Stanley G. Bordagaray; Baseball Player

Stanley G. “Frenchy” Bordagaray, a former major league baseball player, died Thursday after a long illness. He was 90.

He was born Jan. 3, 1910, in Coalinga, the middle of seven children of Dominique and Louise Bordagaray, who were original settlers in the San Joaquin Valley.

Later he attended Fresno State University where he was a four-sport letterman and played on the school’s first undefeated football team in 1929. In 1962, he was inducted into the Fresno County Sports Hall of Fame.

His baseball career began in the Pacific Coast League in 1930. He went on to play for the Chicago White Sox, Brooklyn Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees. A lifetime .284 hitter, he was known for his speed, spark, and pinch-hitting skills (.312 lifetime). He played in two World Series, one with the ’39 Reds and the other with the victorious ’41 Yankees. He was admitted into the Brooklyn Dodger Hall of Fame in 1995.

Other past professions included restaurateur and club owner in St. Louis and Kansas City and a developer of 15 cemeteries throughout the Midwest.

In 1961, he moved his family from Kansas City to Ventura. He became Ventura’s sports and recreation department supervisor and established a youth sports program for the community. After a brief retirement he went back to work for Ventura’s parks department and helped build El Camino Real field. In 1986, he was admitted to the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame.

Bordagaray is survived by his wife of 58 years, Victoria; sons Christopher of Seattle, Wash., and Stan Jr. of Palo Alto; daughters Stanna of Lindsay and Germaine of Ventura; seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Joseph Reardon Funeral Home. A rosary recitation will follow at 7 p.m.

Funeral Mass is scheduled at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Coalinga.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Assn., 2630 Saddle Ave., Suite 101, Oxnard, CA 93030.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Joseph Reardon Funeral Home in Ventura.