced as the Society’s “baseball historian.” I’d never heard of a baseball historian before then.
During this time, I joined University of San Diego history professor Ray Brandes and co-authored a two-volume history of the Lane Field Padres shown above. These books were published in 1997 by the San Diego Padres.
My own book, Echoes from Lane Field, was published by Turner Publishing in 1999. It contains interviews with over 150 Lane Filed era Padres ballplayers. The book won second place in San Diego Press Club competition and received an honorable mention from the San Diego Book Awards.
This book begins on May 6, 1871 with the first pickup game of base ball on the present site of Horton Plaza in downtown San Diego. Rare baseball photos from the San Diego Historical Society illustrate the early years of our national pastime in America’s Finest City.
The next book was inspired by a SABR tribute to Ted Williams held at the San Diego Hall of Champions on March 29, 2003 following his death in July 2002. My contributions, including the story about the first color action pictures of Ted which were shot by an amateur photographer named Heber Epperson at Lane Field on October 5, 1941, are shown below the book cover.
Bill,
I would like to know if Steve Mesner played for the Padres (PCL) in 1947 as jersey #34?
Thank you
Hi Michelle,
Steve Mesner played for the San Diego Padres in 1940 and again in 1948-49.
He was with the Sacramento Solons in 1947.
Are you his granddaughter?
Bill Swank
Hello, I recently purchased 4 of the color Ted Williams Lane Field 4″X6″ photos which appear to be printed from the original negative. The person I bought them from stated that they were in an old PCL scrapbook. I have one image of Ted that you don’t have pictured. I am missing the one you have pictured of Ted swinging through the pitch. Any info you could provide would be appreciated. Thank you! Alan
Hi Alan,
Obviously, I don’t check comments of this blog very often. I am disappointed to learn somebody sold 4 of the 1941 color photos of Ted Williams at Lane Field. Those picture had to have come from me with the understanding they were NOT to be sold.
I have been campaigning for years to get a statue of Ted Williams at Lane Field.
Bill Swank
My name is Bobby Vidal. My Great Uncle “Peanuts” Savine played for the Pacific Coast Padres. I would like to talk with you about what you might know about him sometime.
My email is :verticalbaseball@gmail.com
Thank you, Bobby Vidal
Dear Mr. Swank, I purchased your Baseball in San Diego, From the Plaza to the Padres, because it referred to Billy Byler as a player for the Shiller & Murtha team in 1887. The caption of page 26 says it is either Billy Byler or Will Palmer. From a photo we have of the three Byler brothers taken in Wellington, Kansas, I say it is Christian William Byler, my grand uncle. He moved to San Diego with his father and mother from Wellington in 1887.
I am hoping that you can advise whether or not there are records in San Diego to be found about grand uncle Byler. If they do not exist, then no sense in my pursuing the avenue of genealogical pursuit.
Thank you for any assistance you may be able to provide.
Best regards,
Charles Anthony Byler
PS Christian William and his older brother, my grandfather, Charles Edward, played amateur ball in Kansas in the 1880s and grandfather played and managed amateur teams on Bainbridge Island, Washington. My father is Charles Archibald Byler, a Pacific Coast Leaguer catcher in the 1910s to early 1920s.
Hi Bill. My name is Bobby Vidal. My dads name was Alfred Vincent Vidal. My Great Uncle was “Peanuts” Savin, a catcher. Is that name familiar to you ? I was told that Peanuts played for the Pacific Coast Padres. (years…unknown)
Thank you,
Bobby Vidal 16194939348
On Sun, Jul 5, 2020 at 8:18 PM Bill Swank: Baseball Santa wrote:
> Charles A Byler commented: “Dear Mr. Swank, I purchased your Baseball in > San Diego, From the Plaza to the Padres, because it referred to Billy Byler > as a player for the Shiller & Murtha team in 1887. The caption of page 26 > says it is either Billy Byler or Will Palmer. From a p” >