Posted on

DONOVAN? ALDAMA? REDLANDS’ BIGGER USA TEAM MEMBER?

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl and college football to the World Series, from soccer’s World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open and the Olympics, plus NCAA Final Four connections, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling city that sits between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10, but share its sports connections alongside a ton around this world for a pair of its brilliant soccer stars. – Obrey Brown

It couldn’t have been a better sports Redlands reporting summer in 2001. It was, at least, glamorous for a local sports editor, that’s myself, who sought sports news for a local reading public that rejoiced over such information.

Heather Aldama was playing pro soccer for the Boston Breakers.

Landon Donovan was up in San Jose, playing for the Earthquakes. Donovan, for his part, would eventually become arguably Team USA’s greatest player.

Aldama had been a strongly amazing scorer before graduating Redlands High just as Donovan was arriving at that campus 1995-1996. The Lady Terriers, built around Aldama’s goal-scoring and goal-producing passes, won four league championships with plenty of hard-commencing CIF-Southern Section playoffs.

In one season alone, she racked up a phenomenal 38 goals and 22 assists. Over four seasons at Redlands, Aldama was All-CIF Southern Section each year. Her Lady Terrier teams reached the CIF quarterfinals twice and the semifinals once. That post-season play usually stood in the top tier of Division 1.

Heather Aldama
Redlands’ Heather Aldama (photo by Santa Clara University).

Aldama, surrounded by terrific talent along with talented coach Rolando Uribe who had been a scoring phenom for RHS’ boys side a few years earlier.

Part of a Southern California Blues side that won a state Under-19 title is, most likely, what landed Aldama in the collegiate spotlight; and, eventually, a professional move.

Besides the Olympics and those American male stars in the World Cup, Donovan racked up U.S. pro time in San Jose, Calif.

That summer of 2001 was great for a small-town daily sports editor – Aldama and Donovan.

SUMMER STOPS: ALDAMA, DONOVAN

The way it works on a small daily newspaper basis is simple. Real simple. You’re obligated to produce as much local copy as possible. Such a routine wasn’t necessarily so simple during non-school summer athleticism. High school – Redlands, Redlands East Valley and a growing Arrowhead Christian Academy – was holding off between June and September.

Due to shrinking budgets, the Associated Press wire services were all but unavailable to produce a sports section. Local copy was becoming even more mandatory.

You’d have to make up for it with all-star baseball results, country club golf results, bowling scores from the local House, maybe some Junior Olympic swimming results courtesy of Redlands Swim Team, while we followed the exploits of that year’s Redlands Bicycle Classic racists throughout their summer seasons.

But when that pair of soccer-playing, midfield scorers put on their professional uniforms, they attracted plenty of attention.

That summer, though, was great. For me. For readers. You rarely read much in the county or regional newspapers about either player. Each time in that summer 2001 Aldama, or even Donovan took the field – Aldama’s first season Boston, Donovan’s first season for the San Jose Earthquakes.

It was an opportunity for local coverage.

It almost defied the odds when AP would often staff plenty of shots for both Aldama and Donovan. A handful of photos from their matches would come across the wire on game nights. Both players, Aldama and Donovan, showed up in photos of those local sports pages in their hometown.

In a way, it almost defied the odds. At any point on a soccer pitch, there are 22 players. One AP photographer. It seemed like every match included a shot of those Redlanders. It’s not hard to really imagine. Aldama and Donovan were playmakers. Photographers like action. Their lenses are usually aimed toward those making plays.

Those AP shots filled at least one-third of that sports page. It’s one way to fill a local sports section.

ALdama - Washington Freedom wins FreedomWinSemi

This is an example of a photo that was available to the local sports desk in Redlands during summer play in WUSA. While Redlands’ Heather Aldama walks off the field in disappointment, the Washington Freedom is celebrating a playoff semifinals triumph (photo by Women’s United Soccer Association).

SANTA CLARA, A COLLEGE CHOICE

Unlike Donovan, who skipped college to play the European pro leagues in his midteens, Aldama chose NCAA powerhouse Santa Clara University as her collegiate stop. Four seasons of varsity play as a Lady Terrier attacker, plus her club-playing roots, she left for a top-collegiate program.

There were some highlights for this Lady Bronco. As a freshman in 1997, Aldama nailed a game-winning goal against West Coast Conference rival Loyola-Marymount.

She played against No. 3 Florida in the 1998 NCAA semifinals, against No. 19 Brigham Young University, playing in virtually every big Santa Clara match during her 1997-2000 collegiate career.

Aldama netted a 16-yarder against third-ranked Nebraska in a 2-1 win over the Lady Huskers on Sept. 19, 1999. In an NCAA playoff match against UCLA that same season, she scored in the 23rd minute, assisting on another goal in a crucial win.

Against Connecticut in the NCAA quarterfinals one match later, Aldama assisted on a pair of Aly Wagner goals, helping produce a 3-0 triumph.

In other words, Aldama always seemed to find herself in the mix – scoring, setting up goals and other plays, streaking downfield to work her way open.

Once college was over, though, so what next?

REPLACING TEAM USA

Aldama was part of a replacement for Team USA at a Jan. 13, 2000 match in Adelaide, Australia. In an event called the Australia Cup, Aldama surfaced as a substitute in the championship match, 3-1, over the Matildas.

Team USA’s main side had boycotted the match.

Sherrill Kester, Danielle Slaton and Wagner, Aldama’s college teammate, scored in front of 3,500 at Hindmarsch Stadium.

Playing against a more experienced Matildas’ squad, the U.S. held a 20-6 shots advantage, plus a 10-5 edge in corner kicks. It was in the 82nd minute that Aldama fed Wagner for Team USA’s final goal.

Mandy Clemens was part of that team, plus Jenn Mascaro, Michelle French and Veronica Zepeda with Lakeyshia Beene in goal.

Team USA, 2-0-1 in the four-nation tournament, had the same record as Sweden – playing to a 0-0 draw– winning on goal differential, holding a plus-nine to Sweden’s plus-four. The Czech Republic and host Australia made up the remaining tournament qualifiers.

It was that 8-1 win over the Czech Republic that did it for Team USA.

Up next was the Sydney Olympics of 2000. Considering that Sydney, Australia would be the host of that year’s 2000 Olympics, it had to occur that Aldama could see Team USA action when the Summer Games started.

That American’s co-coach, Lauren Gregg, noted the team’s approach – contract protests. She told Associated Press that Team USA achieved its objectives.

“First,” Gregg told the media, “we won by playing some exciting, attacking soccer. Second, these players invested in their development every minute they were on the field and took every advantage of this opportunity.

“Finally,” she said, “these games gave us a chance to evaluate our young personalities against much more experienced players, which gives us extremely valuable information as we go forward toward the Olympics.”

Team USA, Olympic gold medalists in 1996, 2004, 2008 and 2012, took silver in the 2000 Sydney Games. That team was largely built around the same group of historic women that notched World Cup triumphs in Pasadena a couple years earlier.

Team USA beat Brazil, 1-0 in that semi final duel, the Americans reached the finals against Norway. Norway, a 1-0 triumph over Germany, got three goals in its 3-2 triumph over the Americans. Curious that that USA side knocked off Norway, 2-0, during Group F play.

Aldama, incidentally, was not part of that Team USA side.

SQUARING OFF AGAINST ’99 CUP

While USA’s women were forming a global powerhouse at the international stage, Aldama was on the bubble to crack onto a formidable national team that included the likes of Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Carla Overbeck, Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain, Cindy Parlow, Tiffeny Milbrett, Clemens, Tisha Venturini, Joy Fawcett, Shannon MacMillan, Julie Foudy and goalkeeper Brianna Scurry – huge stars among those American players.

Brandi_Chastain_ESPN_Weekend_2010
Brandi Chastain, a 1999 World Cup hero, was a Heather Aldama rival during their days in the Women’s United Soccer Association (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

Its most famous World Cup triumph in 1999 came in a 5-4 shootout win over China after a 0-0 draw through extended time. Chastain’s famous goal-winning shot was celebrated, spotted dropping to her knees, whipping off her jersey and photographed in her sports bra.

That match was played at the Rose Bowl in front of nearly a packed house while shown on live international TV. The U.S., who knocked off North Korea, Nigeria and Denmark in pool play, had beaten Germany, Brazil and China, all world soccer powers. 

By contrast, Team USA’s men had never been able to produce a winning equation during World Cup play – with Donovan.

Aldama had a few national team appearances. The timing of her departure from Santa Clara, however, was met with the formation of a new pro women’s soccer league.

DONOVAN: TEAM USA’S BEST

It cannot be held back.

Donovan’s career has carried a long way, perhaps considered one of this country’s top male players, perhaps even through 2024. It’s hard to make it that Aldama, USA’s women’s side, doesn’t even compare to the men’s side.

It can’t compare. To this day, Team USA’s women has worked itself way past the men, regardless of, say, Donovan versus Aldama. Seems like he played plenty for sides in Europe, plus huge brilliance over nearly two decades as U.S. professional at both San Jose, but more at Los Angeles.

He played at plenty of growth for Americans – scoring hundreds of goals, setting up with dozens of assists, brilliant attacks against virtually every major opponent.

Unlike Aldama, Donovan was an Olympian, a Team USA part of the World Cup appearances – never champions.

Unlike Donovan, however, Aldama came close to reaching USA’s women’s highly-smoked international attack.

SETTING STAGE FOR WUSA

In 2001, the Women’s United Soccer Association, or WUSA, was created. One of the founding eight teams was the Boston Breakers. That league lasted three seasons.

Aldama was part of that Breakers’ side that included Lilly, plus Kate Sobrero and Tracy Ducar. International players came over from Germany – Maren Meinhart and Bettina Wiegmann, plus Norway’s Dagny Mellgren and Ragnhild Gulbrandsen.

Lilly-2010-stl
Kristine Lilly, another of the 1999 USA World Cup heroes, was a Boston Breakers teammate of Redlands’ Heather Aldama (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

Aldama showed up in Boston, courtesy of being the 28th player selected in a 2001 draft, that being a fourth-round pick by the Breakers. They played the former Redlands High/Santa Clara scoring gem on defense.

It was tough beginnings for Boston, which played to an 8-10-3 mark in its inaugural season, following that up with a 6-8-7 mark in 2002 – but no playoffs.

Matches were played at Nickerson Field in Boston. The team was owned by Amos Hostetter, Jr., who had served as chairman of C-SPAN Network.

That third and final season, though, under coach Pia Sundhage, former Norwegian scoring playmaker, was a little different. Boston finished 10-4-7 and reached the semifinals before a shootout against the Washington Freedom ended the Breakers’ season.

Aldama, wearing jersey No. 12, missed a shot in the penalty kick phase. Eventually, when WUSA suspended operations because of cash slowness, that was about it for the 25-year-old Aldama.

The Breakers reappeared, however – twice.

In 2007, they showed up as part of the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), folding in 2012. After that, the Breakers became part of the Women’s Pro Soccer League Elite.

Who was Aldama playing against in WUSA?

It was that same core group of 1999 World Cup players.

Mia_Hamm_corner
Mia Hamm took her celebrated career into the WUSA ranks, where she competed against the likes of Redlands’ Heather Aldama (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

Aldama was attacking the likes of Scurry, plus defending against the all-star talents of Fawcett, MacMillan, Akers, Parlow, Milbrett, Venturini, Foudy, Hamm, Chastain and Clemens, among others, perhaps considered among America’s best players.

In a July 3, 2003 match between Aldama’s Breakers and the Washington Freedom, Aldama notched her first professional goal in the 66th minute. There were 8,105 fans at Boston’s Nickerson Field to witness the two sides play to a 1-1 draw.

That shot was a curving, 25-yarder into the upper right hand corner of the net.

Such brilliance of such a shot lifted from Redlands.

Posted on

TRACK GOLD MEDALIST CAME TO REDLANDS, SET WORLD RECORDS

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling little city that sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs long before Interstate 10 was constructed. In April 1921, a gold medal Olympian showed up at the University of Redlands to set world track-running records. – Obrey Brown

It’s now, these days, over 100 years from a brilliant run in Redlands.

There was a guy who took a Golden Streak of the Golden West. A USC superstar. He was Sir Charles. Also known as the Winged foot of Mercury. Let’s not forget that Charles Paddock was part of Team USA.

At the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, Paddock was a gold medal sprinter, winner at 100-meter and part of the USA’s winning 4 x 100 relay. Overall in his career, Sir Charles wound up with two golds and two silvers during his Olympic appearances.

That 1920 Olympian was, in fact, that same Olympiad at which Redlands-based hurdler William Yount had participated.

Paddock was likely the track’s version of baseball’s Babe Ruth. Or boxing’s Jack Dempsey. Or tennis’ Bill Tilden. Or golfer Robert Jones. But he was a decorated sprint champion.

On April 23, 1921 – less than a year after he’d won the gold medal in Belgium – Paddock showed up at the University of Redlands. That day, Paddock broke four world records and equaled another one.

Charley Paddock (Photo by Pasadena Sports Hall of Fame)
Charles Paddock, a 4-time Olympic medalist, two gold and two silver, showed up in Redlands and set four world records, tying another on April 23, 1921 (photo by Pasadena Sports Hall of Fame).

Paddock, whose historically significant role in a 1981 motion picture, “Chariots of Fire” – portrayed, incidentally, by Dennis Christopher – had shown up at Redlands for an exhibition within that USC-Pomona dual. That day, he reached no less than five world records.

In “Chariots of Fire,” there was nothing about Redlands, of course. Paddock had just a brief appearance next to those great Englanders, not to mention his USA mates. There was, in fact, nothing about those world marks he’d set on that April 23, 1921 afternoon in that San Bernardino County city.

Paddock, in fact, was a mere character at the 1924 Paris Olympics – a favorite who was chased down by Britain’s Harold Abrahams in the 200-meter.

Still, Paddock was part of America’s winning 4 x 100 relay that year.

FOUR RECORDS SET, ANOTHER TIED AT REDLANDS

Let’s not forget on that April 23 day at Redlands, that Pomona College outscored USC, 39-33, in a dual track meet. Paddock? Well, no. He was not a collegiate athlete, just making a high-level appearance at this meet not including that local university.

That same April 23 day, the four marks – 100-meter, 200-meter, 300-yard and 300-meter – while equaling the world mark at 100 yards, made that tiny little San Bernardino County city a mark in international track history.

Paddock was clocked at 9 and three-fifths seconds in the 100-yard dash.

For the close-by 100-meters, he sped 10.40, cracking 1912 U.S. Olympian Donald Lippincott’s mark by a fifth of a second.

Multiple Olympic gold medalist – St. Louis in 1900, Athens, Greece in the original 1896 – Archie Hahn’s 21 3/5-seconds over 200-meters fell to 21 1/5 via Paddock. That was more in Redlands on that April 23 day.

The world’s fastest human, Bernie Wefers’ 300-yard mark of 30 3/5 seconds was broken by two-fifths – Paddock in 30 1/5 at Redlands.

As for the 300-meter mark, held by 1912 Olympian Pierre Failliott of France in 1908 and equaled by Frigyes Mezei of Hungary in 1913 at 36 2/5 seconds was smashed by Paddock’s speed – 33 4/5 seconds.

That 220-yard mark, incidentally, was a mere three-fifths of a second for that world mark.

No, this April 23 field did not include the likes of Abrahams, Wiefers, Hahn, Lippincott, Failliott, Mezei – nor even Yount of Redlands.

IN REDLANDS, PADDOCK WAS WELL-KNOWN 

Much-later Ted Runner, the longtime athletic director at the University of Redlands, was careful to point out Paddock’s connection to Redlands. Long before Runner’s time, but as a lifetime devotee of track & field, Runner was aware of Paddock of his lore that preceded him on that venerable university’s grounds.

No less than Guy Daniels, Jr. – whose dad, Guy, Sr. was a Redlands coach of that era – and another ex-Bulldog, Terry Roberts of Yucaipa, who was a student of Olympic history, knew of this Paddock legend. Throughout the years, a few weighed in with me on Paddock’s visit to Redlands.

Of course, neither Runner, Daniels, Jr., nor Roberts were present for Paddock’s 1921 appearance. They were in high admiration, however.

At Redlands that day, there were two races. Bob Weaver, president of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), was the starter.

No less than a reporter from the old Los Angeles Examiner had shown up that day to record the events. The local newspaper from Redlands was also on the scene. Weaver, president of that AAU, was the starter. That the AAU president, Weaver, was in attendance helped make it official.

Those records were verified.

Those on-the-scene reporters had shown up that day to record the events. They described conditions as “bitter” cold. Overcast, a little wind, some rain sprinkles, but it had died by race time. In other words, it was a likely surprise that Paddock could set any world records.

*****

Paddock, the racing, the background, some 3,000 to 5,000 attendees, was part of Southern Pacific’s AAU on that April 23 gathering. It was, according to that local paper, “shivering weather and a cold west wind.” Over a 20-minute period, this star-studded sprinter was ready.

best-pictures-of-charley-paddockThis was a typical Charles Paddock finish, turning his left shoulder to the left as he crossed a finish line. This was the scene on April 23, 1921 at the University of Redlands when Paddock, 33 on his jersey, set world records in four events, tying another mark that same day (photo by USC sports information).

That highly significant Olympic sprinter ran two events, each extending events in both meters and yards with dual timers for each point. Familiar leaps across the finish, Paddock pulled off a straightaway siege in that 100-yarder, tying the world record in 9.6-second mark, winning a world mark with 10.4 seconds over 100-meters.

It wasn’t 20 minutes later, call it the 220-yards, then 200-meters, then 300-yards and 300-meters for Paddock – those further events going around a turn of that far different track spot that eventually faced on Brockton Ave.

Sure, Paddock was from Pasadena – close to where the University of Redlands’ top collegiate duelists Occidental and Cal Tech existed – he capped 300-meters in tiring form, described as collapsing into arms of a friend.

Here were the marks: a 21.1-second world mark in the 200-meter, 30.1-second world mark in the 300-yard, then cracked the 200-meter record by more than two full seconds.

That 220-yard mark was a mere three-fifths of a second for that world mark.

Paddock’s main competition came from the likes of Vernon Blenkiron, a 17-year-old from Compton High School, second against Redlands High’s Bob Allen, that year’s 1921 state 220 high school champion. Forrest Blalock, who spent two seasons on USC’s track team, also ran.

Paddock was described as “two yards in front of Blenkiron.” At one point, Paddock was “20 yards ahead of Blalock.”

TRACK & FIELD NEWS REDLANDS ACCOUNTS

According to Track & Field News, “with one jump he passed the 200-meter and 220-yard marks.

“On the sharp turn he ran, he seemed to weaken and slow down. Finally, he reached 300 yards. His sprint was nearly gone. Fighting every inch of the way he raced on toward the last tape, the 300-meter mark. He was now on the straightaway again. Pulling with eyes half shut and mouth open he passed the finish line and fell in a heap into the arms of waiting friends.”

On the shorter run that day, T&F News reported it this way:

“Down the stretch they came, Paddock seemingly unable to increase his lead. Fifteen feet from the tape Paddock gave a mighty bound and fairly flew over the finish line two yards ahead of Blenkiron. He came down heavily. Recovering, he took two quick strides and leaped for the tape at 100 meters.

“His first leap had enabled him again to equal the record for 100 yards. The two together gave him the record for 100 meters. Two such leaps as these made it appear that the boy must have had wings or a kangaroo hoof.”

Three years later, in Paris, it was Jackson Scholz who outdueled the Golden Streak of the Golden West in that for the gold. Paddock took the silver medal back to America – losing only that 100-meter to a fellow American.

There was a third Olympics in 1928 at Amsterdam. No medals. No finals. By 1943 at Sitka, Alaska, Paddock perished in an airplane crash. Nearly 43. Born in Texas, having moved to California as a child. He was a U.S. marine. Thirty-eight years later, his memory flashed forward in “Chariots of Fire.”

By 1976, Paddock was inducted to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame.

It’s curious that Paddock was California’s prep 220-yard champion in 1916, 1917 and 1918 for Pasadena High, then supplanted by Redlands’ Bob Allen in 1919, then again in 1921. By that point, Paddock was USC’s Golden Streak.

It brought back that Redlands Connection.

Posted on

FROM A PHONE TIPSTER: PRO BOWLER EARL ANTHONY WAS IN TOWN

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open, Wimbledon and the Olympics, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling little city that sits between Los Angeles and Palm Springs has its share of sports connections. In this case, this Redlands professional bowler was on his way from Torrance, California and now stopping on his way to a spot in Arizona. – Obrey Brown

There was, by huge surprise, a mid-afternoon telephone call. I worked at a newspaper in Redlands. Mid-summer, 1982. Middle of the week. Very little was taking place around this city. Guys like me are always looking for a story. Well, here one was.

In those days, telephone calls were the lifeblood of any newspaper reporter. Most of the time, when callers weren’t complaining or spouting off, good calls often proved exotic and helpful tips. One afternoon, a very quiet female voice at Empire Bowl, the local bowling alley, had an alert.

“Earl Anthony,” she said, “is here right now … bowling.”

Anthony, who would eventually turn into the first-ever $1 million career winner, was a legendary figure on the Professional Bowling Association tour.

Though I doubted the caller’s accuracy, what would someone like Earl Anthony be doing in Redlands, of all places, right? It wouldn’t take a whole lot of effort to drive a few miles from the office to verify this report.

Earl Anthony? In Redlands? Let’s find out.

Earl_Anthony

Earl Anthony, who missed the cut at a PBA tournament in Torrance, was on his way to another tournament in Tucson, Ariz. when he stopped off, at all places, Empire Bowl in Redlands (photo by Wikipedia Commons).Empire Bowl, located right next to a portion of Interstate 10, was in a fairly prominent spot along Colton Ave. It bordered along the North Side neighborhoods. A couple blocks west sat Bob’s Big Boy, a popular little restaurant. A little east was historic downtown Redlands.

I parked, got out, walked into the Empire. A crowd of people had converged to the far right portion.

Empire Bowl
This was the view from the corner of Redlands’ Empire Bowl, where PBA star Earl Anthony stopped by for practice (photo by Empire Bowl).

That female tipster’s phone call turned out to be true. Suddenly, I became a bowling writer. I hadn’t written much on bowling. Our newspaper relied on people turning in results.

Sure enough, there he was, rolling a ball. Alone. A lefty, to be sure. Smooth. Effortless. Confident. There were plenty of local watchers viewing him not all that far away. I strolled down in front of all those folks.

“Earl, do you have a minute?”

That left-handed, bespectacled gentleman motioned me over. We chatted for a while. First question: What in the heck was he doing here? Earl Anthony, a legendary bowling ace, laughed.

“I’m just passing through,” he said. “Thought I’d stop and roll a few just to get some exercise.”

We became quick friends. He ordered us a couple Cokes.

It was small talk, mostly. Lots of PBA titles. Earlier that year, he became that first-ever $1 million dollar cash earner. One year earlier, he was a Hall of Famer. Some major championships. He’d been PBA Player of the Year a handful of times. 

That million dollar reach, though, came against Charlie Tapp that earlier year. The PBA National Championship, I asked him, when he copped that big 1981 event. Anthony nodded, then started at a single pin – which he nailed, by the way.

Funny, though. Anthony shared the news that he, at one time, had been a left-handed pitching hopeful with the Baltimore Orioles’ minor league, along with a few other insights about his life.

“My pitching helped my bowling, though. It helped my rhythm and concentration.”

At Redlands on that particular day, he let a ball roll down that Alley 40 – again.

PRO BOWLING IS ROUGH

We chatted a little about local showboats. They have bowlers in every city. At every tournament. They’re the dominant rollers at their “House,” no doubt. Pro bowling stars roll into town and have to take those locals on. You know, kind of like gunslingers taking on the city’s fastest gun.

Anthony, 43 at the time, laughed. “Yeah. Yeah. Sure, I’ve faced those kinds of guys. A lot of times. Didn’t always win.”

He’d just missed the cut at a tournament in Torrance, “so I figured I’d better get out here and practice a little.”

Each week, the PBA’s top bowlers were in contention.

“Mark Roth, Mal Acosta and guys like that,” he said, noting other PBAs. “I don’t mean to put down any town’s best bowlers, but usually the difference between them and us is the same as a high school baseball player coming up to the big leagues.”

Referring to the rabbit squad, he noted, a rabid group of bowlers trying to qualify for one of those 144 tournament spots, he noted, “there were 200 to 300 guys trying to qualify for 60 or 70 spots. Trust me, we’ve got our eyes on everyone.

“When they qualify, they’ve made no money – just the right to play in the tournament.”

Pro bowling is tough, he said. At that time, Anthony told me, “pro bowling was at an all-time high in popularity. There is more television coverage than ever.”

In the early 1980s, ABC was televising 16 straight weeks of events.

At that very moment we were talking, the Pennzoil Open in Torrance – the tournament at which he’d failed to qualify – was set to televise on fairly new sports channel ESPN.

His home was in the Northern California city of Dublin, bordering the Bay Area. Acosta and Rich Carrubba, current PBA members, were connected along that area, too.

 

TOP PBA GUYS REACH OUT AT HIM

Ah, but Anthony spoke of a new PBA rule which required its members to take on a 2 ½ -day course – things like how to handle money, talk to the press and public, plus learning PBA history. He wasn’t all that pleased.

“I’m insulted by it,” he said. “I think it’s a great idea for guys coming out. But they want me and everybody else to go back and I think it’s ridiculous.”

I’d reminded him that professional golfers, upon inception in the 1960s, did not require its current membership to qualify.

Said Anthony: “I used that same analogy with the PBA. They’re not listening to any of that. They still want us to attend.”

Sarcastically, he added, “I’ve only been on the tour for about 13 years.”

In other words, he was history.

A few years earlier, 1978, he topped the field for his 30th all-time triumph – “the Tournament of Champions,” he quietly noted. It wasn’t much longer that year that this man suffered a heart attack. He returned, though. 

Ah! Some conversation toward me led to more shooting along that wall-based, widest lane at Redlands’ action center.

ANTHONY CLOSING IN ON HIS GOALS

We sipped our Cokes. In between questions and answers, he’d effortlessly roll his ball down the lane. Here was a guy that made his living by rolling a ball better than most.

Before leaving, I said, “You know, I’ve never taken a photo before. Would you mind?”

“Not at all,” he said. “Tell me what you need.”

The photo came out a little dark. It was publishable. I think I was more excited about the photo than I was the article I’d written. Redlands’ bowling public would discover that a PBA star had stopped briefly in their community, en route to Tucson, his next tournament stop.

Two years earlier, Anthony had suffered a heart attack.

“I’m fine now. I just want to start winning.”

I was done.

On my way out, I stopped at the front desk. Spotted an older woman.

“Are you the one who called me?”

She nodded.

“I owe you dinner for that. Appreciate what you did.”

“I get off at 6.”

“Bob’s?”

“Should I meet you there?”

It was, it turned out, the first and last time I’d ever see her.

Because of her, though, I’d met – and interviewed – Earl Anthony.

Those telephone calls are what every newspaper reporter requires to make it work on the pages.

Posted on

A REDLANDS MINI-WORLD CUP CONNECTION: DONOVAN AGAINST BOCANEGRA

4729887505_382ef34756_b
Landon Donovan on the move. Image Credit: Jason Wojciechowski “USA vs. Algeria World Cup match. Licensed under CC BY (2.0)

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling little city that sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10. Imagine a straight shot down that I-10 from Alta Loma High to take on Redlands in a huge soccer playoff matchup that witnessed a pair of eventual Team USA mates. – Obrey Brown

Landon Donovan, an Olympian and World Cup soccer player, not to mention a multiple-winning Honda Player of the Year in Major Soccer League play, was on the field during an unforgettable CIF-Southern Section high school playoff match back in 1996.

Donovan was a freshman midfield sensation who would eventually be named his league’s Most Valuable Player. On this March afternoon, in a match played on the school’s JV football field – corner of Citrus and University – Alta Loma High School was the visiting side.

The place was packed. People everywhere. Spectators lined up around the field six or seven deep. Parking was impossible. Assigned to cover the match, I could barely get a place to view the match myself. I needed a perfect viewing position. Unobstructed. When I did manage to find a spot, I met an excited Alta Loma player’s mother.

Her name was Kelly. Nice lady. Alta Loma had won the CIF Southern Section football championship a few months earlier. Plenty of the kids on the Braves’ soccer team played on that team. As Kelly’s mom, this match against Redlands would be no contest.

Kelly’s son, Carlos Bocanegra. Imagine that!

There was no doubt in mom’s mind. “A lot of the players on this soccer team were part of Alta Loma’s football team … that won the CIF Division IV championship.” Her son, Carlos incidentally, was Brave of the Year off that 1996 squad.

This soccer matchup in Redlands was totally different.

Donovan and Bocanegra on the same field. Opposite sides. Two players who would eventually play together on the same U.S. Olympic and World Cup teams. Bocanegra, like Donovan, was a future big-time player in his own right.

That high school match itself was a classic. It was like a mini-World Cup match. This highly-played matchup was attended by a huge following, notably on a field that was not a stadium.

Redlands won, eventually, on penalty kicks. Terrier goalkeeper Jerad Bailey, who had a future great career at Loyola Marymount University, emerged a hero, having stopped some critical shot attempts by the visiting Braves, including during the penalty kick phase of the match.

The following year, Donovan wound up at Redlands East Valley High School, its first year of existence. Midway through his sophomore season, though, the 16-year-old signed a professional contract to play in Europe.

A pro soccer career was underway.

Football footnote: Alta Loma’s football championship game, a 26-16 win over Corona Centennial, was played a short hop from the site of this soccer playoff – at the University of Redlands Stadium. Interesting that Bocanegra returned a 66-yard interception to the four-yard-line to set up a touchdown.

 

Posted on

REDLANDS PHOTOG LEE CALKINS HAD INSIGHT TO L.A. KINGS

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open and the Olympics, plus NCAA Final Four connections, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling little city that sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10. There was a connection with a Redlands resident who was a little knowledgeable with pro hockey’s greatest player. – Obrey Brown

The Great One was walking toward the parking lot. It was halfway through a high school championship golf match. I recognized him instantly and I knew exactly what to say.

I said, “Lee Calkins says to say hello.”

This was surprising to the man, who was scurrying off to the parking lot. Something about an appointment he couldn’t miss. He’d been faster on a pair of skates. National Hockey League legend Wayne Gretzky, who couldn’t have been more shocked, said, “What is Lee doing nowadays?”

I told him that Lee was our newspaper’s main photographer, working alongside me, for our daily in Redlands. Truth is, there was no chat about Wayne’s brilliance during his years, especially in Edmonton, and Los Angeles while playing in the NHL.

Wayne Gretzky was walking off a golf course in Murrieta when Lee Calkins’ name was mentioned. He said, “Tell Lee I said hello.” (Photo by Wikipedia Commons.)

Gretzky was in a hurry to leave. His son, Ty, was playing golf for Oaks Christian High — a school way out in Los Angeles County. The team was good, too. The Great One had to show up to support his kid.

This was the National Hockey League’s greatest scorer. Arguments can be made that he’s the NHL’s greatest player.

Calkins, hired by the Redlands newspaper after a tryout shooter a professional soccer duel at Crafton Park – winning a spot on that publication easily.

I’d eventually discover his previous shooting gigs. He’d spent time shooting the Los Angeles Kings a few years earlier.

Then owned by Bruce McNall.

Then coached by Barry Melrose.

Players on that team included the phenomenal Marty McSorley, Luc Robitaille, defenseman Rob Blake, Jari Kurry. The goalie, of course, was Kelly Hrudey. Hockey history soared in L.A. during that era.

There was also, of course, Gretzky.

It should’ve come as no surprise that the Kings, during the 1992-93 season, skated into the Stanley Cup against the Montreal Canadiens. Only a few years earlier, Gretzky, McSorley & Co. had lifted the Edmonton Oilers to unbelievable heights.

McNall bought the Kings.

Nick Beverley, deputized by McNall to be an aggressive general manager, was turned loose. L.A. took an all-out assault on the NHL. Players were acquired to turn the Kings into contenders.

Watching from the front row glass was none other than Calkins, who sped down the freeway from Redlands during those years. There he was, his photo lenses shining onto the L.A. Forum ice in search of those hockey shots.

There were a couple pages of Calkins’ in a coffee table book, “A Day in the NHL.” Every arena was shot by someone. Calkins had the Forum. I remember Lee saying, “The Kings were a rough team in those years. They led the NHL in penalty minutes.”

Remember, this is coming from a recreational player who donned the mask and gloves, playing goalie.

It was right around that year 2009, I think, when Gretzky and I came face to face. Never before. Never again. His son, Ty, a learning golfer, would eventually spend collegiate days at Arizona State.

“Will you do me a favor?” Gretzky asked that day.

Sure.

“Tell Lee I said hello.”

Sounded Lee Calkins’ name was probably the only way to get his attention.

It worked.

Posted on

A WORLD RECORD KEEPING ROBIN BACKHAUS FROM OLYMPIC GOLD

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open and the Olympics, plus NCAA Final Four connections, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, that sparkling little city sits between Los Angeles and Palm Springs along Interstate 10 has its share of sports connections. If anyone recalls brilliant 1972 Olympian Mark Spitz, there was a key figure from Redlands who swam against him. – Obrey Brown

That day, August 28 back in 2018, was the 45th anniversary of an Olympic moment. So much history was locked from that 1972 Olympic Games. Held in Munich, located in West Germany, who could forget the slaughter of Israeli athletes by Palestinians in one of the world’s greatest divides?

Brilliant memories showcased that Olympics berth — good or bad.

U.S. men’s basketball team, for instance, lost a gold medal that led to an international incident.

On the plus side, there was wrestler Dan Gable and gymnast Olga Korbut, marathoner Frank Shorter and half-miler Dave Wottle, who came from behind to win the 800.

Meanwhile, American sprinters Rey Robinson and Eddie Hart, nowhere to be found in the 100 and 200 finals, missed their preliminary heats when they received the wrong starting times.

Swimming comes huge among most Olympic followers.

There were prime headlines coming from that Schwimmhalle, the Olympic swim center at the Munich Olympic Park. An American swimmer was re-writing the record books.

A Redlands swimmer, Robin Backhaus, was hot on his trail.

Mark Spitz. Seven gold medals. An American legend.

225px-Robin_Backhaus_1972

Robin Backhaus, a 17-year-old swimmer at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, won a bronze medal in the butterfly (photo by Wikipedia Commons).Backhaus! Born in Nebraska. Attended Redlands High. His swim club was in Riverside. Following the Games, he’d wind up in Hawaii. Or Alabama. Even in Washington, the U.S. northwest.

On that Aug. 28, 1972, Backhaus notched that bronze medal off a brilliant third-place performance in the men’s 200-meter butterfly. His time, 2:03.23, finished behind Spitz’s world record 2:00.70, with Gary Hall, Sr. (2:02.86) and Backhaus completing the USA’s sweep.

Imagine that for a Redlands Connection! A Redlands swimmer was beaten only by a world record. In that 200-fly finale, Backhaus outlasted South America’s Ecuador’s Jose Delgado, Jr., fourth place, by over a second to grab that bronze medal.

A sharp performing pathway to the championship race was littered with challenges.

Truthfully, Backhaus posted the fastest time in those climbing heats which led to the finals. That 17-year-old from Redlands won, in 2:03.11, past West Germany’s Folkert Meeuw. By heat four in that 200-meter butterfly, Spitz won his race and stole away, however briefly Backhaus’ Olympic record’s swim.

Spitz, who surpassed Backhaus’ 2:03.11 clocking with a 2:02.11 of his own, claimed the record in that semifinal heat. The top two finishers from each heat qualified for the finals.

It took that world record swim from Spitz, his 2:00.70 outdueling Hall and Backhaus.

310px-Gary_Hall,_Mark_Spitz,_Robin_Backhaus_1972
From left to right, Gary Hall, Sr., Mark Spitz and Robin Backhaus, who swept the 200-meter butterfly event at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Spitz, who won seven gold medals, set a world record in the race (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

Delgado, West Germany’s Hans Fassnacht, Hungary’s Andras Hargitay, East Germany’s Hartmut Flockner and Meeuw took fourth through eighth place in the overall outcome. Even Meeuw’s last place clocking, 2:05.57, was world class.

Backhaus was surrounded by brilliant talent on his U.S. Olympic team:

  • Jerry Heidenreich, two relay gold medals, part of six world records
  • John Murphy, a relay gold and bronze in the 100-back
  • Mike Stamm, silver medals in two backstroke events, plus a relay gold
  • Tom Bruce, former world record holder in 4 x 100 free
  • Steve Furniss, bronze, 100-individual medley
  • Gary Hall, Sr. – Two years before Munich, Hall set a world record in 200-fly
  • Mike Burton (3-time Olympic champion, former world record holder)
  • Steve Genter, gold medalist (silver in 100-free)
  • John Hencken, 13 world records, 21 American records
  • Doug Northway, like Backhaus, was 17, capturing bronze in the 1500-free
  • Tim McKee (3-time silver medalist)

A footnote to McKee: Swimming observers will recall a close finish – losing to Sweden’s Gunnar Larsson by two one-thousandths of a second in the 400-IM – in which the scoreboard reflected a dead heat at 4:31.98. In a controversial decision, event judges named Larsson the winner with a 4:31.981 to McKee’s 4:31.983.

Under new federation rules, timing to the thousandths of a second are now prohibited. It was that race which led to the change in rules.

That year’s U.S. swim side copped 43 medals, seven of its 17 gold medals won by Spitz, two shared in pair of relays.

Spitz, meanwhile, might’ve been caught up in the explosive nature of The Games. As a Jewish American, Spitz was asked to leave Germany before the closing ceremonies. The historically upsetting deaths of those Israeli athletes had left a trickle-down effect for the remainder of The Games.

POST-OLYMPIC CAREER

Domestically, Backhaus won three Amateur Athletic Union titles, at the indoor 200-yard butterfly in 1974, plus the 100-fly in 1973. He also won NCAA title in the 200-fly in 1975.

His club was based in Riverside. One of his coaches was Chuck Riggs, who would help develop several future champions, including Cynthia “Sippy” Woodhead. Riggs, eventually shifting to the Redlands Swim Team, was voted into the Swim Coaches Hall of Fame in 2018.

Chuck-Riggs
Chuck Riggs, who was coaching for the Riverside Aquatics Association in the early 1970s, had a hand in coaching Robin Backhaus’ climb to the Olympics in 1972. Riggs eventually became American Swim Coaches Association’s Hall of Famer.

While a Redlands resident, Backhaus performed plenty of celebratory swimming. In 1970, at the Pacific Southwest YMCA Swimming and Diving Championships, he set an age group record of 57.1 in a 100-yard butterfly chase, plus a 23.2 in 50-yard freestyle, merely fractions of a second off an age group record.

Sure, there were changes after The Games of 1972. Backhaus swam his senior season at San Rafael High School — north of San Francisco — after he transferred from Redlands High.

Backhaus’ college choice was Washington, later transferring to Alabama, which is where he graduated.

Backhaus, a teacher and swimming coach at Konawaena (Hawaii) High School, eventually surfaced as a swimming trainer in Texas and California for over 20 years.

A year after his Olympic exploits, Backhaus won a pair of gold medals, plus a bronze medal at the 1973 World Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

There was a win in his specialty, the 200-fly, plus his part in the 4 x 200 freestyle relay. In the 100-fly, Backhaus took third.

Born on Feb. 12, 1955, Backhaus never swam competitively at Redlands High. He’s a Terrier Hall of Famer, though, easily a portion of that school’s growing history of top-level athletes that includes sharp-achieving athletes from almost any sport.

Backhaus’ only other hope for another Olympic event came in the 100-fly, but he was unable to qualify at the Trials.

Think of it this way: For a brief time, Backhaus held the Olympic record in that 200-meter butterfly. It took a world record swim, from Spitz of all people, to edge the Redlands teenager for the gold medal.

After retiring from competition, Backhaus worked as a teacher and coach at Konawaena High School in Kealakekua on a four-year service, then training swimmers in Texas and California for over 20 years.

There would no Olympic Games for Backhaus in Montreal 1976.

Posted on

GEORGE YARDLEY WAS NBA’S FIRST 2,000-POINT KING

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling little city that sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10 has its share of sports connections. – Obrey Brown

Curiously, there was a direct link from the NBA to the University of Redlands basketball program. Rob Yardley came in the form of a role player in the late 1979s, early 1980s. Upon examination, Yardley, an outgoing, intelligent and seemingly Christian-living soul, stood 6-foot-6 in a Bulldog uniform. Basketball historians, incidentally, might recognize the name of Yardley.

It was George Yardley, believe it or not, scoring a seasoned 2,000 points for the first time NBA history. From the past: Newport Harbor High School. Stanford. Seventh pick, NBA draft, 1950. Didn’t start playing until the 1953-54 season.

George_Yardley, 1959
George Yardley, wearing the NBA uniform of the old Syracuse Nats, was the league’s top scoring threat until Wilt Chamberlain came into the league. Yardley was the first NBA player to surpass the 2,000-point milestone. (Photo by Wikipedia Commons).

In 1958, Yardley, then of the Detroit Pistons, scored 2,001 points. The NBA’s previous scoring mark came in 1951 when Minneapolis Lakers’ 6-foot-10 center George Mikan racked up 1,932 points. At 6-5, Yardley was a good-sized forward in 1950’s NBA hoops, and was “an offensive-minded player with a knack for scoring,” he noted on himself. Described as a “flamboyant” and “gregarious” player who “never did anything without flair,” Yardley had a stellar seven-year career, making the NBA All-Star team every year except for his rookie season.

He led the Fort Wayne Pistons to two NBA Finals before the team moved to Detroit in 1957. In 1957-58, that being these Pistons’ first season in Detroit, Yardley led the league in scoring, averaging 27.8 points.

That year, named All-NBA First Team the lone time over seven season, Yardley set NBA records with 655 free throws on 808 attempts. There was a curious trade by the Pistons to the Syracuse Nationals, the future Philadelphia 76ers. Following his sixth all-star season with Syracuse in 1959-60, averaging 20.2 points, George Yardley retired at the age of 31. He was the first player in NBA history to retire after averaging at least 20 points in his final year.

Although Alex Groza had a 21.7 scoring average in his final NBA season in 1951, his career ended as a result of a lifelong ban for point shaving, instead of a voluntary retirement like that of Yardley’s.

A year later, 1959, St. Louis Hawks’ center Bob Pettit broke Yardley’s mark. By 1962, Chamberlain’s single-season total in 1962 eclipsed that of Yardley and Pettit combined. Chamberlain wiped every scoring record off the books, averaging a shade over 50 points a game.

Who was this Yardley guy again?

George Yardley, incidentally, was Rob’s dad.

Rob Yardley (Photo credit, LinkedIn)
Rob Yardley, looking a little older and grayer than in his University of Redlands days in the early 1980s, was the son of an NBA great (Photo credit: LinkedIn.)

“No,” said the younger Yardley, who stood 6-foot-6, “he never did (pressure me) to play basketball. I thought I was going to be a tennis star, and he introduced me to tennis. I think he likes tennis more than basketball, anyway.”

One night, Yardley came off the bench to score eight points – hardly in Chamberlain’s class, or that of Pettit, or even his dad – in a 63-52 win at Occidental College, a campus located just outside Pasadena. But he did hit all four of his shots, eventually fouling out. He said, “I was a butcher out there. I kept leaning. Coach (Gary) Smith has told me a thousand times to keep my hands off the guy on the baseline.”

George was in Eagle Rock, Occidental’s home city, to watch his son play that night. In fact, that brilliant ex-NBA star was often seen at Currier Gym, the Bulldogs’ home gym in Redlands.

Think about it: George Yardley played against the likes of Chamberlain, Pettit, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy and Elgin Baylor, Mikan — you name it. There were wire service photos of George Yardley going up against Russell and Cousy. Retired at 31, George played a little in 1961-62 with the Los Angeles Jets, a much-forgotten team from the old American Basketball League.

By contrast, Rob Yardley was neither an NBA player or even an All-Conference player at Redlands. Like his dad, both were wport Harbor High. Then it was off to Orange County Junior College, then a two-year stint at Redlands.

For locals, it was an interesting Redlands Connection.

 

Posted on

LEMOND, ARMSTRONG COULD’VE BEEN PART OF REDLANDS CLASSIC LEGACY

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling little city that sits between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10 has its share of sports connections. Redlands! There’s just been one Redlander to notch an organized race. Don’t get off the brilliant cyclists that have shown up including one future Tour de France champion, 1998 Redlands runner-up Cadel Evans, along with quite a few handfuls of brilliant riders from that worldwide spectacular event. – Obrey Brown

DOWNTOWN REDLANDS WAS FAILING, say, in the early 1980s. Maybe it didn’t see like its minimal downtown businesses were worth any way of drawing outsiders, or even its own citizens. How could anyone improve its State Street look? What could attract visitors? 

Try this: Something happened in Orange County during the summer of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Road race champion Alexi Grewal won that race held in Mission Viejo. A year later, cycling was showing up in Redlands.

Anyone remember that?

It needed saving. Business was down. Anxieties were up. The future of this glorious community seemed on the line. Would business owners be able to survive?

Turn to sporting events.

Mayor Carole Beswick, city councilman Dick Larsen, plus a contributing member of Redlands society, Denmark’s Peter Brandt, who had professional connections to bicycle racing, concocted a plan.

Carole Beswick
Former Redlands Mayor Carole Beswick launched the biggest sports plan ever in city history to claim a spot in the sports world by organizing the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

There were plenty of others, including Craig Kundig, a local business owner whose future commitment as Race Director led to some of the events’ greatest growth.

Craig Kundig
Former Redlands Bicycle Classic race director Craig Kundig, who is still part of the committee, delivered several stunning additions and ideas during his days.

On the heels of that 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games, at which U.S. cyclists like Steve Hegg (time trials), Ron Kiefel, Davis Phinney came away with gold medals, the feeling was simple:

Why not bring a professional cycling event to Redlands? Answer is simple: They did. It was a clean-air sport. Shutting down city streets, opening it up to pro cycling, seemed to be a cool answer. Would the city’s residents respond well?

When Phinney, a top USA cyclist from Team 7-Eleven, won the 1986 Redlands Classic, he was asked to reflect on his experiences in racing at the famed Tour de France.

He was amenable for a while. Phinney, though, recognized what his Redlands victory really meant.

“Let’s talk,” he said, taking full control of the post-event media interviews, “about the Tour of Redlands.”

Lurking behind the crowd in the media center – the basement of a local bank – Beswick & Co. cheered the moment. Phinney was, perhaps, the USA’s top cycling spokesman. Talking it up about Redlands helped the cause.

Team 7-Eleven shouldn’t have even been racing at Redlands. The team was racing in Europe when civil unrest was taking place. Said Kundig: “They just decided to get out of there and come out here.”

“Out here?” It was Redlands.

Thirty-four years later, not only has the Redlands Bicycle Classic survived, but it’s outlasted virtually every other U.S. cycling event. Throughout the preceding 33 years, the event has moved from its Memorial Day weekend, thrust itself into February, March and April offerings. One year, it was held back in May.

The reason was simple: In late May, the globe’s best teams were setting up for races back east or even in Europe. Those teams’ budgets weren’t big enough to withstand travel back to the west coast for Redlands.

Redlands wanted to build its race on the backs of cycling’s best. By shifting its calendar dates to the beginning of the season, teams that often train in California could easily schedule at Redlands.

There was even a 1999 street sprint in downtown Redlands on State Street, perhaps taking advantage of track specialist Johnny Bairos, who won that stage, incidentally, against the biggest names in U.S. racing.

Bairos, a Redlands product, went on to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. To this date, Bairos is the only local cyclist to ever win a Redlands Classic stage.

Plenty of other winners came from overseas – Russia and Great Britain, France and Germany, Canada, Poland, Switzerland and South America, to name a few.

Historically speaking, the Redlands Bicycle Classic may have no equal as an athletic event throughout San Bernardino County.

The white elephant in the room for cycling, of course, is its drug scandals, which have rocked the sport.

Consider this: The Redlands Classic has long since tested athletes for drugs. There have been no disqualifications.

Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond comes to mind.

Greg LeMond
Three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond never did race at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. But the remarkable cyclist, who overcame getting shot, bounced back to win again overseas. Eventually, he showed up at Redlands to lead a Fun Ride (photo by Wikipidia Commons).

We’re wondering, out loud, that if cycling’s rampant doping regimen hadn’t taken place if he would’ve eventually stayed in Europe rather than cut down his cycling riding career?

Cycling could’ve been a clean sport. While the peleton of lesser-gifted cyclists passed an un-drugged LeMond, he might’ve even brought a team to Redlands.

Redlands was always beckoning to cycling’s top stars to come and race.

The guess here is that he’d have shown up in, say, 1994, 1995, who knows?

That’s the kind of reach the Redlands Bicycle Classic has.

LeMond, incidentally, did come to Redlands one year. He’d retired. Showed up here, courtesy of the organizers, to lead a Fun Ride. He spent time with a couple of us media types – Paul Oberjuerge of the San Bernardino Sun and me – in the boardroom of a downtown Redlands bank.

There was a hint – but nothing stated out loud – that something was wrong with cycling.

Then there was Lance Armstrong, yet to unload a series of victories in the Tour de France 

Lance Armstrong
There was a story circulating in the late 1990s that Lance Armstrong, who had been suffering from testicular cancer, would not only recover but make his comeback race at the Redlands Bicycle Classic (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

The redoubtable Kundig confided to me that Armstrong, suffering from the ravages of testicular cancer, might show up at Redlands at, of all places, to race in his comeback event.

Kundig gave me that impression more than a few times. I believe he was hoping. Armstrong had yet to win a single Tour de France, but he was about to launch a fabulous – later stripped from the history books – career in Europe.

“It was on their schedule to come here … with Lance,” said Kundig. “He made the decision on his own to go straight from here to Europe.”

The Postal team, at that time, was training in nearby Palm Springs. Kundig was riding, ironically, next to Armstrong during a training ride in the Coachella Valley. He asked Armstrong about the plans.

“He told me, ‘That was the plan (to race at Redlands), but I decided that I’m going to Europe.’ “

His U.S. Postal Service team had landed at Redlands with four straight champions – Tomas Brozyna, Dariusz Baranowski, Jonathan Vaughters and Christian Vande Velde. All were featured players on Armstrong’s Postals.

Imagine the publicity Armstrong received by racing at Redlands.

L.A. Times.

Sports Illustrated.

ESPN.

CNN.

The joint would’ve been rocking.

Too bad Armstrong picked his comeback race in Europe.

*****

It’s spread from Redlands to Yucaipa and Loma Linda, Highland and Route 66 in North San Bernardino, in the nearby mountains of Crestline, even to the Fontana-based Auto Club Speedway, plus Mt. Rubidoux over in Riverside, plus a road stage that wound its way past Lake Mathews.

The final two days have always been reserved for Redlands – finish line on Citrus Avenue, downtown – where the city can highlight its downtown image a la the original Beswick-Larsen dream. Talk about drawing large race watchers to improve that growing city area.

All they needed was a plan.

Cycling. It’s been long billed as an event “Where Legends Are Born.” That’s based on the fact that top-racing Redlands competitors often bolt for bigger races and become hugely successful overseas.

Original champion Thurlow Rogers, 1985, may have set the tone for that theme. And incidentally: That 1984 Olympic road racing champion, Grewal, showed up to win at Redlands five years later.

NEXT WEEK: The Tour de France connects with Redlands.

Posted on

JULIO CRUZ BECAME FIRST TERRIER MAJOR LEAGUER

Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling San Bernardino County city that sits between Los Angeles and Palm Springs has its lightning share of sports connections. It is a reality that almost every major sport can be connected to Redlands. This story’s lightning baseball player, a brilliant second baseman and base stealer, has connected in a far away expectation anyone could imagine. – Obrey Brown

I MET JULIO CRUZ A NUMBER of times, including twice in the clubhouse at Anaheim Stadium when he was a member of the Seattle Mariners, the other after he’d been traded to the Chicago White Sox. The other times came years later. He had long since retired. 

Cruz’s onetime home city, which was Redlands, enjoyed a return as a youth demonstration about baseball. Someone had convinced him to come back for a pre-season baseball clinic at Community Field in 1994.

Brooklyn-born. Moved to Redlands. Graduated. Headed for San Bernardino Valley College. Signed as a free agent. California Angels. That was just the beginning.

Cruz hit .237 over 10 MLB seasons. He is, indeed, a Hall of Famer. In Redlands. Considering that Cruz, a 1971 RHS graduate, was the first-ever Terrier to reach the major leagues, there’s not a single belief he couldn’t have been inducted in that campus’ sports Hall of Fame. The guy has taken part in some of baseball’s greatest moments.

Sports Editor Jeff Lane, my predecessor at the Redlands newspaper, had done plenty on Cruz during his five-year stint on that publication. He was a longshot product – never drafted, never spotted in huge high school or college games, rarely reported to major league scouts. To that point, no Redlands player had ever drifted their way from that city into the major leagues.

Ed Vande Berg, a southpaw pitcher, would be next. Another Redlands product who didn’t pick up top-level play until he showed up at San Bernardino Valley College. By his sophomore season, Vande Berg was named State Player of the Year after posting an 18-1 mound record.

Who’d have believed that two ex-Terrier high schoolers would wind up playing on the same major league teams – Cruz and Vande Berg eventually became teammates with the Mariners for a handful of seasons.

Cruz, a 1972 Redlands High graduate, played at nearby San Bernardino Valley. Though undrafted, he was signed by the California Angels on May 7, 1974 as a free agent after his performance at a longshot tryout held at UCLA.

Yes, the Angels sent Cruz into their minor league system. As a 19-year-old, he batted .241 for Idaho Falls of the Rookie League in 1974. He went right up the Angels’ chain – .261 for Quad Cities, .307 for Salinas, .327 for El Paso and .246 for Salt Lake City at age 22.

JUlio Cruz
Julio Cruz, a Redlands High product, became the first Terrier to ever play in the major leagues (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

Sports Editor Jeff Lane, my predecessor at the Redlands newspaper, had done plenty on Julio during his five-year stint on that publication. Julio was a popular product. To that point, no Redlands player had ever drifted their way from that city into the major leagues.

Ed Vande Berg, a southpaw pitcher, would be next. In fact, the two would eventually become teammates in Seattle.

Julio, a 1972 Redlands High graduate, played at nearby San Bernardino Valley. Though undrafted, he was signed by the California Angels on May 7, 1974 as a free agent after a tryout held at UCLA.

The Angels sent Cruz into their minor league system. As a 19-year-old, he batted .241 for Idaho Falls of the Rookie League in 1974. On he went, right up the Angels’ chain – .261 for Quad Cities, .307 for Salinas, .327 for El Paso and .246 for Salt Lake City at age 22.

EXPANSION — A REAL BREAK FOR CRUZ

The American League, about to expand from 10 teams to 12 teams by 1977, had to make players available in a draft pool. Cruz was left unprotected by the Angels, who had ex-Red Sox second baseman Jerry Remy on their MLB level. For that position, the Angels didn’t need Cruz.

While Cruz batted .366 for Hawaii of the Pacific Coast League – stashed then with the Padres’ chain while Seattle organized its minor league system – it wouldn’t be long before he got his shot in the majors.

On Nov. 5, 1976, Cruz had been the 52nd player taken in the American League expansion draft when two new franchises appeared – Seattle and Toronto.

Suddenly, he was a “sudden” Mariner.

In a curious draft footnote, pitcher Butch Edge was taken by Toronto out of Milwaukee’s chain. Edge would eventually wind up in Redlands years later as the University of Redlands’ men’s golf coach. Other players taken in the draft included Pete Vuckovich being plucked away from the White Sox by Toronto. Vuckovich eventually wound up with the Brewers, winning the 1982 Cy Young Award.

Edge, at least in 1979, and Vuckovich would eventually wind up playing against Cruz. It was the Redlands-based player who turned into a Seattle stalwart. Longing for star players, Cruz’s base-stealing skills turned him into a popular Mariner.

He stole 59 bases in 1978, then swiped 49, 45, 43 and 46 bags over the next four seasons. What’s lost in those numbers is that he stole 49 in just 107 games in 1979. During that MLB strike-shortened 1981 season, Cruz swiped 43 times in 94 games.

If there was a weakness to his game, Cruz’s on-base-percentage was awfully low – his highest at .363 in ’79 – but he put a lot of bunts in play to try and get on base.

There were some decent teammates in Seattle – Al Cowens, Richie Zisk, Dave Henderson, Willie Horton, Bruce Bochte, Ruppert Jones, among others – with pitchers like future White Sox teammate Floyd Bannister and Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry playing in Seattle with Cruz.

In fact, Cruz was on the field on May 6, 1982 when Perry (10-12 that season) won his 300th game. He beat the Yankees at the Kingdome to notch this milestone victory. Julio, not to confuse anyone with his shortstop mate Todd Cruz, scored a run, laid down a sacrifice and threw out four Yankees and put out two more.

It was Julio, in fact, who fielded the grounder off fellow second baseman Willie Randolph for the final out.

Gaylord Perry
Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry notched his 300th career victory in a Seattle uniform. In fact, teammate Julio Cruz made the final out when he fielded Willie Randolph’s grounder (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

In fact, Julio was on the field on May 6, 1982 when Perry (10-12 that season) won his 300th game. He beat the Yankees in the Kingdome to notch this milestone victory.

It was Cruz, in fact, who fielded the grounder off Willie Randolph for the final out.

TRADED TO THE CHISOX

On June 30, 1983 — MLB’s trading deadline — Seattle swapped Cruz to the Chicago White Sox for second baseman Tony Bernazard. The results of that trade might’ve been the foundation for the ChiSox vaulting to an American League Western Division title by 20 games over Kansas City.

That ’83 season was convincingly his best season – 160 games between his two seasons, 130 hits, 57 stolen bases and 24th on that year’s MVP balloting. That season was won by Baltimore shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr., whose team knocked off the ChiSox in the playoffs.

Incidentally, White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk (3rd), Baines (10th), LaMarr Hoyt (13th), Greg Luzinski (17th), Richard Dotson (20th) and Rudy Law (21st) got MVP voting support ahead of Cruz.

“Let’s Do It Again” was the theme for 1984.  What the ChiSox did was fall back to fifth place, 14 games under .500. General Manager Roland Hemond, who leveraged the Bernazard-for-Cruz swap, brought in pitcher Ron Reed and practically stole future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver from the Mets.

Their contributions weren’t enough to offset poor showings, perhaps reflected by 1983 ace pitchers Hoyt (13-18) and Dotson (14-15) one season later.

There were 54,032 fans at Yankee Stadium when Seaver beat the Yankees for his 300th career win. Cruz, in the dugout batting less than .180, wasn’t part of that ChiSox 4-1 on-field triumph.

On the field, though, were Hall of Famers like Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield, MVP Don Mattingly and, of course, Seaver. Managers Tony La Russa and Billy Martin squared off against each other.

One night later, Cruz was back in the lineup, going 2-for-2 off Ron Guidry, caught stealing by Yankee catcher Butch Wynegar.

The 1985 White Sox club bounced back to win 85 games and actually led the division in June. By 1986, the club was in disarray with new general manager Ken Harrelson, who had replaced both Hemond, and manager Jim Fregosi. It would be four more seasons before the Chicago White Sox finished over .500.

Roland_Hemond_at_SABR_Convention_2014
Chicago White Sox General Manager Roland Hemond was responsible for landing Julio Cruz in a trade with the Seattle Mariners in 1983 (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

Cruz was living off an impressive free agent contract that was signed in December 1984, a six-year deal between $3.6 and $4.8 million. He never completed it. He played in 1,156 career games; swiped 343 bases; don’t forget an impressive .982 defense at second base.

Released by the White Sox in July 1987, Cruz signed as a free agent with Los Angeles. But the 1987 Dodgers already had a second baseman. Steve Sax would go on to lead his team to a World Series title a year later. Cruz, who drew release, never actually played for the Dodgers. This onetime Terrier was finished.

Ten years of his MLB career was now complete.

A TERRIER HALL OF FAME RETURN

He was part of the second class of Hall of Fame inductees at his former Redlands high school. In fact, Cruz unwittingly opened the door to a humorous line given by fellow inductee Brian Billick, of Super Bowl football fame.

Cruz spoke emotionally about his Terrier days. The memories. Boy, he had fun. The teams he’s played on. There was some success. The Terriers, with Cruz in the lineup, won the first Citrus Belt League title in 1971 — 44 years after their previous championship from 1927.

At the Redlands Hall of Fame podium, Cruz shared a memory. “Just being in the showers with guys like Brian Billick was a thrill. Those were highlights for me. I’ll never get over that.”

Billick? Billick, the Terrier great defensive back and QB who was head coach of the 2001 Baltimore Ravens when they won the Super Bowl, was also being inducted that same night at the University of Redlands.

In fact, Billick broke the crowd up when he said, “Cruz, it’s amazing to me that you felt like the highlight of your high school career was taking a shower with me.”

Those Hall of Famer viewers started busting up.

A few years before that Hall of Fame moment, Cruz, along with ex-major leaguer Rudy Law and Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins took part in a baseball clinic at Community Field. Former Pirates and Yankees pitcher Dock Ellis was also on hand.

Dozens and dozens of area youth showed up for that historic event at the corner of Church Street and San Bernardino Avenue. This was a rare moment for local youth. Dads let their kids know who this guy was: Cruz, of Redlands. Former major leaguer. Little guy. Second baseman. Switch hitter. Lots of speed. Wanna get your kids into the big leagues? Listen. Watch.

Jenkins, Ellis and Law couldn’t have been more classy. Cruz, the ex-Terrier, knew he was at home. Those players gave tips. They shared stories. They shook hands. Smiled. They signed autographs.

Cruz eventually became a coach. Broadcasting games eventually came up for the Spanish-listening Mariner fans, Cruz taking his Brooklyn-to-Redlands-to-Seattle-to-Chicago travels really well.

Why not a Terrier Hall of Famer? He fit the mold. Came into that Hall that same season as Brian Billick, the ex-Terrier football player who led the Baltimore Ravens to the 2001 Super Bowl. Billick and Cruz even shared the same roster as Terrier basketball players during those early 1970s.

While playing with, or against, MLB Hall of Famers like Fisk, Perry, Seaver and Baines, Cruz wound up playing for one Cooperstown-bound manager — La Russa.

It was, if anything, a diamond-style Redlands Connection.

*****

Cruz was 67 when he died of cancer in February 2022. There were a few chats we had together in years leading to that moment. It was 15 years before he died that his first wife, Rebecca, died from cancer. He was married to Mojgam upon his death.

 

Posted on

“LUCKY LOUIE,” BUTTERMILK, 1939 CRASH, ALL PART OF MEYER’S INDIANAPOLIS 500 LEGEND

A Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from soccer’s World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open, plus the Olympics, adding the NCAA Final Four connection, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling little city that sits between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10 – now, but not during the 1920s – has an impressive share of sports connections. For a smallish-style city like Redlands around 1920, its connection with USA’s diligent Indianapolis is amazing – Obrey Brown

IT WAS ALL ABOUT BUTTERMILK, or even a well-known nickname that almost everyone’s heard by now, the original “Lucky Louie.”

Louis Meyer, it seems, never even went to Redlands High. I’d searched high and low through all the Makio, Redlands High yearbooks, of that day and age. Once I’d discovered he launched a brilliant Indianapolis 500 connection, I searched for his locality. Nothing showed up. I later found out why. Meyer told me. It was simple.

“I never went to school there.”

Turns out, Louis was a summer visitor. There was a Ford auto shop just off Redlands’ downtown sector. Just opened. Nowadays, it’s Old Redlands. Real old Redlands. Edwin “Bud” Meyer, an Austrian-born eventual racer, was Louis’ older brother. He owned and operated that Model T garage. Louis, that younger brother, was where he learned to drive – not a race car, but a regular automobile.

Their dad, Edward Meyer born in France, began racing a motorcycle in 1896. Learning to drive a race car wouldn’t take much longer, Louis told me.

Louis Meyer
“Lucky Louie” Meyer, who won the 1933 Indianapolis 500, asked for a cold drink of buttermilk after the victory. Who knew, at that time, that the practice would develop into one of the sport’s greatest moments (photo by Wikipedia Commons)?

It was “Lucky Louie” Meyer, who drove at the 1933 Indianapolis 500, asking for a cold drink of buttermilk after winning that race. Who knew, at least that day, such a celebration would develop into one of the sport’s most identifiable moments?

By 1926, Louis wanted to be a driver.

Louis was, said a nephew several decades afterward, was “the original Lucky Louie.” He walked away, unhurt, from crashes and various other scrapes. The family name is Meyer, and if there wasn’t a wrench, steering wheel, huge auto businesses, or some kind of speed duel going on somewhere among them, you probably had the wrong people.

Louis Meyer, a three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 (1928, 1933 and 1936) died in Searchlight, Nev. in 1995. He got his start, learning to drive race cars from his brother, Edwin T. “Bud” Meyer way around 1920.

“There was a hill in Redlands,” recalls Terry Francis, an El Monte, Calif.-based nephew of highly famous Louis, “where (Edwin) learned to race.”

Not many years later, Louis got to Indianapolis, as a relief driver-riding mechanic in 1927, the Meyer family racing odyssey really hit the highest level.

“Wilbur Shaw got tired,” says Sonny Meyer, who was 69-years-old in 1998, a few years after Louis died. He was Lou’s son from Crawfordsville, Ind. “He was looking for someone to get in the car and drive.”

That was the story, Louis confirmed. Shaw was one of the pioneer champions at Indy. It was Shaw and Meyer.

This was the heavyweight of Louis Meyer’s race beginning at Indy. He never drove a single lap on a speedway, he told me, speeds reaching a never-before-recorded 100 mph. These days? Racers must be licensed before they’re even given a chance to make a practice run on the Brickyard track.

Louis Meyer, 1928 Indy champion
Louis Meyer, pictured in this 1928 photo, won his first Indianapolis 500 that year (photo provided by Indianapolis Motor Speedway).

One year after first racing at Indy, 1928, Meyer won his first Indy 500.

“Dad had that car in second place,” said Sonny, referring to his 1927 race. “Wilbur called him in and wanted to finish the race.”

By 1927, drivers had changed from the leather-helmeted, mustachioed daredevils handling huge, ungainly machines to young jousters in low-slung bombs. Louis Meyer was a young jouster. He had never won a pole, but lined up in the front row twice. Ready to notch a few triumphs was about to veil.

MEYER STARTED INDY TRADITION

It’s no myth that Meyer was the one who started a milky tradition at Indy. Winning drivers who drink milk in Victory Lane in modern days can look back to Meyer for that one: That year was 1933.

“It was,” said Sonny, “actually buttermilk. He had a real palate for buttermilk. He told someone, ‘If I win this thing, I want you to have a cold drink of buttermilk for me after the race.’ ”

Said Francis: “The dairy council saw that and said, ‘We’ve got to jump on that.’ Louis made it a tradition at Indy.”

Historically, Meyer became the first three-time winner at Indy . In 1928, Meyer led in only 19 of those 200 laps, but that included the all-important final one at the checkered flag, notching his first 500 triumph.

Sonny recalled that his mom, June, Louis’ wife, had no hint her husband would be racing at Indy.

“She was somewhere back (in Pennsylvania),” he said. “She towed a wrecked car back to the shop. My uncle (Eddie) was racing at a track in Reading. She was there to watch that race.”

Louis Meyer chuckled over that memory. June, he said, found out he’d won that year’s Indy 500, “when the track announcer asked the crowd to give out a cheer to Eddie Meyer … the brother of the Indianapolis 500 winner.”

In 1933, Meyer recorded a three-lap victory over Shaw.

In 1936, Meyer won from the 28th starting position, tying Ray Marroun’s record for winning from the farthest back on the starting grid.

In 1939, Meyer crashed on the 198th lap, got up and walked away – literally. It was at that time that “Lucky Louie” exited racing. Famed carmaker Henry Ford made Louis a proposition, one that would bring him back to Southern California in charge of building Ford engines, including the Offenhauser.

Some numbers: He won $114,815, taking 1,916 total laps around the Brickyard track over a dozen – winning three times, second in 1929 and finishing Top 10 on six occasions.

“He always told me,” said Sonny, reflecting on that 1939 incident, “that he knew he wasn’t going to climb back into a race car.”

That, said Francis, “is why they call him Lucky Louie. All those years at Indy, the offer from Henry Ford, the crash, walking away – everything.”

Sonny? Louis’s son? Don’t let it hide that he built 15 winning Indy 500 engines.

FROM DRIVER TO ENGINE BUILDER

Louis Meyer, said Searchlight, Nev. Museum historian Jane Overy, said, “was the nicest man.” Lou died, she told me, when the city’s museum was getting set to open. He was featured prominently. Meyer had beaten the odds just to make it that far.

“There were 11 kids,” recalled Sonny Meyer. “Only three lived.”

Those kids were Eddie, the oldest, then Louis, and then, Harry, the last among those living in Southgate, Calif. “He rode with my dad,” said Sonny, referring to Harry, “as a riding mechanic (in the 1937 Indy 500).”

Meyer’s Indy-racing career concluded with that 1939 crash, which left him 12th.

Until then, the greatest engine ever raced at Indy was the “Miller,” developed by Harry Miller, Fred Offenhauser and Leo Goosen. The rights to its design were purchased by Offenhauser and the engine renamed after him. Then it was purchased by Meyer and Dale Drake and renamed the Meyer-Drake “Offie.”

It was a high-powered, specially-designed racing engine that was constantly improved over the years. Until Ford came along with its million-dollar automotive budgets and challenged for supremacy in the 1960s, Meyer had a running contract with the up-and-coming Michigan-based company.

“After he crashed (at Indy),” said Sonny, “he said he knew he wasn’t going to climb back into a race car. Henry Ford made him a proposition.”

NO REAL FUTURE IN RACING

There wasn’t much major racing around the U.S. beyond the Indianapolis 500. NASCAR had yet to see its beginnings. Louis Meyer returned to California and took part in “board” racing at places like the Rose Bowl and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The “season” started around Trenton, N.J., the only real race before Indy. “We’d go to Ascot (in L.A.),” recalled Sonny. “I remember because we’d have three or four drivers sleeping on our floor when we lived in Huntington Park (a Los Angeles suburb).”

Louis Meyer’s son still remembers being farmed out to neighbors, “while my mom (June) and dad went racing. During the season, they towed the race car with a rope. Mom was in the race car.”

Meanwhile, Ed Meyer still had his Redlands garage.

Sonny Meyer has a way of remembering his family’s Huntington Park address. “Dad won his first Indy 500 in 1928,” he said, “in car No. 14. That was our address: 2814 … Broadway. I still remember our phone number. It was Lafayette 8325.”

The Meyer family is more than just “connected” in racing’s history books.

Retirement was just a short drive away. For years, the Meyers had traveled to Cottonwood Cove – nine miles from a non-descript, desert community of Searchlight, Nev. It’s where Louis and June Meyer settled down for their final years.

Driving through the tiny community, located somewhere between Las Vegas and Laughlin, it became a hideaway for other celebrities, notably Hollywood’s Edith Head, early Academy Award-winning actress Clara Bow, among others.

ONE FINAL CHAT WITH ‘LUCKY LOUIE’

In a very short conversation I had with Meyer in 1994, most of his Indy 500 memories had faded. Already, I’d spoken with some of his younger relatives. He’d recalled the memory of his Pennsylvania-working wife’s discovery of how he’d won the 1928 Indy 500.

Racing, said Louis, nearing age 90, “has been good to me and my family. My only regret is that time goes by so very fast.”

Truthfully, chatting with Louis didn’t last long. His elderly age was most likely the reason he decided to hang up.

Louis Meyer was born on July 21, 1904, dying on October 7, 1995. Born in lower Manhattan, New York the son of French immigrants, Meyer was raised in Los Angeles where he began automobile racing at various California tracks.

There was no track in Redlands, nor even near Redlands. Ed Meyer’s Ford shop was there, though.

Racing fans these days might not believe there were board tracks in such places as Beverly Hills, which had a 1 ¼-mile oval dubbed Beverly Hills Speedway. Or the Culver City Speedway. There was the Northern California-based Cotati Speedway in Santa Rosa. There was the mile-long Fresno Speedway and a one-mile Los Angeles Speedway in Playa del Rey.

“Yeah, Redlands,” said Francis. “That’s a key spot for the family. You never forget something like that.”

Meyer won the United States National Driving Championship in 1928, 1929 and 1933.

He died at 91, in that Searchlight community he had been living since 1972. In 1992, Meyer was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. He was named to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1991. He was inducted in Daytona Beach, Fla.’s Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1993.

There was a nice little corner in Searchlight’s museum dedicated to the early racing legend.

Said the Hall of Famer, Louis Meyer: “A lot of people had me confused with the movie guy … Louis B. Mayer (of MGM). I always got a little kick out of that.”

ANOTHER ARTICLE WRITTEN by Legacy Brand, John G. Printz and Ken M. McMaken

https://legacyautosport.com/the-meyer-legacy/