Fire Takes Treasures of Little League Triumph

Fire had swept through the San Pedro home of Little Leaguer Victoria Brucker, destroying much of the 13-year-old’s memorabilia, including photos taken when she became the first American girl to play in the league’s World Series.

Victoria, who is staying with her grandmother, said Thursday in a telephone interview that she lost a scrapbook filled with pictures taken throughout her baseball career and several balls she kept as mementos of her home runs. But “I have my uniforms,” she said.

Also saved from Wednesday’s blaze was a medal she received during the 1989 Little League World Series, though, she added giggling, “it (now) smells gross.”

“It’s sad,” she said of the fire. “But the best thing is your whole family’s with you. (And) there’s a lot of family, cousins and relatives that can help (us). When I heard of the news (of the fire), I didn’t want to go home,” Victoria said. “So I went to practice.”

The teen-ager batted her way into the history books when she became the first girl on a U.S. team to play in the Little League World Series. She also was the first girl to ever start as a pitcher, get a hit or score a run in the series.

Now an eighth-grader at Dana Junior High School, Victoria was a first baseman with San Pedro’s Eastview Little League when she became one of 14 league all-stars chosen to play in the series. Her team lost in a preliminary to a team from Venezuela.