Info courtesy of Ernie Marez
1st Annual Conquistadors Men’s “ C†fast pitch tournament
* Hosted by Colton Dirt Bags
* October 16/17 2010
* Games played at Veterans Park Colton CA
* entry fee $350.00
* Contact information Tony Campa 909-824-1620 or Joaquin Juarez 909-915-4946
KEISSER: Savala on deck for LB Hall induction
From the Long Beach Press Telegram
By Bob Keisser, Sports Columnist
The heyday of fastpitch men’s softball in Southern California passed long enough ago that most people can’t remember its demise, much less its history.
The game thrived longer in Long Beach than other communities, too, thanks to the Long Beach Nitehawks, Lakewood Jets and Long Beach Painters.
But the sport will have its day on Sept. 18 when the softball branch of the city’s Hall of Fame inducts five new members, including three men who are proof that the sport still has a profile in town.
Hice Stiles, a 2001 inductee into the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame, will be inducted – and Stiles can still be found playing the game today in masters leagues.
Darrell Kam, who played for the Nitehawks and only retired from active play a few years ago, will join Stiles, as will Al Savala – the player/coach of the vibrant Long Beach Painters who were the last local team to play high-end softball at Joe Rodgers Field, and the last local team to reach the ISC World Series (1998).
How vibrant are the Painters? Savala still fields three teams, two of them in the masters divisions (45-and-older and 50-and-older).
Their moment in the spotlight will come at the same time that the softball park gets a name change. It now will be named Red Meairs Field at Joe Rodgers Stadium, in honor of the late Meairs, the longtime Nitehawk who succeeded Rodgers as manager and kept the team on the field until financial issues and the changing times led to its closure in 1988.
Savala, on the other hand, never stopped even as the sport’s ranks were thinning. He’s the beacon of the sport, which he’s been involved with for 50 years.
His Long Beach Painters reached the ISC world tournament in four of five years between 1993 and 1998, finishing fifth in 1994 while earning the ISC Sportsmanship Award. The 2009 Long Beach Painters won the American Softball Association’s 45-and-over title.
“We’ve probably qualified for more than 100 national tournaments over the years and won 18 or so different titles,” Savala said. “We traveled a lot, too. I always thought that was the best part of the game, challenging teams from other parts of California and other states.
“When the Nitehawks and other teams stopped, we just kept going.”
Savala talked with Meairs about co-sponsoring the Nitehawks when the team was facing financial hardships, but Meairs wanted to homestand and bring teams to Rodgers Field before competing for a spot in the worlds.
Savala wanted to travel.
“I wanted exposure for the team,” he said. “I think some of the teams I had (in the ’90s) were as good as some of the championship Nitehawk teams.
“It’s worked pretty well for me. I’m pretty well known around the country for playing teams in tournaments, and it’s been fun now to go to nationals and see guys I played against. Now many of their kids are playing.”
Savala, who grew up in Northern California and started playing softball when he was 15, got his start at a high level when he was 16.
“The Knights of Columbus team lost its pitcher and my uncle asked me to teach him how to pitch,” he said, “I showed him, and he said, `heck, why don’t you pitch for us? You’re better than anyone we have.”‘
He played for several teams in the Western Softball Congress before launching the Painters. The name of his team has a story of its own.
Al Savala has been a painting contractor almost as long as he’s been playing softball. He started in high school and launched his own company in his 20s.
He’s left a literal mark on several local fields. Years ago, he noticed Lakewood’s softball fields were “starting to look a little raggedy,” so he told the city he’d paint them for free if they supplied the materials.
He would eventually paint Lakewood’s baseball fields, too … and Poly’s field when Bill Powell was coach … and the field at Cal State Los Angeles when he was asked by old friend and then Golden Eagles coach John Herbold.
“I just enjoy doing it and helping when I can. There’s no rhyme or reason for it. I just enjoy it,” he said.
His commitment to softball – he’s sponsored boys and girls softball youth teams and donated to the softball programs at Long Beach City College and Long Beach State – and well-kept fields isn’t his only contribution to Long Beach.
He was a Little League and Pony League coach in Lakewood and saw more than 30 of his former players reach the pro ranks. He’s often been invited to sit on the bench by Lancers coach Spud O’Neill since Savala knew so many of the kids.
When an illness left Lakewood High shorthanded on the soccer field, he filled in as coach, a stint that lasted six years. When then-Long Beach City College coach Larry Reisbig needed a tutor for a kicker, he asked Savala for help, and he would spend 19 years as a specialist coach for the Vikings.
The Century Club’s award for the high school athletes of the year is sponsored and named after Savala.
Savala said Stiles had – and still has – one of the smoothest swings of any player he’s ever met. Kam played for the Nitehawks and Painters, and the late Meairs said Kam was one of the grittiest, unsung players he ever had with the Nitehawks.
Induction day will revive the sport, however momentary.
“I still haven’t gotten to the point where I know what to say about this,” Savala said. “It’s nice that someone thought of me. But it’s not like I’m going away.”
Savala said he’ll coach and lead the Painters until someone pries the bat, or paint brush, out of his hand.
bob.keisser (at) presstelegram.com
Editor’s note: I had the chance to attend a couple of the Long Beach Softball and Baseball Hall of Fame luncheons at Blair Field in Long Beach.
Here is the “Wall of Fame” at Joe Rodgers Field in Long Beach from that inaugural class of 2004:
(click photo to enlarge)
(click logo for original news story)
By Al Hamnik, al.hamnik (at) nwi.com
(click link above for original news story)
Dave Blackburn battling
No hitter ever scared Calumet City native Dave Blackburn, who had reached the same legendary fastpitch softball status as his late father Ernie.
Both Hall of Fame pitchers threw heat capable of melting small glaciers and combined for nearly 200 no-hitters in their 80-plus years on the mound.
Ernie once threw three no-no’s and a one-hitter in three different cities the same day. At 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, the 1949 Hammond grad rightfully found his way into every sports Hall of Fame worth mentioning.
Dave, one of five Blackburn sons spread throughout the country, won several gold medals and holds the American record for most appearances at the World Maccabiah Games, an international Jewish athletic event held every four years similar to the Olympics.
He will be inducted in the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame next year but at this moment, needs our prayers more than congratulations.
Dave Blackburn is fighting for his life.
On Aug. 27, Dave and some friends were driving from Los Angeles to Prescott, Ariz., for the 40-and-over ASA National Tournament when their car was struck by another vehicle on the interstate. Seated in the front, Dave took the brunt of the impact, according to family members.
“He’s still in critical condition and has a long way to go,” brother Jay said Monday. “The car rolled three times and supposedly caught fire. Fortunately, Dave was pulled out.”
A bachelor living and working in L.A., Blackburn has no famiy out there but law enforcement officials were able to contact brother Robert from a phone number they found on Dave’s Facebook page.
“They’ve had him heavily sedated,” Jay said. “My one brother (Ray) has been out there for a week and has not been able to speak a word to him.”
Godzilla could be standing in the batter’s box swinging a railroad tie and Dave Blackburn, much like Dad, couldn’t care less. But this current challenge is like nothing the 6-3, 270-pound pitcher has ever encountered.
“Two broken legs, a broken ankle, broken wrist, nine broken ribs and the sternum on one side,” Jay said. “His pelvis was broken, he had a hole in his colon that was torn, a hole in his lung and subsequently, the lung collapsed.
“It’s one of those never-gonna-be-the-same accidents. It’s hard imagining him ever walking normally again without assistance for a long time.”
Soon, the brothers will all be gathered at Dave’s bedside including Ray from Chicago, Robert from Louisville, Brian from Michigan and Jay from LaPorte.
They want Dave back in the game, as close as possible to being 100-percent healed, and invite any cards or get-well wishes from Region softball fans and complete strangers.
There were no spine or head injuries, thankfully, and being a life-long athlete should help in Dave’s recuperation. Plus, he’s got that Blackburn gene.
Those guys don’t know what it means to quit.
This column solely represents the writer’s opinion. Reach him at al.hamnik (at) nwi.com
Some of you may have heard me mention Minnie Miñoso, a favorite ballplayer of mine. Born in Cuba in 1925, Minnie’s real name was Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso Arrieta (you can see why he adopted a shorter name). He was a standout in the Negro Leagues, and later played in Mexico as well, before making it to the major leagues.
Minnie is known by White Sox and baseball fans for many things, but probably best of all for being one of only two players in major league history to play in five decades. He broke into the majors in 1949, and went on to play in each successive decade, into the 1980’s. He was also the last Major Leaguer to have played in the 1940s to play a Major League game. With brief appearances with the independent Northern League’s St. Paul Saints in 1993 and 2003, Miñoso is the only player to have played professionally in 7 different decades.
The Editor, trying to sneak one past the henhouse, at Corona, CA last Saturday.
This past weekend, when I dusted off my glove and laced up my cleats, I thought of Minnie. Thanks to an invite from Ernie Marez, I had the chance to pitch for the So Cal Rebels in a local tournament, the Raymond Angulo Memorial Tournament, in Corona, California. It was my only appearance of the year, as was the case last year, due to a troublesome shoulder. Having started pitching fastball at the ripe old age of 9, pitching Saturday meant I have played in six different decades. (played IN, not FOR six) Admittedly, it’s not major league or professional ball, but watch out, Minnie, I’m right behind you.
An alert reader noted that “played in six decades” doesn’t translate to 60+ years.
Getting back out to the field reminded me why we all play the game. It’s many things — the competition, the battle to advance in a tournament, putting your skills to the test, seeing old friends. But for me, it’s the camraderie of teammates, and a game that is just plain fun.
This past weekend I went to the Raymond Angulo Memorial Tournament hosted by Ernie Marez and the So Cal Rebels, Corona, California.
Each year this tournament helps raise money for 8-year old Joseph Raymond Angulo, a little boy who suffers from cerebral palsy. It is our hope that we can continue the fundraising by giving the proceeds from the sale of the photos from the tournament gallery to the Angulo family.
So, if you have a few minutes, and some spare change, we urge you to purchase one of the photos and we will send 100% of the profits to the family. All you have to do is click HERE and make your purchase.
Editor’s note: We heartily encourage you to support this worthy endeavor. For an earlier newspaper story about young Joseph, click here.
Ernie Marez and the So Cal Rebels will once again host the Raymond Angulo Memorial Tournament in Corona, California, this weekend, August 28-29, 2010.
Click here for the bracket and schedule of games.
Home to my cameo for 2010.
Click here for map link.
While you were away, these two were still trading barbs. Good to have some constants in life.
Ronnie Rupp Jaime, three innings is a complete game for the G unit:)
Jerry Pyle ‎3 innings would be 2 more innings than you lasted in your last SCIFL game vs. J&B…
The California A’s will regroup after yesterday’s 5-1 loss to a very strong New York Gremlin team, and try to extend their stay at the 2010 ISC World Tournament, playing at 3pm EDT (12noon California time), against the Decatur Pride IL.
In the final set of rankings released before the 2010 ISC World Tournament, California was ranked #5, and Decatur# 10. You can throw those out the window, though, as the game is now on the field.
Fans can listen to the game on BALLPARKRADIO.
California A’s vs. NY Gremlins, live streaming video today 3pm EDT
12noon California time
Click here to view
One of a series of profiles for the ISC Hall of Fame Class of 2010. Induction ceremony on Sunday morning, August 15, 2010 in Midland, Michigan.
Alan Rohrback, Lakeside, CA
In 1981, Alan Rohrback was named as “rookie of the year†in the Western Softball Congress with the San Diego Vista Bombers. His youthful skills resulted in his being added to the Camarillo Kings roster for his debut ISC World tournament in Saginaw, MI. The Kings won that memorable tournament, and Alan was selected ISC 1st Team All-World player, with team-mates Larry Nolan (ISC HoF 2002) and Floyd “Blue†LaVergne (ISC HoF 2008). In 1983, Alan joined the Lancaster, CA Chameleons, where he won the WSC batting championship (.411) and MVP honours. The Chameleons won the ISC tourney and the following year placed third, when Alan was named to his second ISC All-World team. Two years later, with the new-look Lakewood, CA Chameleons, he acquired his third ISC All-World Selection. Alan continued to play with various competitive teams in California, highlighted by an ASA championship ring in 1991 with Santa Rosa CA Guennella Brothers.
Editor’s note: I knew Alan as a opposing hitter ands teammate, on the 1983 Lancaster Chameleons and the 1987 Hilltop Tire Eagles. As a pitcher, I can tell you that the latter was always an easier experience. Two tournaments stood out in ’87, when we drove to Redding on back-to-back weekends in 1987 for the ASA “A” Qualifier and ’87 ASA “A” Nationals where we finished ninth with a 10 man roster. We were always a better team with Alan’s bat in the heart of the batting order, as were the Kings and Chamelons when he earned All World Honors. Congratulations, Alan.
For more 2010 Hall of Fame profiles, click here.