Funny Moments and Strong Men Have Etched the California League in Baseball History : HITTING the Wall

In the home team’s clubhouse at Moana Stadium in Reno, Nev., a brick wall serves as a historical ledger for the California League’s contribution to major league baseball.

It is here that the names of the fortunate few who made it to the big leagues are listed. They are not, however, etched into the stone in impressive configurations. That would be out of character for this Class-A league.

A player’s name, his minor league team, and the year he played in the league were simply, but carefully, painted on each brick by Vic DeGrosellier, Reno’s former groundskeeper. He calls it his Wall of Fame.

So far, none of the players on the Wall of Fame have been inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., but a fairly impressive present-day all-star team could be constructed from the bricks.

Try this lineup: Rickey Henderson, cf; Frank White, 2b; George Brett, 3b; Jack Clark, 1b; Kent Hrbek, dh; Reggie Jackson, rf; Mike Marshall, lf; Ted Simmons, c; Alfredo Griffin, ss.

Fernando Valenzuela would be the team’s left-handed starter and Andy Hawkins would be the right-hander. Rollie Fingers would be the bullpen ace. The manager could be Sparky Anderson.

What big league owner wouldn’t like to own that team?

They have left their marks, those stars of the past, in record books and in memories.

After an 18-year absence, those memories may be on their way back to Southern California.

Ken McMullen, Jim Colborn and Jim Biby--three Ventura County businessmen--bought the rights to the Class-A Lodi franchise in May and are attempting to reach an agreement on a playing site in Camarillo.

Their plan has been well received, both in the county and the California League.

The owners welcome the return to a full, 10-team schedule, and the players say they won’t mind an extra 1 1/2-hour trip down the freeway from Bakersfield.

Scott Marrett, a pitcher with the Redwood Pioneers, said a trip to Ventura County will provide a homecoming of sorts for players from the Southern California area.

“It will be nice to play in front of family and friends again,” Marrett said. “A lot of players will be looking forward to making that trip.”

Should the move occur, it will be the first appearance of minor league baseball in Southern California since the Santa Barbara Dodgers folded in 1967. The Channel Cities Oilers, who played in Ventura and Santa Barbara, moved to Reno in 1956.

And now, as soon as April of next year, a Ventura County franchise may take its own place in the history of the California League.

It is a long and rich history, indeed.

Vince DiMaggio, Joe’s older brother, hit 30 home runs for Stockton in 1948.

Valenzuela, making his major league debut in 1979, lost a 4-3 decision to Reno. All of the runs were unearned.

Marshall and Dodger first baseman Greg Brock took the league by storm in back-to-back years. Marshall led the circuit with a .354 batting average in 1979. The following season, Brock led the league in fielding percentage (.995) and hit 29 home runs, earning the nickname “Casey.”

The history of the California League runs much deeper than a list of its former stars, however.

Bill Schroeder founded the California League in 1941 at the request of franchise owners in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, who wanted farm teams to help them develop players. In effect, the California League became the minor leagues’ minor leagues.

In its early years, the league was designated as Class-C, which is comparable to a bottom-level rookie league team today. There were teams in Anaheim, Fresno, Santa Barbara, Stockton, Merced, Bakersfield, Riverside and San Bernardino--towns then speckled with agricultural fields, ranches and dairies.

The price of admission: 75 cents.

The league struggled in its first year, hurt by sagging attendance caused by wartime blackouts. Franchises from some cities were dropped in favor of others. Midway through the 1942 season, play was suspended as the war escalated.

Play resumed in 1946 and the league quickly grew in popularity. By the next year, the town of Visalia, population 11,000, had joined the league and was drawing more than 100,000 fans a season.

Schroeder, 80, says that the players were just as good and the fans even more loyal than they are today.

“The good teams of that era could probably beat many of today’s better teams,” Schroeder said. “There were some good teams. Especially right after the war.”

The rivalries between cities were as intense as the play on the field.

“We had a couple of minor riots,” said Schroeder, who was also the league’s first president. “Teams would have disagreements and the fans would get involved and we’d have a big mess.”

Events ranging from cow-milking contests to weddings and wedding anniversaries have taken place near home plate on most of these fields.

Once, an overflow crowd packed tiny Lawrence Park in Lodi, Calif., to see the newlywed Meyerses. They didn’t come so much to watch starting pitcher Lee Meyers as to catch a glimpse of his wife, actress Mamie Van Doren.

In Fresno, fans still talk about the time Al Radka requested some help with a car fire in the stadium parking lot. “If those of you who ate watermelon tonight would step out and give us a hand,” he said over the public address system, “we’d have this thing whipped in a jiffy.”

Jack Clark is remembered for keeping Fresno fans behind first base scrambling to avoid his errant throws from third base.

Season-ticket holders down the first base line say they rarely saw him complete a throw to first because they ducked under their seats when they saw a grounder headed headed his way.

Clark also hit .315 with 19 homers and a league-leading 117 runs batted in, so the fans were able to forgive his 53 errors.

He eventually made it to the majors with the San Francisco Giants as an outfielder. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals last year and made the National League all-star team as a first baseman this season.

Players who never made it to the big leagues also own their place in history.

Ed Kurpiel, 31, is a United Parcel Service truck driver in Virginia Beach, Va., who spent exactly one month in the major leagues during a 10-year playing career. He has a special spot in the California League record book, though.

In 1972, Kurpiel reportedly hit a home run that measured between 678 and 738 feet at Moana Stadium in Reno.

Reno Gazette-Journal sportswriter Steve Sneddon measured the distance 13 years after he witnessed the homer. The discrepancy in the distance results from the fact that Sneddon couldn’t tell from the press box whether the ball landed on a driveway or in the street. Either way, it was a prodigious shot.

In Reno, the phrase “long home run in Moana Stadium” is actually considered redundant. Players say that popups that shortstops could catch in other parks are three-run homers in wind-swept Moana.

Steve Boros, coordinator of instruction for the San Diego Padres, said that the major league team steers its top pitching prospects clear of Reno.

“It’s easy for young kids to lose confidence,” Boros said. “That park can make a very good pitcher look pretty bad sometimes.”

Often called the “Bermuda Triangle” of baseball, Moana has swallowed more than its share of prospects and mangled the earned-run averages of several pitchers who made the big leagues.

Andy Hawkins was 8-13 for Reno with a 5.60 ERA in 1979. In 1980, he was 13-10 with a 4.26 ERA.

This season for the Padres, he is 16-4 with a 2.99 ERA.

The elevation of Moana stadium is slightly over 4,500 feet. The thinner air, plus a strong wind that blows from third base out to right center, make it a hitter’s heaven.

The record book confirms it.

Twice, 44 runs have scored in games at Moana. Also, the only two California League players to hit four consecutive homers--Ron “Bull” Durham and Randy Miller--were both Reno players. Miller hit only 11 homers during the season.

The first player to hit consecutive grand slams in one inning was, you guessed it, another Reno player. Lance Junkers did it in 1983.

Home runs are measured by the distance they clear Moana Lane, which is behind the left field fence, and by where they land in accordance to the Moana Municipal pool in right field.

Said Harry Platt, Reno general manager: “At other parks they offer sums of money to players who hit certain signs on the fence. If we did that here we’d go broke. Every spot on those walls has been tattooed at least once.”

And oh, if those fences could talk. The stories they would tell.

Said California League president Joe Gagliardi: “You can talk to all the people you want and everyone will have their own favorite story. Whether it is funny or sad, each story is special to that person. That’s history.”

California League style.

AN ALL-CALIFORNIA LEAGUE DREAM TEAM BEST CLASS-A YEAR

POS. NAME TEAM YR. AB H HR RBI AVG. 1B Jack Clark Fresno ’74 495 156 19 117 .315 2B Frank White San Jose ’72 187 55 10 26 .294 SS Alfredo Griffin San Jose ’75 358 82 0 17 .259 3B George Brett San Jose ’72 431 118 10 68 .274 OF Rickey Henderson Modesto ’77 481 166 11 69 .345 OF Mike Marshall Lodi ’79 525 186 24 116 .354 OF Reggie Jackson Modesto ’66 221 66 21 60 .299 C Ted Simmons Modesto ’68 493 163 28 117 .331 DH Kent Hrbek Visalia ’81 462 175 27 111 .379

Major league figures through Thursday’s games. MAJOR LEAGUES, 1985

POS. NAME TEAM AB H HR RBI AVG. 1B Jack Clark St. L. 416 117 17 73 .352 2B Frank White K.C. 416 98 17 57 .236 SS Alfredo Griffin Oak. 446 121 2 55 .271 3B George Brett K.C. 401 141 17 73 .352 OF Rickey Henderson N.Y. 398 138 20 57 .347 OF Mike Marshall L.A. 350 99 15 55 .283 OF Reggie Jackson Cal. 347 92 20 63 .265 C Ted Simmons Mil. 369 99 9 55 .268 DH Kent Hrbek Minn. 427 111 16 69 .260

Major league figures through Thursday’s games.