Padres PCL Baseball History

This is an excerpt of an article that appeared in the April 1983 issue of Baseball Gold.

 

If it hadn’t been for “the big gamble,” the 1993 National League baseball season wouldn’t be going on in San Diego.

It all goes back to 1935. San Diego wanted to get a franchise in the Pacific Coast League, but there was no ball park. First, though, there must be a franchise. There were rumors that H.W. “Bill” Lane wanted to move the Hollywood Stars to another city.

Lane was approached by San Diego officials. “You will lose your shirt down there, that’s a hick town and baseball never will draw,” some told Lane. But he already was losing his shirt in Los Angeles because the Wrigley interests were charging exorbitant rent for the Stars to share old Wrigley Field with the Angels.

So “Hardrock,” as Lane was nicknamed because he was an old gold miner, decided to take “the big gamble,” regardless of what some had said, and the Stars moved here — even though there was only $11,000 in Lane’s bank roll. Lane had considered moving back to Salt Lake City, where he owned a club starting in 1918. Then he moved and the team became the Hollywood Shieks in A few years later the nickname was changed to Stars.

San Diego had to get busy in a rush because Lane wanted to start the 1936 season here. No time was wasted starting to build a ball park at the foot of Broadway. WPA funds were used and the park was named Lane Field in honor of Bill Lane. Meanwhile, a nickname had to be decided on. After a few sessions, the committee selected Padres because of the building of the first Mission here by Father Junipero Serra.

Baseball in San Diego was a success from the opening pitch March 31, 1936, despite the fact Lane Field wasn’t completed. There were a few lean years, especially during World War II when there was a shortage of player talent, but there were many seasons when attendance was excellent. The first season saw 178,075 go through the turnstiles, then the gate jumped to 216,870 in 1937, the year the Padres won the pennant in the Shaughnessy Playoffs.

Many fans never will forget the first season here, particularly those who suffered broken noses and other injuries from foul balls. This happened because the roof wasn’t completed for the opening pitch. There was only a small screen behind home plate and foul balls flew everywhere into the stands. Unless a fan kept alert, he could be struck — and many were.

The press box was on the first level behind home plate and fans were telling sports writers how to score games. In the opener, the Padres beat Seattle, 6-2 by scoring five times in the third inning to decision “Kewpie Dick” Barrett, thus called because he had a face like a doll. Many years later he pitched here for the Padres. Barrett’s briefcase always was a big topic. He carried his favorite medicine — whiskey — in it.

Attendance for the opening of the big show here was 8,178 and Lane was an extremely happy man. He knew he had made the right decision to leave the Los Angeles area.

There were some big names in the Padres starting lineup. Bobby Doerr was at second. He hit .342 that season and then went up to the Boston Red Sox for 14 years. Lane was a close friend of Eddie Collins, boss of the Red Sox, so thus the dealings between the teams that year and later.

Never will I forget a Saturday afternoon at Lane Field (now a parking lot) in 1936. The San Francisco Seals, managed by Frank “Lefty” O’Doul, were in town. The Padres’ bats were smoking that day, especially Doerr’s. Bobby managed to go an amazing 6-for-6 in San Diego’s collection of 25 hits. Even O’Doul took a turn trying to get Doerr out and failed.

George Myatt, who went to the major leagues after the 1937 season, teamed with Doerr as the Padres’ double play combination for the first game at Lane Field. The late Cedric Durst, later to follow Frank Shellenback (Padre skipper from 1936 through `38) as manager for nearly five seasons, was the center fielder. Durst, who had played with the New York Yankees and Babe Ruth, stole two bases in the opener.

The right fielder was the oldest of the DiMaggio baseball family, Vince, who went up to the Boston Braves for 1937 despite more than 100 strikeouts (I recall him swinging at pitches a foot or more outside). He had some power and also a great arm — plus the name of DiMaggio. The opposition didn’t gamble on going from first to third or trying to score from second with Vince in right field.

Lane was gruff (he actually scared some people) and, like most owners, he wanted to hold onto his money as long as possible. He needed a good amount to buy the cigars a day he puffed on.

Lane gave Ted Williams $150 a month on his graduation from Herbert Hoover High School in June of 1936, but veterans like Doerr and Myatt were receiving at least four times as much. Williams got a $100 raise for the 1937 season, his last before he went on to fame with the Boston Red Sox — and a place in the Hall of Fame with a lifetime average of .344.

“Hardrock” was a shrewd baseball man. He knew a good ball player when he saw one. When he sold Williams to the Bosox, he told his friend Eddie Collins. boss of the American League club, he wanted Dominic Dallesandro in the deal. Dallesandro came here and went on to turn in two of the greatest seasons a player ever enjoyed in the minor leagues anywhere in this land.

Dom batted .309, with 22 home runs and 91 RBI, in 1938, getting 167 hits in 541 times at bat. The next year he also went to the plate 541 times, but he collected 199 hits, including 50 doubles, nine triples and 18 homers, for a .368 average, best in the league.

Lane also had his eyes on a certain pitcher and a certain outfielder with the Braves when DiMaggio was taken by Boston. The pitcher was big Jim “Tiny” Chaplin, who had won 70 games in five seasons in the Southern Association (including 24 in 1935) before going to the Braves to post a 10-15 record in 1937 and the outfielder was Rupert “Tommy” Thompson; Lane got both players.

Chaplin, a right-hander with every pitch in the book, gained 23 wins and lost 15 here in 1937 and came back with a 20-16 mark the next year. Then bad luck struck the Padres’ workhorse pitcher.

Spring training was under way in El Centro in 1939 and Chaplin was working out, although he hadn’t signed a contract. He rode over to San Diego with me on a Friday afternoon because he wanted to talk salary with Lane and C.A. “Spider” Baum, General Manager of the Padres and once an outstanding spitball pitcher in the PCL.

I dropped Chaplin off at Lane Field and told him he could ride back to El Centro with me the next day. That evening he went to Tijuana with friends and on their return, their car smashed into a vehicle without lights that was being pushed along the highway in the National City area. Chaplin’s jugular vein was severed when he went through the windshield and he died on the hospital steps at the age of 31. (Another Padre player. Herb Gorman, died in left field during a 1953 game at Lane Field.)

I never will forget the time a fan went in to Lane’s office and said. “Mr. Lane, if you would keep your pitchers out of bars and night clubs, they might win more games.” He was referring to Chaplin, who had lost a heartbreaking 1-0 decision a few days before.

Thompson, who died in 1971 of cancer, was one of the most colorful players ever to don a Padre uniform. They talk about Pete Rose’s hustle, but believe me Thompson had as much and possibly even more. His spirit inspired teammates. Whether the Padres were ahead or trailing, Thompson’s determination remained the same all the time. He never let down.

Thompson sent chills up and down the spines of fans. Some still talk about his spectacular efforts. Numerous times he hit dramatic home runs in late innings or in overtime games — almost as though he were swinging a magic wand from the left side. After a great 1937 season here (he hit .326, gathered 211 hits, belted 10 homeruns and drove in 92 runs), he spent time with the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Browns (his major league lifetime average was .266) before closing out his career with the Padres from 1944 through 1946. Of those seasons, a .280 mark in `44 was tops.

Thompson, who also played first and third when necessary, was involved in two unusual incidents in Padre minor league history. One night at Lane Field he somersaulted over the 4-foot right field fence to make a never-to-be-forgotten catch. The umpires huddled for a long period before ruling Thompson was in the air and off the playing field at the time of the catch so the putout wasn’t allowed.

Another time in Portland, Thompson started for a flyball and suddenly disappeared. A board over a water control box had given in under his weight and Thompson went down up to his head. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt.

Lane saw his last game Aug. 30, 1938. That Wednesday afternoon, the Padres and Angels hooked up. Dick Ward pitched no-hit, no-run ball for the Padres for 12 2/3 innings. His rival, left-hander Ray Prim, would stop often and tie his shoe laces to catch his breath.

Ward allowed a hit with two out in the 13th and another in the 14th, but none in the 15th and 16th before finally gaining a 1-0 verdict. Lane suffered a stroke after the game and died October 9, 1938, at 78.

The new owners of the Padres for the start of the 1945 season were headed by Bill Starr, who caught for the team from 1937 through 1939 and was the only player who ever pinch hit for Ted Williams in the minors. Ted, ordered to bunt, failed on his first attempt and was lifted for Starr.

One of the new owners was Vic Schulman, who still owns Lloyd’s Furniture. Starr and his associates bought the Padres for a song. They paid $220,000, but since there was $90,000 in the bank in stock, the actual cost was only $130,000 — indeed a big bargain. That same franchise now is worth many millions.

Starr also was a shrewd baseball man. Fans who have lived here for many years know what power-packed lineups he produced before selling to Arnholt Smith in 1956. Attendance for 1945 was 346,057, then in 1947, with Max West ripping opposing pitchers to bits with 43 home runs and 124 runs batted in, the gate jumped to 353,951.

The following year, attendance climbed to 424,200 because of a slugger named Jack Graham. His home runs packed `em in. If bad luck hadn’t struck in July in Los Angeles, Graham might have bested Tony Lazzeri’s league record of 60. The Angels’ Red Adams beaned Graham when he had smashed 46 homers. After recovering, Jack came back to hit only two more home runs. His RBI total was 136.

Starr presented the greatest showman in PCL history in 1949 in Luscious “Luke” Easter. another powerful left-handed swinger like Graham and West. Cleveland’s Hank Greenberg discovered Easter and sent him to the Padres for seasoning.

The first day in spring training camp at Ontario, Easter lined a pitch over the right field fence in his initial time at bat and he immediately became a big attraction. He was here for 80 games and in 273 times at bat, Luke belted 25 home runs and drove in 92 runs for a .363 average.

Fans literally poured out to see Easter here and also in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Most of the time there were overflow crowds, most fans coming out early to see Easter in action in batting practice. The Padres gate for the year hit 493,780, largest ever. Luke was back here for part of 1954, but his bat didn’t produce the figures it had in 1949.

However, Easter did go on to play in the International League, hitting 40 homers for Buffalo in 1957 and 30, the next year. Luke was a security guard, taking a bag of money to a bank in Cleveland in 1979, when he was gunned down and killed by bank robbers. Oldtimers here will never forget his hitting shows — especially line drives to center field that kept rising and sometimes sailed over the outfielder’s head. Pitchers risked their lives when they faced Easter with all his power.

By the time termites had all but eaten up the Lane Field wooden band box, 5,505,922 had attended games there from 1936 through 1957. Flying termites were at work during games and those of us in the press box often wondered if we might have to climb down the screen to safety. Smith promised fans a new ball park and in 1958 the Padres moved to beautiful Westgate Park (Fashion Valley stands there now).

Talk of major leagues for San Diego, as well as many other larger minor league cities, hurt attendance and it fell off at Westgate Park from  Lane Field days. When San Diego Stadium was completed in 1968, the Padres moved there for what proved to be their last season in the minors.

Now while Ol’ Hardrock Lane gave us organized baseball and the groundwork for a major team, the Padres wouldn’t be in the majors today if Smith hadn’t been patient and kept spending while waiting for the chance to get a team.

Jim Mulvaney, an attorney and Smith’s right hand man, and the late Eddie Leishrnan, General Manager after Kiner, worked extremely hard to get a team here and so did Dr. Al Anderson and Bud Porter of the Chamber of Commerce. They beat the drums at baseball conventions and their efforts finally paid off when San Diego got an expansion team. Smith sold out to Ray Kroc.

Starr, later a successful real estate developer and now a fan, believes too much credit can’t be given Smith.

“It wouldn’t have been easy to find another person or a group which would have been willing to gamble $10 million to bring major league baseball here,” Starr said. “If we had given up the minor league franchise, we wouldn’t have been in line for a major team. It cost him considerable to keep the minor team going.”

“In my opinion, Smith did much to give San Diego class. Everything he constructed was with style, good taste and top quality. He set the pattern for some of the fine buildings we now have in the downtown area.