AMERICAN LEGION NOTEBOOK : Simi Valley Folds in District 16 : Coach Blames Players, Parents for Lack of Participation

District 16, one of the most competitive districts in American Legion baseball, is playing with a six-team lineup this summer--one team less than it had for the last three years. Why?

“To make a long story short, there is no Simi team because of a lack of participation by parents and players alike,” said Jim Murphy, who managed the team the past three summers. “There’s a difference between baby-sitting kids and coaching kids.

“I’m astounded I couldn’t get more parental support. A lot of them didn’t even care enough to show up at games last year, and I don’t understand that. If I had a kid, I would sure as hell want to be out there supporting him. Getting support from your parents is important when you’re playing American Legion baseball.

“Last year we played the last part of the season just hoping to have nine players on the field. This year, I’m not going to kiss some 16-year-old’s butt to get him to come out and play baseball.”

Murphy said he decided about a month ago that he wanted no part of managing the team this season. He said he was willing to serve as a coach for anyone who would take the job as Simi Valley manager, but no one showed interest. In addition, Murphy said only three players told him they were interested in playing for the team.

One of those players was Simi Valley High’s Scott Sharts, the most valuable player in the Marmonte League this season. Sharts had played legion baseball under Murphy for three years.

Sharts said he and his teammates were happy with Murphy as the legion manager. He said that friction between players and Murphy was not the reason Simi Valley is without an American Legion team.

“It didn’t have to do with coaching at all. He is a good coach,” said Sharts of Murphy. Sharts now plays Big League and Palomino League baseball, as do many of his former teammates from the Simi Valley legion team.

John Flores, acting District 16 commissioner, is hopeful that American Legion will return to Simi Valley.

“If we could find someone to take charge, the team could come back,” Flores said. “But it’s so hard to find people who have the time and know something about baseball.

“And the kids don’t just want a nice guy to manage them, they want someone who knows a lot about baseball.”

Until that person comes forward, however, Simi Valley will have to do without a team.

“It’s just a dirty shame that we lost a ballclub there,” Flores said. “There is no good reason it should be like that.”

Game garment: When Jose Banuelos pitched a five-hitter to lead Sun Valley to a 2-1 victory over Encino-Crespi on June 13, he felt he had a little help from a shirt.

“My Corona beer shirt is good luck,” said Banuelos, who also scored both of his team’s runs. “Most of the times that I have worn in it the last year, good things have happened.”

The T-shirt, with the words “Corona Beach Club” inscribed on it, became a Banuelos favorite when he was watching a basketball game last year between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.

“I was rooting for the other team to beat the Lakers,” Banuelos said. “I had this shirt on, so I just called it my ‘lucky shirt’ because I knew it would take some luck for Dallas to win.”

Despite the shirt, Dallas lost to the Lakers, but that hasn’t keep Banuelos from wearing the garment frequently.

He wore it this season while pitching for Valley College, where Banuelos was voted the team’s most valuable player. Banuelos, a 1986 graduate of Poly, made 22 appearances for the Monarchs (15-18), mostly in short relief, and finished the season 2-1 with three saves and 3.86 earned run average. He also had 42 strikeouts in 42 innings and walked only 12.

His college experience, and the endurance he built, has helped him in American Legion competition, where two-thirds of the games are seven-inning doubleheaders and the rest are nine innings.

“I like wearing this shirt,” Banuelos said. “I’ll probably wear it next game.”

Add Banuelos: Banuelos was on the mound for Sun Valley last Sunday at Notre Dame High and his coach at Valley College, Kevin Murphy, was intently watching nearby.

Once again, they were pitcher and manager engrossed in a game, just like one of many during the college season.

Alas, this was not a case of deja vu for Banuelos and Murphy--this time Banuelos was the starting pitcher for Sun Valley and Murphy was the home plate umpire.

And, as the baseball fates would have it, the manager-turned-umpire made a game-deciding call against his college-turned-legion pitcher.

The game, the first of a doubleheader between Sun Valley and Van Nuys-Notre Dame, was tied in the bottom of the eighth inning. Van Nuys-Notre Dame loaded the bases against Banuelos, and scored the winning run when Murphy called a balk.

Although Van Nuys-Notre Dame Coach Jody Breedan came out a winner, he hopes he won’t again have to face a college pitcher with his coach umpiring behind the plate.

Triple turnabout: Camarillo is in first place in District 16 with a 6-1 record--a .857 winning percentage. The three high school baseball teams (Camarillo, Channel Islands and Santa Clara) whose players make up the Camarillo team had a composite 1987 record of 33-35--a winning percentage of .485.

Big bopper: After going 3 for 3 with 3 doubles, 2 walks and 3 runs batted in to lead Reseda to an 11-5 win Saturday against Burbank-Providence, third baseman Barry Gindlesberger had a tough performance to top going into Sunday’s doubleheader against Canoga Park.

Now he has an even tougher feat to better. In the first game of the doubleheader, Gindlesberger hit three home runs and drove in all of Reseda’s runs in an 8-4 victory. And there was nothing cheap about any of the home runs for Gindlesberger, a 1986 graduate of Hart High who played baseball for Pierce College this season.

“The funny thing was, even though we were playing at a small ballpark, every ball hit was line drive that would have been a home run in any park,” Reseda Coach Frank Des Enfants said of the game played at Chaminade High. “He just beat up the pitching. All of his homers had to be about 400 feet.”

In the second game, Gindlesberger’s pace slowed to a single in two at-bats.