“Occupy Lane Field” A Statue for Ted Williams
Continue reading ““Occupy Lane Field” A Statue for Ted Williams”
Push For Ted Williams Statue Downtown
Local Baseball Author and Historian Wants A Piece Of San Diego History Preserved
photo by AP
Bill Swank, a local baseball historian, says it’s time one of San Diego’s most prolific baseball players be honored with a statue downtown.
That slugger is Ted Williams who played for the Boston Red Sox, and became one of baseball’s greatest players of all-time.
Williams who was born in San Diego in 1918, began his pro career at the old Lane Field downtown, when the Padres joined the pacific coast league.
On Saturday, Swank stood at the corner of Pacific Highway and Broadway, and said a statue of Ted Williams should be placed there along with the home plate plaque and patch of grass that signify where the old ballpark once stood.
The story of “Baseball Santa”
As a little boy, I dreamed of being a ballplayer. Nobody dreams about becoming Santa Claus. This is the story about a skinny, redheaded kid who unexpectedly became robust, beer-bellied “Baseball Santa.” Life throws us a lot of curve balls. Charlie is hard to hit, but sometimes we connect… and sometimes dreams (and even non-dreams) do come true.
The following item is from a continuing series of photos that appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune as part of “Faces of San Diego 2000.”
In 1949, our family moved to Columbia City, Indiana where my father became the Cub Scout Pack Master and Superintendent of the Presbyterian Church Sunday School. He was even Santa Claus for one year and a constant source of embarrassment to his family.
Santa and his Sons (Indiana – 1950)
This is a photo of the skinny, redheaded kid…
After I turned 60, strangers approached me to offer jobs as a professional Santa Claus. I didn’t want to be Santa Claus. Then something happened to change my mind. My wife and I were having dinner at HomeTown Buffet. While loading my plate, I felt something on my leg and looked down. A little Mexican girl had both arms wrapped around my knee. She looked up and said, “I love you, Santa Claus.” A woman standing beside me asked if this happened often. I told her that the older I get, the more it happens. The look on that little girl’s face melted my heart.
Shortly after that encounter, my wife and I attended a neighbor’s party. These two charming ladies (above) convinced me to be the replacement for their aging Santa Claus who was retiring following controversy between the Community Christmas Center and local atheists. I remembered their life-sized Nativity dioramas from when I first moved to San Diego. I took my kids to see the Christmas Story at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion when they were little. I gladly volunteered to be their Santa Claus, because the spirit of the CCC is low-key and non-commercial. Christmas has become too commercial. Santa should be about giving and not about making extra income during the Holiday Season. I was honored to become part of a great San Diego tradition in Balboa Park.
This little boy was afraid of Santa and wouldn’t talk. I asked if he liked baseball. He nodded, so I handed him my bat. I asked if he’d like to wear my baseball cap. Again he nodded, so I put it on his head. Next, I asked if he would do me a favor. Would sit on my lap so I could have a picture of him with my bat and cap? To my surprise, he agreed. I didn’t know it then, but I had become “Baseball Santa.”
My best friend and former basketball teammate, Rich Nelson, is an American Legion baseball commissioner in Illinois. In 2003, he invited the original House of David base ball team to play an exhibition game at Elfstrom Stadium, home of the Class A Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League. Secretary of Trustees and team captain Ron Taylor agreed to allow Santa Claus to play for the bearded religious colony. From the 1920s through the 1940s, House of David was a famous barnstorming team that played all challengers including the great Negro League teams of the era.
Chicago Tribune (July 27, 2003)
By the way, the hidden baseball mentioned in the Chicago Tribune article was not a fake ball. It was the actual game ball. Former 98-year-old HOD catcher Eddie Deal taught me the trick. It was part of their entertainment which included the renown House of David “pepper game” routine.
Ron Taylor and Baseball Santa are shown relaxing after the House of David game. Santa is drinking a nutritional supplement designed to maintain his santaesque waistline. Ron sent the following letter:
House of David (August 25, 2003)
My wife, Jeri, saw an advertisement in the newspaper about a group of prominent Santa Claus artists who would be appearing at City Lights Christmas store. She thought the figures created by an artist named Peter Nourjian looked like me. While at the store, a pleasant woman approached and announced her intention to make a Santa replica of me. How did she know I was Santa Claus? She turned out to be Pipka, the 2003 “Santa Artist of the Year.
During the 2003 Christmas Season, Santa stopped to visit his friends at the San Diego Hall of Champions. Founder Bob Breitbard wanted his picture taken on Santa’s lap as shown below in the 2004 Hall of Champions Journal.
San Diego Hall of Champions Journal (2004)
In 2004, Leslie Macher, a television producer for Major League Baseball, wanted me to talk about San Diego’s early ballparks for their new HDTV series, “Cathedrals of the Game.” Halfway through taping, the host, Michelle Beadle, confided that when the crew pulled into the Hall of Champions parking lot that morning, she joked, “Hey look, Santa Claus is on vacation in San Diego.” They was surprised to learn that Santa was their baseball historian. Michelle referred to me as “Santa” during the interview, but the reference was cut when the program aired.
On December 11, 2004, Barnes & Noble and The Old Globe Theater sponsored an event known as “Million Books for a Million Children. Santa was invited to read “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and the Old Globe’s Grinch acted out the story. Afterwards, the Grinch himself autographed a copy of Dr. Suess’s Christmas classic for Santa. Then the Grinch asked for an autographed copy of Santa’s Baseball in San Diego: From the Padres to Petco. Santa laughed, “I didn’t know you were a baseball fan.” Without cracking a smile, the Grinch deadpanned, “I am.”
The Grinch and Santa Claus (2004)
In 2005, the Surf Dawgs became San Diego’s entry in the newly formed independent Golden Baseball League. As a publicity stunt, the team held tryouts for the local media and Baseball Santa was invited to showcase his skills. Although not tendered a coveted professional contract, Santa did make the Channel 10 highlights when he backhanded a deep shot in the hole at short and fired a two-bouncer to first base.
East County Gazette (April 6, 2005)
Baseball Santa is shown below taking his swings during the Surf Dawgs tryout at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
In 2006, Baseball Santa again played for House of David in a doubleheader at Legion Park in Wheaton, Illinois. He is shown below watching a ball hit with his candy cane willow ricochet off the left field fence. With blinding speed, Santa was able to stretch a certain double into a single.
Santa connects (Wheaton, Illinois – 2006)
After the game, Rich Nelson and Santa went on the road to Sister Bay, Wisconsin to visit Pipka at her studio. It didn’t take long for her to decide to make a figurine with a baseball theme.
Baseball Santa and Pipka (Sister Bay, Wisconsin – 2006)
Later on the same road trip, Santa rejoined the House of David team at beautiful Eastman Field in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Davids were scheduled to face the mighty Bonneyville Millers from Indiana. Santa is shown below with ballists from the Millers club.
Santa and the Bonneyville Millers (Benton Harbor, Michigan – 2006)
A close play at second base (Benton Harbor, Michigan – 2006)
Below is a rare copy of Baseball Santa’s Upper Deck baseball card.
Baseball Santa Swank (Upper Deck – 2006)
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The card appeared on the New York Post website.
New York Post (December 24, 2006)
Bill Swank Upper Deck baseball card
Bill Swank (Upper Deck – 1955)
Upper Deck liked the “antique look” of the Farmington card so much that it was featured in their catalog. Antique look? 1955 isn’t antique!
Former Negro Leaguer Neale “Bobo” Henderson and Baseball Santa were invited to be Opening Day speakers for the Southeast San Diego Little League.
As a tribute to Buck O’Neil, Dave Winfield arranged for every Major League Baseball team to symbolically draft a former Negro League player during the annual amateur draft in June 2008. It was my privilege to travel to Orlando, Florida as a guest of MLB for this historic event.
Walter McCoy, Baseball Santa, John “Mule” Miles (June 5, 2008)
Santa with 102 year old Emilio Navarro (June 5, 2008)
When I gave my baseball card to the former Negro League players, rather than commenting about Santa Claus, they were impressed that I played for House of David. Several stated that when they first saw me, they immediately thought of the House of David. All appreciated the fact that House of David played against the Negro League teams.
In 1954, San Diego Post 492 won the American Legion National Championship. My good friend, Billy Capps, was the Legion Player of the Year in ’54. Billy invited Rich Nelson and me to join him and his wife, Sue, at the 2008 American Legion World Series in Shelby, North Carolina. I wanted to visit Shelby because its town leaders had allowed black ballplayers from San Diego Post 6 to play in the 1940 American Legion semi-finals.
Former American Legion Baseball Commissioner Lou Brissie, Billy Capps, Rich Nelson (2008)
Reverend Eddie, Zaiden, Baseball Santa (Shelby, North Carolina – 2008)
While at the Legion World Series, a little boy named Zaiden asked if I was Santa Claus. He became very excited when I handed him my card. A short time later, Zaiden wanted to give me a dollar bill that his mother had given to him to spend on a snack. I thanked the boy, but explained that Santa doesn’t accept money. Then I thought about a Baptist minister I’d met earlier in the stands named Reverend Eddie. He had told me about his out-reach program for the poor.
I asked Zaiden if he would be willing to give his dollar to help poor people. He said, “If that’s what you want me to do, Santa, then I’ll do it.” I introduced the youngster to Rev Eddie, but wanted to make sure the kid understood what poor meant. Immediately he replied, “Yeah, them’s broken people. They ain’t got no money.” Yes, he wanted to give his dollar to help poor people. The preacher and the boy’s mother both started to cry. Zaiden, you’re a great little kid! Shelby is a great town!
The Shelby Star (August 25, 2008)
As a goodwill ambassador at the Legion World Series, Capps usually makes the front page of the local newspaper, but I knocked him off the cover this time…
Alan Ford article about John Ritchey (Shelby Star, August 25, 2008)
In September 2008, Rich Nelson was invited to play in the final doubleheader of the season for House of David. I gave him an old Santa Claus beard and wig, but Rich didn’t want to be another “Baseball Santa.” I was finally able to convince him to play as himself: 112 year old Richard E. Nelson.
Terry Bertolino wheels 112 year old Richard E. Nelson to the mound (2008)
As a tribute to the House of David’s relationship with the Negro Leagues, Rich would pitch the first game of the twin bill and, as the legendary Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe used to do with the Kansas City Monarchs, catch the second game
Richard E. Nelson pitched in the first game (Benton Harbor, Michigan – 2008)
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…and caught in the second game (Benton Harbor, Michigan – 2008)
Note that Richard E. Nelson is playing catcher in a rocking chair to honor Negro League catcher Lloyd “Pepper” Bassett. Several “cranks” (fans) actually believed that Rich was 112 years old. HOD captain Ron Taylor told them (with a sly grin), “We just dug him up.”
Baseball Santa with Impostor (Benton Harbor, Michigan – 2008)
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The Hobart (Indiana) Deep River Grinders brought their own Santa.
Richard E. Nelson (112), senior Grinder ballist (70s), Baseball Santa (68) at Eastman Field (2008)
2008 House of David team photograph (above) and, after all that, Rich needed his own baseball card (below):
Below is the cover of the 2008 House of David program. I was surprised to be included in the lower right corner.
As a favor to a friend who needed a Santa Claus, I agreed to take a “Santa job” during the 2008 season. I decided Baseball Santa would use the money to purchase baseball equipment for kids in Mexico. I learned about “The Christmas Train” which annually delivers 5,000 gifts packages to needy kids in Tecate, Mexico on El Dia del Los Tres Reyes . The train travels from Campo to Tecate. Because of bureaucratic problems with Mexican Customs, I could only smuggle a few jerseys and caps across the line at this time.
I met Tecate Mayor Donaldo Penalosa who is a big baseball fan. Arrangements were made to meet him in Jamul where we loaded his RV with gear for the Tecate Little League. Later, after learning the South Bay Little League in Chula Vista, California was experiencing problems, Baseball Santa took a carload of equipment to league president Art Diaz.
In 1972, the Madres were formed by San Diego Padres wives to support youth baseball. The theme of the 2009 Madres mid-summer meeting was “Christmas in July.” Almost $100 was raised for youth baseball by ladies posing for pictures on Baseball Santa’s lap.
Baseball Santa was interviewed by Randy Dotinga with Voice of San Diego in August 2009:
Pipka’s “Play Ball” figurine was introduced for the 2009 Christmas Season.
The following story is from the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau website:
On May 2, 2010, Baseball Santa gave equipment to the Rosarito Little League as part of their Dia de los Ninos celebration.
How I became a baseball historian
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?
Baseball articles by Bill Swank
This article is about the first professional base ball game played in San Diego:
Gavy Cravath, Philadelphia Phillies (1912-20)
Gavy Cravath was baseball's first true home run king. He set the modern season and career home run records that Babe Ruth broke. Cravath was also San Diego's first major league ballplayer. Since 1988, I have campaigned to get him elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The following biography appears in Deadball Stars of the National League (2004):
Santa and the Vampires
These pictures have nothing to do with baseball. I was surprised this young couple even wanted to have their picture taken with me. They are vampires. Their canine teeth are capped with fangs. After a traditional smiling picture, they said they really wanted a picture biting me. I agreed to let them open their mouths at my neck, but warned them not to sink their teeth into my jugular. It turned out the guy was a star in a TV series called "Mad, Mad House." They turned out to be very nice vampires.
Me and Mrs. Claus on the teevee!
The TV plans got all screwed up this morning. They were unable to get any military kids in at 6:30 AM to see Santa. A TV director and the head of marketing at MCAS Miramar brought their little daughters to the store. Fox TV did two "segments" for their morning news program. One was Santa with the little girls and the other was about the Halloween Collectibles at the store. I told Jeri that we'd pose as The American Gothic in front of the Haunted House for Halloween.
Video below (we come in about the halfway point).
I guess they liked the Halloween schtick better than the kids on Santa's lap…
Your pal, Santa
Bullitt, the steepest street in San Diego
Jack Brandais writes a column for the San Diego Union-Tribune called “The Weekend Driver.” Years ago, I told him about the Thorn Street hill that was the steepest street in San Diego. Almost 100 years ago, people would take their automobiles to Thorn Street to see if they could climb it. It was so steep the City eventually closed it. I had found articles about this street while doing research for my early history of baseball in San Diego and thought Jack might be able to use it some day…
Continue reading “Bullitt, the steepest street in San Diego”
Baseball in Shelby
Santa and Zaidan at American Legion World Series in Shelby, North Carolina
Triumph and Dion Rich
Was Triumph the Insult Comic Dog at the book store after we returned Neale to his truck on Tuesday night? Dion had his picture taken with Triumph yesterday when he crashed Comic Con…
Photos of me at work
Patricia Neal at D. G. Wills Books in La Jolla
Dear Tim and Jennifer,
Your mom greatly admires the actress Patricia Neal who has endured much tragedy in her life. We went to see her last night at D. G. Wills Books in La Jolla.
Before the event, I asked your mom to describe Patricia Neal. She used the following adjectives: “earthy, strong, courageous, sexy, real.”
We are glad we went. Patricia Neal really is a wonderful woman. She’s actually working on a new film in San Diego now. (81 years old!)
She’d been on the set since 6:00 AM and stayed at the store until 9:00 PM, gracious to all. She suffered a series of strokes 40 years ago. One of her children died at a young age and another was seriously injured. She won the Oscar in 1963 for her performance opposite Paul Newman in “Hud” and an Emmy for her role as the mother in “The Homecoming” which became the basis for the television series, “The Waltons.”
I think you’ll like these pictures from last night.
–Bill
The All-American
For the past two years, former Kansas City Monarch Neale “Bobo” Henderson and I have had the privilege to speak at the Aflac All-American baseball seminar. In addition to sponsoring the All-American game, Aflac is also committed to preserving the history of the Negro Leagues which is the subject of our talk. True to that legacy, Aflac annually presents the Jackie Robinson Award to the outstanding high school baseball player in America.
Did Neologic Baseball Pitcher invent ‘Jazz’?
On the eve of Opening Day for the 1912 Pacific Coast League season, Portland Beavers pitcher Ben Henderson had an important announcement to make. “I got a new curve this year and I’m goin’ to pitch one or two of them tomorrow. I call it the Jazz ball because it wobbles and you simply can’t do anything with it.” Unfortunately, Ben had more wobble than his pitch.
The Los Angeles Angels only laughed when the once promising Portland right-hander boasted about his new pitch. Had anyone predicted Henderson capable of introducing a new word into the English language, it probably would have been a synonym for hangover.
Continue reading “Did Neologic Baseball Pitcher invent ‘Jazz’?”
Baseball Returns to Downtown San Diego
“Baseball returns downtown” was the popular slogan of the San Diego Padres when Petco Park opened in 2004. The Padres marketing campaign was a tribute to old Lane Field, the original bay view home of the Pacific Coast League Padres who ruled the corner of Broadway and Pacific Highway for 22 seasons.
When team owner Bill Lane signed a contract to relocate his Hollywood Stars to San Diego on January 28, 1936, there was no suitable venue for professional baseball. In a remarkable example of cooperation between government agencies and private enterprise, Lane Field was built within two months for approximately $25,000 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The first game was played on March 31, 1936. The Padres beat the Seattle Indians, 6-2, before 8,178 cheering fans.
Native son Ted Williams’s first memory of the Padres was watching them play at Lane Field through a knothole in the centerfield fence. By the end of that inaugural 1936 season, young Ted would become the team’s starting leftfielder. During the Great Depression, ballplayers were forced to find jobs during the off-season, but not Williams. He returned to Hoover to complete his senior year of high school. In 1937, the Padres won the Shaughnessey Playoffs and were crowned PCL Champions. The love affair between San Diego and the Padres was the real thing. That winter, The Kid was sold to the Boston Red Sox where he became one of baseball‘s immortals.
Over the years, other prominent left-handed sluggers, Max West, Jack Graham and Luke Easter, launched home runs onto Pacific Highway. Graham noted, “I was a dead pull hitter and the wind blew off the bay to right. They’d fly out.”
There is a legend about the world’s longest home run. A Pacific Coast League baseball apparently bounced on Pacific Highway and landed in an empty boxcar near the Santa Fe Depot. The ball was later found in Los Angeles – 120 miles away – making it the longest home run ever. Who hit it?
Over the years, this home run has been attributed to Williams, West, Graham or Easter, but banjo hitting first baseman George McDonald claims he is the man. I like to tell people that George became a used car salesman and later a highly successful auto dealer.
In 2003, this feat, along with a description of the ballpark, was commemorated on a bronze plaque dedicated by the local Ted Williams Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and the Port of San Diego. The plaque can be viewed on a small, pie-shaped parcel of grass and palm trees at the intersection of Pacific Highway and Broadway.
This hallowed ground, carved out by a railroad track leading to the docks, is the only remaining trace of Lane Field. In 1958, the termites chased the Padres to Westgate Park in Mission Valley. The decaying green grandstand, condemned bleachers and fading outfield fences were razed at that time. The site has remained a parking lot for almost fifty years.
When former Lane Field Padres Pete Coscarart and Tony Criscola were interviewed in 1995, both described playing in San Diego as “paradise.” At the time, their description reminded me of the chorus from Joni Mitchell’s song, “Big Yellow Taxi.”
“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Such valuable property could not remain dormant forever, so, all together, let’s sing the next verse.
“…With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot.”
A new high-rise hotel is currently on the drawing boards. I believe in progress, but hope a small pie-shaped piece of paradise will be preserved to honor the memory of Lane Field… a swinging hot spot.
——–
I wrote this article for Save Our Heritage Oganisation Magazine. It appeared in Spring of 2007.
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