The Preps : City, Southern Section Are Major Contributors

Buddy Dyer, who works for the First Interstate Bank Athletic Foundation, has been an avid follower of high school sports, he says, “since the reign of Queen Victoria.” He has also been helping to select prep All-Star teams since 1958.

So last week, I asked him to do a little brainstorming and come up with two all-star baseball teams made up of Southern California athletes who were in the major leagues in 1960 and later, one from the Southern Section and one from the City.

Unfortunately, the 25-year restriction left off such stars as Jackie Robinson of Pasadena Muir, Alhambra’s Ralph Kiner, Fullerton’s Arky Vaughn and Walter Johnson, Long Beach Wilson’s Bob Lemon, and Glendale’s Babe Herman. But the two teams listed aren’t shabby at all. In fact, New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner might not force a lineup change for a day or two.

Food for thought: My only disagreements in the Southern Section were at shortstop where I would have picked Rick Burleson of Downey Warren over Garry Templeton and Tim Foli, and in the outfield where Bobby Bonds of Riverside Poly would make my team ahead of Ron Fairly.

In some instances, two players were chosen because Dyer couldn’t pick a clear-cut winner.

I want to thank Dyer and his staff. His picks have already stirred memories and age-old arguments in this office about who was better than whom.

Did you know that catcher Earl Battey shared the City basketball most valuable player award with Willie Naulls in 1952? Battey, a 6-0 forward averaged 24.6 point a game.

Add All-Stars: Dyer couldn’t come up with a left-handed pitcher for the City team. He might have tried Bobby Tolan, who led Fremont to a title in 1963.

In the final against Banning, Tolan pitched a three-hitter, struck out 14 and hit a two-run homer in a 6-0 victory. Tolan, however, is best remembered as an outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres.

And the winner is: In a one-game showdown, I like the City with Don Drysdale on the mound. It would be worth the price of admission to see Drysdale trying to throw aspirin tablets past Ted Williams, the Splendid Splinter. Williams played at San Diego’s Hoover High when it was a member of the Southern Section.

Hawthorne sprinter Henry Thomas, the defending state champion at 100 and 200 meters, joins an impressive list of California prep track stars who have never won both events in consecutive years.

Thomas, who underwent an emergency appendectomy last Thursday, looked like the surest thing since 1962, when Forrest Beatty of Glendale Hoover won the state 100-yard dash and was leading at the midway point of the 220 final when he pulled a muscle. Going into the meet, Beatty had been a double winner in 1961 and held national records in the 100 and 220.

No one, not even Olympians Charlie Paddock of Pasadena and Frank Wykoff of Glendale, has ever won back-to-back titles.

Fairfax sprinter Danny Everett may be the slowest starter since Silky Sullivan. He may also be the best closer since Silky Sullivan.

Last Friday night during the City semifinals at Birmingham High, Everett, a senior who is heading for UCLA in the fall, brought the crowd to its feet in the open 200 and the 400- and 1,600-meter relays when he rallied from far behind to post impressive victories.

“I’ve been working on my start because I know it’s not that great,” he said. “But it always seems to take a while to get me going. I’m not sleeping or anything. I’ve just got to accelerate sooner.”

The Everett show will be on again Friday at 6 p.m. in the City final at Birmingham.

Getting out of the blocks wasn’t a problem for Pasadena Muir’s Carrie Franklin, who surprised everyone by upsetting Hawthorne’s Tami Stiles in the 100 during the Southern Section girls’ 4-A meet at Mt. San Antonio College.

“Yeah, I always get out slow, so I worked on it all week,” said Franklin, who was also a member of Muir’s record-setting 1,600-meter relay team. “I had never beaten Tami before. But in the 400-meter relay I closed on her a little. So I knew that if I exploded from the blocks she’d never catch me. I exploded and never looked back.”

Also not looking back was Franklin’s teammate, Linetta Wilson, the anchor runner on the 1,600 team. Wilson, who also won the open 400 in 54.35, heard Stiles’ footsteps all the way around the track on their leg of the relay, but never let her get past, hitting the tape in 3:37.69 for a national record. Her split was a blazing 52.2.

Tortoise and the hare: Crenshaw’s Sereana Smith had to be surprised when a blur went by in the first 50 meters of her anchor leg in the 1,600-meter relay. It was Locke’s Tesha Giddens, who not only rallied from a 25-meter deficit, but went out to about a 20-meter lead.

Smith, however, was unshaken.

“She’s really good, but I knew there was a long way to go,” she said of Giddens. “That girl was flying but there was too much race left to chase her right away. I didn’t know if I’d catch her, but I thought if I just ran my race, things would be OK.”

A leg-weary Giddens ran out of steam about 100 meters from the tape, and Smith, who also won a heat of the open 400, went breezing past.

Prep Notes

Brandon Richards, the pole vaulter from Santa Barbara’s San Marcos, has failed to clear a height in his last four meets. . . . Pitcher Paul Abbott of Fullerton Sunny Hills, a right-hander, has signed a letter of intent with Cal State Fullerton. . . . Huntington Beach Ocean View’s 6-5 guard Mike Labat has signed with the University of Idaho. . . . About 40 fans, most of them varsity baseball players, put together the smallest wave--it was more on the order of a ripple--during Woodcrest Christian’s 9-0 first-round playoff victory over Yucca Valley in girls’ softball. Woodcrest, the defending champion, has a solid battery with pitcher Jodi Miller and catcher Karen Banker. Whenever Banker plays, she draws plenty of interest. . . . City and Southern Section softball all-stars will play June 8 at Cal State Northridge. . . . Track fans who especially like hurdles events may want to be at Cerritos College Wednesday at 3:30 to watch the rerun of the four divisions of the 110s, which were only 109s at the Southern Section divisional meet Saturday. . . . The four top-seeded teams--Santa Barbara (4-A), Calabasas (3-A), Indio (2-A) and Carpinteria Cate (1-A) are still alive in boys’ tennis. In fact, Indio and Cate have yet to surrender a point, having won their first two matches, 28-0. . . . The City softball playoffs will start Wednesday. Unbeaten and top-seeded El Camino Real will be after its third straight 4-A title, but the Conquistadores will get an argument from Banning and talented pitcher Lisa Bautista, who earlier this season threw seven straight no-hitters.

PREP ALL-STAR BASEBALL TEAMS ALL SOUTHERN SECTION

POS PLAYER SCHOOL P Bert Blyleven Garden Grove Santiago P Mike McCormick Alhambra Keppel P Rollie Fingers Upland C Del Crandall Fullerton C Gary Carter Fullerton Sunny Hills 1B Darrell Evans Pasadena Muir 2B Bobby Knoop Montebello 2B Bobby Grich Long Beach Wilson 3B Eddie Mathews Santa Barbara 3B George Brett El Segundo SS Tim Foli Sherman Oaks Notre Dame SS Garry Templeton Santa Ana Valley OF Ted Williams San Diego OF Duke Snider Compton OF Ron Fairly Long Beach Jordan OF Fred Lynn El Monte Utl Deron Johnson San Diego Mgr Dick Williams Pasadena

POS MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM P Twins, Pirates, Indians P Giants, Orioles, Senators, Royals P A’s, Padres, Brewers C Braves, Giants, Pirates, Indians C Expos, Mets 1B Braves, Giants, Tigers 2B Angels, White Sox, Royals 2B Orioles, Angels 3B Braves, Tigers 3B Royals SS Mets, Expos, Pirates, Angels, Yankees SS Cardinals, Padres OF Red Sox OF Dodgers, Giants OF Dodgers, Expos, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Angels OF Red Sox, Angels, Orioles Utl Yankees, A’s, Reds, Braves, Phillies, Red Sox Mgr Red Sox, A’s, Angels, Expos, Padres

ALL-LOS ANGELES CITY SECTION

POS PLAYER SCHOOL MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM P Don Drysdale Van Nuys Dodgers P Larry Dierker Taft Astros, Cardinals P Larry Sherry Fairfax Dodgers, Tigers, Angels C Earl Battey Jordan White Sox, Senators, Twins 1B Bob Watson Fremont Astros, Red Sox, Yankees, Braves 1B Eddie Murray Locke Orioles 2B Derrel Thomas Dorsey 7 teams, including Dodgers and Angels 3B Doug DeCinces Monroe Orioles, Angels SS Robin Yount Taft Brewers SS Ozzie Smith Locke Padres, Cardinals OF Willie Davis Roosevelt Dodgers, Expos, Rangers, Cardinals, Padres OF Garry Maddox San Pedro Giants, Phillies OF Paul Blair Manual Arts Orioles, Yankees Utl Enos Cabell Gardena Orioles, Astros, Giants, Tigers Mgr Sparky Anderson Dorsey Reds, Tigers

These teams were selected by Buddy Dyer of the First Interstate Bank Athletic Foundation. Twenty-five years was used as an arbitrary cutoff point--i.e., any player selected had to be in the majors in 1960 or after. He selected two starting pitchers and one reliever, a player at each position and a utility infielder. Where more than one player appears at a position, Dyer felt it was too difficult to make a choice.