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PART 2: POINT SHAVING SCANDAL SCARRED “BLACK” JACK’S 1951 NCAA FINALE

A Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From pro football’s Super Bowl to Major League Baseball, from dynamic soccer’s World Cup to golf and tennis’ U.S. Open, major auto racing, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, more top-flight tennis like Wimbledon, tiny connections to that NBA and a little NHL, major college football, Kentucky Derby, aquatics and Olympic Games, that sparkling little city sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10. In this story, perhaps Redlands is getting its biggest headline off this brilliant basketball connection. – Obrey Brown.

Final Four appearances. There was 1948 and 1951 at Kansas State. Again in 1961 and 1966 at Utah.

In looking ahead to “Black” Jack Gardner’s career, consider that he coached against the likes of North Carolina’s Dean Smith and UCLA’s John Wooden, Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp and Kansas’ Forrest “Phog” Allen, plus both McGuires – South Carolina’s Frank and Al of Marquette.

Gardner’s Utah team went up against Russell’s University of San Francisco in 1955. Truth is, that wasn’t a season when he led one of his teams to a Final Four.

Adolph-Rupp-1930 (Photo by Commons)
Adolph Rupp, shown here in 1930, would eventually become one of college coaches greatest champions. Rupp’s Kentucky team took on Redlands’ Jack Gardner in the 1951 NCAA finals – a game scarred by a point-shaving scandal. (Photo by Commons.)

REAL REASON FOR 

KANSAS STATE’S LOSS

Gardner, upended by Rupp in ’51, nearly squared off against him in ’66 when Texas Western hit stride, inspiring that future 2006 movie “Glory Road.”

In that movie, Rupp was portrayed by Academy Award winner Jon Voight. Don Haskins, Texas Western’s coach, was played by Josh Lucas. Tons of actors portrayed various roles – reporters, rival players, boosters, racists, students, you name it. There were no roles to depict Gardner.

As for Utah, there was a consolation game in those days. After losing to third-ranked Texas Western, those unranked Utes lost to second-ranked Duke, 79-77, capping its 21-8 season. None of that was portrayed in “Glory Road.”

In 1966, after Utah beat Oregon State, 70-64, “Black” Jack’s Utes found themselves up against that rather historical team – Texas Western University, later known as Texas-El Paso. In “Glory Road,” its story focused on Haskins’ decision to lead an all-black team into that 1966 Texas Western season.

Utah’s 6-foot-7 Jerry Chambers, who scored 28.7 points that season, was selected as that year’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player despite losing, 85-78, to Rupp’s Kentucky. “Black” Jack’s role in that movie was curiously absent. Chambers? He had 38 points in Utah’s loss to Kentucky. No one took him to a “Glory Road” film role, either.

Chambers? Drafted by Los Angeles, then traded with guard Archie Clark and center Darrell Imhoff to Philadelphia in return for none other than Wilt Chamberlain.

Haskins, meanwhile, may have changed basketball, but Gardner’s career seemed far deeper.

“I still put Jack Gardner in the top five coaches all-time,” Haskins said years later. “He deserves everything they’re giving him.”

Five days after Haskins’ chat, Gardner was scheduled to be inducted into Western Athletic Conference’s Hall of Fame.

GARDNER TOOK ON COLLEGE HOOPS’ BIGGEST NAMES

Marquette’s legendary coach, Al McGuire, brought his team into Madison Square Garden (N.Y.) to beat “Black” Jack’s Utes by 20 at that 1970 National Invitational Tournament. Marquette capped a 24-3 season with that title. A 24-3 team? NIT? Remember, NCAA tournaments had recently expanded to 32 teams a year earlier.

Gardner’s final career coaching game was a loss – by 11 points. Against rival BYU.

DeanSmithcropped2
Dean Smith, of North Carolina, was among coaching legends that Redlands’ Jack Gardner went up against. (Photo by Commons.)

Speaking of North Carolina. In 1956-57, Frank McGuire’s unbeaten Tar Heels beat Utah in December 1956 by 21 points en route to their own NCAA championship a couple months later. 

That was a crazy tournament in which North Carolina beat No. 11 Michigan in a semifinals showdown before knocking off Wilt Chamberlain’s Kansas team in that season’s title game – both triple overtime victories.

“I watched all those games,” Gardner recalled, chuckling. “I won’t say it. I won’t say if we could’ve beaten Kansas, Wilt’s team. I just won’t get into it.”

Utah?

Between that Salt Lake City team, plus Logan’s Utah State and Provo’s Brigham Young University, there were plenty of hotly-contested duels. There were huge duels among those teams from that state.

That must’ve been a nice win for No. 5 Utah when it outdueled No. 8 Utah State, 77-75, on Feb. 27, 1960 in far northern Logan. Aggies’ coach Cecil Baker had a 24-5 team that season while Gardner’s squad finished 26-3. 

In 1962-63, Cal-Berkley tagged Utah, 72-66, in that season opener at Berkeley’s Harmon Gym. On that Golden Bears’ team was another Redlands product, Danny Wolthers, who averaged 6.7 points.

“Barely remember him,” said “Black” Jack. “No, I had no idea he went to that same high school I was at. Sounds good to hear, though.”

In 1964, Utah knocked off Cal-Berkeley by 25 points. Wolthers averaged 17.7 points. A few years earlier when he was in high school, Wolthers played for coach Jerry Tarkanian while both were at Redlands High.

Tark The Shark was coaching that high school team while earning his Master’s degree at The University of Redlands.

No. There was never a collegiate matchup with “Black” Jack and “Tark The Shark,” that ex-Terrier coach who took a similar pathway to major colleges as Gardner – through junior college ranks, namely Riverside and Pasadena. Tarkanian wound up at Long Beach State during Gardner’s final years in Salt Lake City.

Jerry_Tarkanian_with_LBSU_players_in_1970-71 Photo by Long Beach State
Jerry Tarkanian, in this 1970-71 photo with three of his top Long Beach State players, including future NBA players Ed Ratleff and George Trapp, had coached Redlands High School about one decade earlier. But Tark’s teams never played against Utah teams coached by Redlands’   Jack Gardner. (Photo by Long Beach State)

Long Beach State never played Utah during that five-year span.

Tark, though, might have learned something. He eventually coached a Nevada-Las Vegas team known as the Runnin’ Rebels – fast break points, all-out running throughout 40 minutes of any game.

Did he learn that approach from “The Fox?”

In 1965-66, one in which Utah reached that season’s Final Four, the Runnin’ Utes won games 121-71 over Montana State, 113-81 over Loyola-Marymount, 108-57 against Air Force, 102-83 over Arizona State, 127-88 against Utah State, 107-103 over Wyoming, losing 115-100 in regular season finale at second place BYU, plus handfuls of other high-scoring games.

Yes, they were known as the Runnin’ Utes, a decade, or so before Tark The Shark’s Runnin’ Rebels started cracking away.

“Sure, we met … Tark … good guy … good coach … a few times,” said Gardner. “Great man, great coach. Did he pick up anything from me? It’s hard to say, but sure, I think he couldn’t wait to get into any team with speed and quickness.”

“The Fox” had quite a career. Even Sports Illustrated got into a mix on Gardner.

That magazine once wrote that “he could win with an old maid on the post and four midgets.” 

A proponent of fundamental basketball, Gardner was an expert in fast break basketball. His Utah teams were accordingly known as the Runnin’ Redskins, later the Runnin’ Utes.

Part 3 next.

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PART 3: “BLACK” JACK PART OF 10 HALLS OF FAME

A Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From pro football’s Super Bowl to Major League Baseball, from dynamic soccer’s World Cup to golf and tennis’ U.S. Open, major auto racing, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, more top-flight tennis like Wimbledon, tiny connections to that NBA and a little NHL, major college football, Kentucky Derby, aquatics and Olympic Games, that sparkling little city sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10. In this story, perhaps Redlands is getting its biggest headline off this brilliant basketball connection. – Obrey Brown.

“Black” Jack Gardner’s Kansas State record, 147-81 (.645) was largely built over his final seven seasons when his mark improved greatly to 127-47 (.730). There were a pair of 20-win seasons and two Final Four appearances, including a championship game. 

After helping that squad to back-to-back second-place conference finishes in 1952 and 1953, he handed reins of that program to his assistant coach, Tex Winter, in 1953.

It’s curious. In that 1953 season, “Black” Jack had Kansas State ranked No. 1 to start that season, his finale in Manhattan. No discussion on his part came from him off that jump, just this: “It was a nice move for me.”

Yes. Winter, who eventually served as Phil Jackson’s assistant coach on NBA championship teams in both Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles basketball, pioneered that eventually well-known, triple-post attack.

Tex_Winter
Long before he became a fixture in developing the Triple Post offense for Phil Jackson in 11 NBA championship seasons in both Chicago and Los Angeles, Tex Winter was an assistant coach for Redlands’ Jack Gardner at Kansas State, taking over when Gardner left for Utah (Photo by Commons).

Yes, that ex-Redlands High star from the 1920s, Gardner, coached against the greats. His Utah team, 23-3 in 1961-62, beat John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins, 88-79, at L.A.’s Sports Arena. Those were UCLA’s pre-dynasty days, in fact. In that same building a few years later, eventual NCAA champion Bruins, 28-2, posted a 30-point win over Gardner’s 17-9 Utes.

Times were changing.

Gardner had departed Manhattan, Kansas in 1953 for Salt Lake City. Over those 18 seasons, “The Fox” or “Black” Jack, led his Utes to six NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching Final Four twice. Remember, this was an era when only 23 teams reached that NCAA field – not this current 68-team tournament.

“The Fox” concluded his Utah career at 339-154, leading Utah to seven conference titles. Between 1959 and 1962, his teams won 51 out of 56 at home. Like his days in Manhattan, where Gardner’s influence helped create those Ahearn Field House vibrations, Gardner’s Salt Lake City presence led to construction of Utah’s new basketball facility.

Against intra-state rival Brigham Young University, coached by Stan Watts, Gardner’s Utes held a narrow 19-17 mark against the Cougars in what was considered a highly intense rivalry.

Gardner, whose overall lifetime coaching mark, 486-285, was inducted into 10 separate Halls of Fame throughout his years. 

  • Southern Utah Hall of Fame
  • Kansas Sports Hall of Fame
  • Utah All-Sports Hall of Fame
  • State of Utah Basketball Hall of Fame
  • Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
  • Helms Foundation Hall of Fame
  • Kansas State University Hall of Fame
  • Crimson Club (University of Utah)
  • Modesto (Calif.) Junior College Hall of Fame
  • College Basketball Hall of Fame, also a recipient of the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Golden Anniversary Award.

“Black” Jack moved on. He was a consultant for NBA’s Jazz from 1979, a year that team moved from New Orleans to Salt Lake City. Gardner is credited with discovering Stockton while working for that Jazz organization.

That part of the story? Gardner wintered in Malibu in California, near Pepperdine University campus. When Gonzaga (Wash.) University came to Pepperdine for a Big West Conference game, Gardner was watching. Stockton was a Zag.

498px-John_Stockton
Utah Jazz scout Jack Gardner, whose basketball life began a half-century earlier while in Redlands, was the man that recommended John Stockton by drafted by the Jazz in 1984. An eventual Hall of Famer, Stockton was part of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team (Photo by Commons).

In 1984, Stockton’s selection as NBA’s 16th drafted player – same as Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, among others – it was Gardner’s strong recommendation that left Utah with its own eventual Hall of Famer.

That same year, 1984, is when Gardner himself was inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame. At that point, he was in the midst of a record-setting attendance performance. Between 1939 and 1997, Gardner never missed a Final Four – whether it was coaching or attending.

Part 4 coming.

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IT WAS A PRE-OLYMPIC SHOWDOWN IN REDLANDS

A Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From pro football’s Super Bowl to baseball’s World Series, from dynamic soccer’s World Cup to golf’s and tennis’ U.S. Open, major auto racing, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, more major tennis like Wimbledon, tiny connections to that NBA and a little NHL, major college football, Kentucky Derby, aquatics and Olympic Games, that sparkling little city sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10. Imagine an all-out Olympian track preview in a non-televised, late-night, all-out race at the University of Redlands.

REDLANDS — Innocent Egbunike was racing Alonzo Babers in one final lap that capped a nine-hour collegiate track & field meet.

Here. In Redlands, spring 1983.

A year later, a little over an hour away, those guys would be racing in a Los Angeles Olympics championship.

Who could’ve believed that Babers, running for Air Force Academy, or Egbunike, an Nigerian running for Azusa Pacific University, would go up against each other again? Twice, in fact at those L.A. Games.

At Redlands, a meet involving an Oregon State runner, plus 17 small college programs on a dirt track surface, not a soul present could predict that 1984 Olympic 400-meter finale.

No one!

At Redlands, that 4×400 relay involved Babers getting beat to a finish line by Egbunike. A lengthy schedule of track & field events was capped by a pre-Olympic showdown.

A year later, Babers raced for the Americans, Egbunike for the Nigerians – a rematch between those two racers.

Innocent Egbunike, at far right, races to the finish against gold medal-winning Alonzo Babers at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Babers, No. 882, won the 400-meter in a race against Egbunike. The two raced against each other over a year earlier in Redlands, California.

That 1983 spring at smallish University of Redlands, an NCAA Division III member, hosted its annual Track & Field invitational. It attracted a number of small college squads, though that couple of interesting programs showed up.

Azusa Pacific, coached by top dog Terry Franson, would win that year’s NAIA team championship in June, was Redlands. 

So was U.S. Air Force Academy, coached by Ernie Cunliffe.

That Redlands-based meet featured men’s and women’s events – jumping, any throws like a discus, shot put, pole vaults, or plenty of conceivable distance races, plus sprints and relays – took nine hours to complete.

When that meet-concluding relay took place, it was close to 9 p.m. Consider it was 11 a.m. when this meet began!

There they were, Azusa Pacific University squaring off against the U.S. Air Force Academy team in that 4 x 400 men’s finale.

It would be memorable, especially since 1980 Nigerian Olympian, Egbunike, would be racing APU’s anchor lap. 

His opponent, Babers, a lieutenant in the USAF, still holds his school’s indoor 400 (46.86) record from 1982.

Throw this in: In that 1983 season, Babers ran 45.36, his school’s outdoor mark for years. He took fourth (45.51) at the NCAA Division I finals later that June.

Against much easier competition at the NAIA finals, Egbunike sprinted to national championship wins in the 100 (10.34), 200 (20.94) and anchored the winning 4 x 400 relay – John Shalongo, Doug Laisel and Ted Campbell, plus this Nigerian, in 3:09.77.

*****

At the Redlands Invite, Egbunike’s Azusa Pacific teammate Mike Barnett, a future Olympian, ripped off a winning 275-foot javelin mark – still the Ted Runner Stadium record – on that day. 

Oregon State’s Mark Fricker, from nearby Hemet, posted a still-existing 5,000-meter record of 14:09.30 on that 1983 spring date.

USAF’s Bret Hyde, a winner at Redlands, still holds his school’s mark over a 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:31.87). Hyde, incidentally, also placed at the 1984 L.A. Olympics Games.

For good measure, APU sent discus and hammer competitor Christian Okoye, that future NFL “Nigerian Nightmare” with Kansas City. Before that, in this same Redlands stadium, Okoye terrorized that home football team.

There was even a Redlander on the USAF women’s squad, NCAA Division II All-American Laureli Mazik, who won that day and stands on the school’s indoor mile (4:53.9) all-time list at No. 9. 

She’s USAF’s No. 16 outdoors (4:32.09).

All of which is a reminder how relevant this Redlands Invitational seemed at that moment.

There were loads of moments.

*****

By race time, hardly anyone remained inside at that Redlands-based Ted Runner Stadium’s grandstand. 

It was late, after 9 p.m. Interest had long since waned when most events were finalized. Most participating teams had long since departed for their own Southern California campus.

A few teams remained, including Azusa Pacific and Air Force.

When those batons were exchanged for that memorable 4 x 400 anchor lap, Egbunike and Babers were in full stride. That duo raced side by side for their entire 400-meter run.

At the midway mark, Egbunike and Babers were seen slightly bumping during that classic one-on-one duel.

APU’s sprinter edged USAF’s officer, though each runner had plenty of season left – Egbunike in NAIA’s lower level ranks while Babers had top NCAA runners like Bert Cameron and Antonio McKay to square off against later that season.

It was that very season when Babers ran a third leg with Ted Holloway and Todd Scott, Rick Goddard anchoring, setting their school record (3:10.11) – currently the school’s eighth best.

Babers still holds the school mark over 500-meters, a discontinued event in which he posted a 1:01.7.

All of which was just preparation for those 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He came up against Egbunike one more time.

At Redlands, that Nigerian Olympian, escorted to his final handoff by Shalongo, Laisel and Campbell, got his triumph over Babers. Their real race was over a year away. 

*****

In fact, there were two events in L.A.

Inside that Los Angeles Coliseum, both wound up in their open 400-meter finals. There was plenty of buildup, much of the spotlight falling on Antonio McKay, that year’s NCAA champion. 

Babers prevailed over McKay. Egbunike? Finished last in that seven-man finale.

As for the 4 x 400 relay, Babers needed McKay’s help. Those two were mixed in with a lineup that included Ray Armstead and Sunder Nix. The USA won a gold medal ahead of Great Britain (silver).

Third place? A bronze medal? Egbunike? Nigeria? Egbunike and his three running mates, Rotimi Peters, Moses Ugbusien and Sunday Uti showed their world class brilliance.

Unlike that Redlands finale, it was Egbunike against McKay in that final lap. Babers took a 7-meter lead after his third portion of that relay, handing off to McKay.

Beyond that bronze medal, Nigeria got another consolation – an African continental record.

Imagine those men shined at Redlands.

*****

While training for and competing in the 1984 Olympics, Babers held the rank of lieutenant. Just one month after his double-gold performance in Los Angeles, Babers reported to flight training school and began his career as a pilot. His athletic career was over. He was an active duty officer in the United States Air Force from 1983 to 1991, continuing to serve as a member of the Air Force Reserves. As of 2019, he was a 777 pilot for United Airlines.

Egbunike? As head coach of Nigeria’s 2008 Olympic team, he was assistant coach in 1996 and 2000. Egbunike appeared in the winner’s circle again, having coached gold medalist Angelo Taylor, 400-meter Olympic champion in both 2000 and 2008.

Ultimately, Egbunike took over Pasadena City College as its coach – a campus located just a few miles from those Azusa Pacific digs.

Cunliffe, Babers’ coach, chuckled a little, but sounded super serious at Redlands in that 1983 matchup, “He was a reject from football when I first met him,” he said. “I didn’t know who he was.”

Later, Cunliffe discovered exactly that athlete from Montgomery, Alabama .

Quotes at Redlands? Yes, I was there to write it up for a local newspaper. If I’d known they were each headed for Olympics a year later, I’d have stood up for post-race quotes even more.

Babers shook his head, breathing hard after his race. No real quote, except this: “I’ve got to get better.”

Egbunike, a Nigerian, said very little. Nodding, seemingly satisfied, that smallish man said, “I could get better.” I walked away thinking that, perhaps, a Nigerian might not have understood English very well.  I was dead wrong.

Neither man answered questions about that minor bump halfway through that final lap in Redlands.

Me? I had no idea that both of these guys would wind up as 1984 Olympians.

Those two world-class speedsters brought an Olympic showcase to Redlands in March 1983.

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PART 1: “WILLIE … ALMOST MICKEY … AND THE DUKE”

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 has its share of sports connections. I tracked down on of those baseball names in a well-known musical song. – Obrey Brown

Talkin’ baseball. Terry Cashman. His song, released in 1981, seemed to summarize a special part of baseball. A musical contribution to baseball history. It surrounded the great center fielders in three New York boroughs – the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Cashman wrote about … “Willlieeeeee … Mickey … and The Duke.”

Duke Snider came to Redlands.

Mickey Mantle came to … well, as far as anyone knows, he didn’t come to Redlands. But his longtime friend, Billy Martin, showed up here at least once.

Then there was Willie Mays. I can’t honestly say that the “Say Hey Kid” ever set foot on Redlands soil. But me, a sports editor from Redlands, took part in a rare discussion that probably never came up in baseball circles.

It would’ve made a nice little change in Cashman’s song, “Willie … Almost Mickey … and the Duke …”

Say, hey!

Say, hey!

Say, hey!

Willie_Mays_cropped
Willie Mays talked about a “trade” that could’ve happened regarding a Dodger pitcher named Koufax? (Wikipedia Commons photo)

It was in the early 1980s, 1983 I’m thinking. Bob Hope Desert Classic. Deep in the heart of Coachella Valley. Willie Mays, a golf lover, was playing in that tournament’s celebrity Pro-Am, along with plenty of others from music, film and sports — you name it.

There we were, sitting and eating in that VIP tent. Food was being served. Willie played his round. I was covering a story, or two, taking a break. Other than a serving staff, no one else seemed to be around at Tamarisk Country Club.

Sitting at a table near him, I could just feel my chance. I grew up in the Bay Area. watching Willie play during his career twilight days in the late 1960s.

What should I ask him? Finally, I came up with something out of sheer desperation.

“Willie,” I said, “tell me something about your career that didn’t get much attention.”

Honestly, I didn’t expect an answer. He responded with a single sentence, nothing more. In sports, you often run into replies like that. In a clubhouse. In a locker room. On a field or court. Willie had probably been approached by handfuls of media guys looking for something – stories, opinions, recollections, quotes, you name it.

He wouldn’t be talking – at least to me. That’s what I figured. It’s okay. I tried. No big deal.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Willie blurted, “We almost got Koufax.”

Huh? What? Say that again!

Yeah, he said it. A year, or two before Dodger southpaw Sandy Koufax really hit his Hall of Fame stride, this fireballing southpaw was stewing about how that Dodgers’ team were using him. 

Translation: Or not using him.

This took place in Willie’s San Francisco presence – likely at Seals Stadium – when Koufax approached team general manager Buzzie Bavasi to request a trade. Willie shared this with me in Rancho Mirage.

Said Willie: “He told Bavasi, ‘you’re not using me. Why even keep me? It’s better to let me go. Trade me somewhere so I can pitch.’ ”

Willie said he jumped right into that discussion. “Trade him to the Giants,” he remembers telling Bavasi. “Trade him to us.”

Folks, Willie was telling me this story a little over 20 years after that chat. Of all stories to pick after spending 1951 through 1973 in baseball.

There was some discussion. Wow! The Giants’ star player was discussing a trade with the GM of their chief rival, the Dodgers.

Willie said he was told by Bavasi to tell Horace Stoneham, the Giants’ owner who made all San Francisco deals.

“Did you do it?” I asked him.

He nodded. “I talked to Mr. Stoneham. Didn’t hear much about it for a while.”

Willie, meanwhile, was chewing his food. Some guys were entering that VIP tent. Hoping that it wasn’t people looking for Willie – which would interrupt our chat – I prodded him a little.

“Any discussions take place about Koufax going to the Giants?”

Willie nodded again. He was chewing. Swallowing. Didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to answer.

Finally, he said, “They wanted Cepeda.”

Orlando Cepeda, one of baseball’s younger star sluggers, was a San Francisco favorite. He was an established star.

Koufax had yet to reach a portion of his career that would get everyone’s attention. At that time, Cepeda-for-Koufax might not have seemed logical for San Francisco.

Cepeda was 1958 Rookie of the Year, already establishing a huge career. 

Koufax? His earned run average was around 4.00, or higher, over his previous seasons.

Cepeda for Koufax? Straight up?

Koufax had a little success in his early years, but had yet to reach his consistently Hall of Fame stride. In his mind, apparently, the Dodgers weren’t treating him respectfully.

By 1961, through his final season in 1966, Koufax was unhittable, unforgettable and, evidently, untradeable.

I summarized this for Willie.

“Are you telling me that you guys almost had Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry on the same pitching staff?” Perry was still a season, or two, away from San Francisco.

Willie didn’t answer. Just kept chewing. I wasn’t all that much of an interest to him. At that moment, though, I was sitting near him enough to chat about this remarkable trade possibility.

“How close do you think this came to happening?”

I should mention this: During our entire chat, Willie never really looked at me. Maybe an occasional glance. Didn’t have to look at me, though. This was more than I’d bargained for. 

At that point, more people started entering this VIP center. Food was being served. Willie acknowledged people he’d played golf with that day. My time with him was apparently over.

It was exciting, to say the least. I was practically finished with my sandwich and potato salad. I was nursing my drink when Willie got up to leave. My heart kind of sank. I’d have really liked to get more conversation with him.

I watched him shake hands with a few guys.

“Nice to see you again, Willie.”

“Thanks, Willie.”

“Let’s get together soon, Willie.”

You know, typical sendoff lines.

Willie was leaving. He’d walk right behind where I was sitting. When he walked past me, he said into my good ear (I only hear out of one ear), “Stoneham would’ve never traded Cepeda.”

One-third of that Cashman song – done.

Funny thing, though, was in 1966. Cepeda was traded to St. Louis for southpaw Ray Sadecki. Koufax would retire following that season. At least Sadecki had won 20 games a couple years earlier. He was nothing like Koufax.

Part 2 of Willie … Almost Mickey … and The Duke next week.

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PART 2: “WILLIE … ALMOST MICKEY … AND THE DUKE”

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 has its share of sports connections. A well-known guy surprisingly showed up.  No, it wasn’t Mickey, but it was close. – Obrey Brown

Here’s subbing for Cashman’s portion of his 1981 song, “Willie, Almost Mickey and the Duke.”

I never came close to chatting with Mickey Mantle. Known as The Mick. I’d only seen him play in person a couple times. That came in 1968, his final season, only because Kansas City’s A’s team had moved to Oakland. It meant the Yankees had a few stops to make out there.

About a decade later, during the 1977 season in Oakland, I got a press pass to a mid-week afternoon game with the visiting Yankees, a team managed by Billy Martin. These were the Reggie Jackson Yankees who, incidentally, wasn’t in that day’s lineup against his former team.

Billymartin1
For some reason, Billy Martin, one of baseball’s fiercest managers, showed up in Redlands sometime in the early 1980s (Photo by Wikipedia Commons).

That day, it was Vida Blue pitching against Ron Guidry.

The world champion A’s had long since been disbanded – trades, free agency, you name it. The Yankees, meanwhile, had picked up Jackson and Catfish Hunter from those three-time champion A’s.

Guidry, leading 2-0, had tamed the A’s for 8 1/3 innings before he gave up ninth inning home runs to Manny Sanguillan and Dick Allen to knot the score at 2-2. Martin replaced Guidry with Sparkly Lyle, that season’s Cy Young Award winner.

This game went 15 innings. Blue lasted 13. Finally, in the 15th, the Yankees broke through for three runs, winning, 5-2. There weren’t even 10,000 fans in Oakland’s park that weekday afternoon.

I couldn’t wait for a post-game chat in New York’s clubhouse. I wasn’t assigned to cover that day. I’d gotten a media credential through my college, Chabot. There was no difficulty getting a pass, certainly like it is these days.

As a budding reporter, I wanted to watch New York reporters talk about the game with Martin. I wanted to experience a give and take between media and managers. I’ll never forget that as long as I live. I figured that was part of my “education.”

With Martin, media guys discussed Guidry’s brilliant game, despite giving up those ninth inning HRs. There was expected second-guessing: Why didn’t you bring Lyle in to start the ninth. Martin, a little annoyed, told them he felt Guidry had “enough gas left.”

Lyle, incidentally, wound up pitching 6 1/3 innings to get a victory. Plenty of chat was going on him. Who could’ve known he’d win Cy Young honors that season.

There was also some discussion of Jackson not being in that day’s lineup on his return to Oakland. He’d played onw day before and struck out three times. Martin said, “We just wanted to give him a day off.”

Blue, he told reporters, looked sharp and strong.

That postgame chat lasted around 30 minutes. It started to break up. Guys had deadlines. Martin probably had plans, too, especially since he was a Bay Area guy. I was one of about a dozen guys that circulated in this visitor’s office.

I won’t ever forget how he looked right at me, saying, “Something I can do for you, son?”

In all honesty, I had a couple questions for him. I’d hesitated to ask. After all, I was a nobody. I wasn’t covering this game.

“That play (Graig) Nettles made in the ninth, the double play,” I said, “was unbelievable. Went to his left. Sort of a semi dive. That bailed Lyle out of a tough spot.”

Sanguillan and Allen had homered. Wayne Gross drew a one-out walk off Lyle. Earl Williams, a home-run hitting catcher, was looking to drive one out, too. But he cracked a shot toward left field. Nettles, reacting quickly, got that ball to Willie Randolph at second in a hurry.

Double play, ending that threat.

I also asked Martin about a couple of steal attempts that catcher Thurman Munson had shut down. A’s speedster Bill North was one of those. North had a dispute on that out call at second.

There were a couple other plays I wanted to ask about, but I didn’t want to press my luck.

Martin took those questions on with a full head of steam. Those N.Y. reporters, ready to depart, instead hung around. On Nettles and Munson, Martin rhapsodized about how “this game wouldn’t have been won without those plays. Big keys to the game.”

Was I done? He wanted to know. Yeah, I said.

“You know, we’ve got a lot of high-priced talent here from New York that didn’t even pick up on those plays,” said Martin. “You keep asking questions like that, young man, you’re going to go a long way in this business.”

Where was my Mom? My friends? A tape recorder?

I couldn’t believe this.

Billy Martin said that to me? In later years, I wondered if he was just picking away at his regular press corps.

SHOWING UP AT A REDLANDS AMERICAN LEGION

A decade, or so, later, I was sitting in my Redlands newsroom office. I got a call from an area baseball-lover, Fred Long. Guy had been a scout for Montreal, maybe Kansas City or Milwaukee. Can’t remember each of Fred’s affiliations.

“O.B.,” he said, “Billy Martin’s here.”

At first I didn’t believe this. Martin was drinking beer at a local American Legion Post, Fred told me. I asked him what the hell Billy Martin was doing in Redlands.

Apparently, Fred told me, Billy had a wife from Yucaipa. They were in this area visiting. I dropped everything. Rushed over to that legion post on foot. In those days, that American Legion spot was located a few blocks from my office. Sure enough, there was Martin, a beer in front of him, four guys sitting around him, a bartender hanging out. Talking baseball. I snuck myself into that mix, listening, hearing baseball chatter back and forth.

Upon arrival, he was chatting about Ted Williams, that legendary Boston left fielder who could hit like crazy. Now that American League play included designated hitters, Martin, who played against Williams over 10 seasons, made it clear that if he were managing a team with Williams, “I’d have him at DH.”

Guys told me later that Martin told them Williams didn’t practice much as a fielder or a baserunner, “but he worked hard on hitting.”

For nearly three hours, I watched Martin down a beer, or two. He never cracked. Kept talking baseball. There was talk of Mickey Mantle, his good buddy. “No one,” said Martin, “could come close to his power … or speed.”

How he shouldn’t have lost his jobs in Minnesota or Texas or even the Yankees. He’d managed in Oakland, of all places – Billy Ball!

It was off-season, I should report. Martin was in Redlands because he’d married a gal who had Yucaipa connections. Yucaipa was a city just east of Redlands. While she was apparently visiting friends and family, Billy visited that Redlands legion post. Talked a little about his military background. He felt comfortable.

Finally, when I felt comfortable enough, I mentioned that Yankees-A’s game in Oakland from a decade, or so, earlier. How he’d been real classy to me in his clubhouse after that game. I asked him, despite all the beer he’d downed, if he’d remembered.

He stared right at me. Took a swig of beer. He even grabbed a pretzel and stuck it into his mouth, kind of smiling as he thought. I figured he was getting ready to say he’d remembered me.

“No,” he finally said, “I can’t quite remember anything like that. It’s been a few years, right?”

Oh, yeah.

Said Martin: “A lot’s happened since then.”

Part 3 of Willie, Almost Mickey and The Duke next week.

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CYCLING HALL OF FAMER DAVIS PHINNEY HELPED LAUNCH REDLANDS CLASSIC

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. In 1985, it all started when racing’s top cyclists showed up to compete. – Obrey Brown

Davis Phinney took over a post-race media conference after winning that yellow jersey at 1986’s Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Phinney was a cycling rock star.

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Until Greg LeMond came along to win the Tour de France in 1988, there may have been no bigger USA cyclist than Davis Phinney, who won the Redlands Bicycle Classic while wearing Team 7-Eleven colors in 1986. (Photo by Wikipidia Commons.)

He’d just ridden a handful of days, pushed over the line by teammate Raul Alcala, runner-up and an Olympic bronze medalist for his native Mexico a couple years earlier. Phinney also held off future teammate Jeff Pierce in that Memorial Day weekend event.

Interviews centered around, naturally, of Phinney’s Tour de France success. Wasn’t that big news?

Wouldn’t Redlands like to connect with a guy that was in cycling’s greatest race?

After all, he would eventually become America’s first-ever cyclist to win a stage at that European-dominated event. Americans, at that point, had rarely competed in Europe.

Team 7-Eleven had raced across that Atlantic Ocean in this globe’s most important cycling race. Until Greg LeMond came along, Americans weren’t successful at any level in Europe.

In Redlands, Phinney was trying to be kind, but he knew why he was there. Phinney’s presence, along with his pre-eminent 7-Eleven cycling team, had been whisked to Redlands in order to help try and send this one-year-old event to a much higher level of popularity among everyone – cyclists, followers, media, you name it.

There were enough questions about European racing. Mostly mine. I was thinking globally, not locally. Finally, Phinney stepped in.

“Let’s stop talking about the Tour de France,” said Phinney, in a manner of taking over that post-event media conversation, “and talk about the Tour of Redlands.”

Tour of Redlands?

Fair enough. We’re on U.S. soil. On hand for those moments were handfuls of Redlands race organizers, no doubt delighted over their guest’s manners in trying to highlight this local race.

Team 7-Eleven’s presence might have been paramount in keeping Redlands afloat. A quarter century later, well into these 2000s, it’s still pertinent and relevant in cycling’s world.

In 1997, that team was inducted into U.S. Cycling’s Hall of Fame. That original 7-Eleven squad had sent two teams to Redlands for that 1986 Memorial Day weekend trek.

Team manager Jim Ochowicz, a Hall of Famer in his own right, had organized a remarkable collection of mainly U.S. riders.

Racing in Redlands that weekend was Tom Schuler and Bob Roll, Ron Kiefel and Doug Shapiro, plus Alex Stieda, Roy Knickman, Chris Carmichael, not to mention Phinney and Alcala.

Don’t forget Eric Heiden, that Olympic speed skater who captured multiple medals at the 1980 Lake Placid (N.Y.) winter games while also qualifying as an alternate for Team USA’s cycling squad later that summer.

It was a showcase for Redlands, its area fans, perhaps, not yet connected to cycling.

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Eric Heiden, a 1980 U.S. Olympian in both speed skating and an alternate in the Summer Olympics as a cyclist, was part of Team 7-Eleven’s appearance at the 1986 Redlands Bicycle Classic. His presence brought extra prominence to the growing event. (Photo by Wikipedia Commons.)

And don’t overlook another Hall of Famer. Knickman, who rode for La Vie Claire and Toshiba-Look alongside the famous teams that included LeMond, Andy Hampsten and frenchman Bernard Hinault.

Team 7-Eleven’s presence in Redlands that 1986 race, I was told, came after plenty of negotiation – with top executive Jim Ochowicz, I believe – to help lift Redlands’ race to prominence. It was hard to bring his team west when most important competitions were in Europe.

Lying ahead was a huge historical level being highly raised at this Redlands event. Those 7-Eleven racers were followed by significant cyclists.

It’s story after story on that Redlands’ side of male cyclists notching a spot between 1985, its first race won by Thurlow Rogers, and its 2025 renewal.

Alexi Grewal, that 1984 Olympic road race gold medalist, showed up to win at Redlands in 1988.

LeMond, that first American ever to win a Tour de France? Did he show up? At Redlands? Not as a racer, but he came to lead a Redlands Bicycle Classic ride through a canyon a year, or so, following his retirement.

Lance Armstrong? Forget, at least for a moment, he had seven Tour de France triumphs wiped out over his behind-the-scenes usage of racing advantages. Having recovered from cancer in the mid-1990s, this U.S. Postal Service racer was seriously asked to race at Redlands during his return to cycling.

I was told by Craig Kundig, this race’s lengthy leader, “it was close.”

So close.

Armstrong’s U.S. Postal team, however, produced four straight champions at Redlands – Tomasz Brozyna, Dariusz Baranoski, Jonathan Vaughters and Christian Vande Velde. Those four racked up yellow jerseys from 1996 through 1999. Those last two guys rode as Armstrong lieutenants across that Atlantic.

Chris Horner captured his first Redlands yellow jersey in 2000 while racing for Team Mercury. A couple years later, Redlands’ 2002 champion was a Prime Alliance jersey-wearing star, Horner. In 2003 and 2003, Horner won wearing a Saturn uniform, then a Webcor, outfit.

Following that 2003 championship, Horner reflected that his age, 33, was a little beyond in seeking a career cycling overseas. Wrong! Over several following years, Horner racked up quite a few achievements over that ocean.

By 2011, Horner was Tour of California champion.

Spain’s Francisco Mancebo, a five-time top 10 finisher at the Tour de France, copped a pair of Redlands yellow jerseys.

Funny note on Horner, who also came in second place twice.

Phil Gaimon must have read my pre-race article’s 2012 interview on Horner, his strong hopes for notching victory No. 5 on yet another team. Gaimon, however, used that as motivation to race past everyone, beating three stage winner Patrick Bevin by just a couple seconds, Mancebo taking third, trailing by just a mere seven seconds.

Horner finished well behind.

Gaimon, who began racing on a “Team Redlands” squad known as Jelly Belly in 2009, repeated that Redlands triumph in 2015.

Almost each year, I approached Frankie Andreu just to see if something came up that wasn’t brought about in his book. Andreu, a former 7-Eleven cyclist, thought for a moment, shook his head, leaving me on my way. Why report something that was already brought out in his book?

Close men together, Armstrong and Andreu were quite well known over a few years.

Andreu, meanwhile, often came to Redlands  – media, team manager, a women’s coach, you name it. Here was a guy who discussed his spot in Armstrong’s hospital room during his 1996 cancer days, telling medical practitioners what he was using for cycling. It turned into Andreu’s book. Wow!

*****

Perhaps spurred on by his Redlands success, Phinney won two stages at the Tour de France, copping that 1985 third stage, then the 12th stage a year later.

Phinney, meanwhile, was accorded a high honor in Redlands when its organizers proclaimed “Legendary” status on him at a 2012 ceremony.

It was a Hall of Fame moment, A Redlands Connection and a huge chapter for that city’s classic event.

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DAUER HELPED BAPTIZE SPIRIT IN REDLANDS, 1987

A Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From pro football’s Super Bowl to baseball’s World Series, from dynamic soccer’s World Cup to golf’s and tennis’ U.S. Open, major auto racing, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, more major tennis like Wimbledon, tiny connections to that NBA and a little NHL, major college football, Kentucky Derby, aquatics and Olympic Games, that sparkling little city sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10. – Obrey Brown

Retired major league ballplayer Rich Dauer sat beside me on a first base bench just after minor league San Bernardino Spirit finished playing an intrasquad game under a dimly-lit diamond at Redlands Community Field.

It was April 1987.

Thirty-one years later, Dauer would be taking part in a pre-game ceremony with Major League Baseball’s newly-crowned world champion Houston Astros — an awfully long way from those early minor league coaching days in San Bernardino.

Thirty-eight years later, Dauer died.

But on that date in 1987, something new was taking place. The California League had just expanded to, of all places, San Bernardino. Less than two decades before that, Dauer’s prep side, Colton High School, came to play at Redlands.

“I remember playing here,” Dauer said, referring to Community Field, “in high school.”

In 1983, Dauer played second base on that 1983 Baltimore Orioles’ World Series championship team, whose teammates were future Hall of Famers, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken, Jr.

He was homegrown at Colton, a 1970 graduate. On to San Bernardino Valley College. Then it was onto USC, where he was a two-time All-American third baseman, helping lead those Trojans to win College World Series titles in both 1973 and 1974. Yes, Baltimore. That team, its roster dropping with older players like Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell and Mike Cuellar, an already traded Frank Robinson, Dave McNally and Don Bufurd, shortstop like Mark Belanger, plus Dave Johnson, Don Baylor, plus future all-star Bobby Grich. Those Orioles made Dauer a No. 1 pick in that 1974 draft.

This guy had been around.

Rich Dauer, on hand at a Houston Astros World Series celebration, got his early coaching start as manager of the San Bernardino Spirit in 1987.
Long time major league infielder Rich Dauer, during a pre-game ceremony, got his coaching career start with a team called San Bernardino Spirit in 1987 (photo by Wikipedia).

Spirit management knew where many of their fans might come from to show up at Fiscalini Field, located on Highland Ave. in San Bernardino. Those fans were Redlands.

Showing up at Community Field was a  perfect public relations move. The Spirit could sell a lot of tickets to those folks. With hitting coach, Jay Johnstone, sitting nearby, Dauer reflected on minor league ball players.

“These guys,” he said, motioning out to those Class A players, “aren’t that far away from the major leagues.”

It was quite a proclamation. These were minor leaguers, Rich, I’d told him. He shook his head in disagreement.

“All these guys,” he said, “are just young. They need experience. They can throw just as hard, hit it just as far … as any major leaguers. They just need to get consistent. That’s what will keep them out of the majors. If they’re not consistent.”

There were some future major leaguers on that Spirit roster – not to mention a few past big-leaguers.

Todd Cruz and Rudy Law, plus Terry Whitfield, pitchers Andy Rincon and Craig Chamberlain – all of whom showed up in a major league uniform before landing with San Bernardino. Cruz, in fact, was Philadelphia’s shortstop in that 1983 World Series duel with Dauer’s Orioles.

Law played against Dauer’s Orioles in that year’s 1983 American League playoffs when Baltimore knocked off the Chicago White Sox. All those ex-MLB players were playing out their careers.

Another Spirit player, infielder Mike Brocki, had torn apart Redlands High in a CIF soccer playoff match a few years earlier – scoring three goals in a 6-0 win at Walnut High School. For the Spirit in 1987, Brocki hit two HRs and batted .233.

Let’s not forget another Spirit infielder, Leon Baham, who would eventually become one of Redlands’ top youth baseball coaches in years ahead. Baham wound up hitting .279 with 8 HRs that season.

Throw in Ronnie Carter, a Fontana product who was an NCAA Division 3 All-American at the University of Redlands a couple years earlier. Hoping for a pro career, Carter hit .213 with 4 HRs over 164 at-bats for a Spirit squad that was filled by plenty of guys that never wound up at baseball’s top spot.

Dauer sat over all of them, perhaps lining himself up for a lengthy future in MLB as a coach. Curiously, he never drew amn MLB manager’s assignment, coaching at Kansas City, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Colorado and, finally, Houston.

Dauer spent as much time as I needed on that Community Field bench after playing the game that night. Plenty of local youths showed up to watch this split-squad game.

Pitchers fired seeds.

Hitters took big cuts.

Baserunners seemed quick, fast.

Fielders made it look easy.

All of that above were descriptions by Dauer. Three decades later, Dauer was pulling himself to Houston’s mound at Minute Maid Park. It was April 2, 2018.  He threw out the first pitch.

For the previous three seasons, he had coached first base as the Astros made a dramatic move toward becoming contenders. When Houston beat the Dodgers in a thrilling 7-game series the previous fall, Dauer was back in familiar territory.

MAJOR NOTE: YES. YES. YES. WE KNOW. HOUSTON PLAYERS EVENTUALLY GOT DEALT WITH FOR CHEATING TO WIN THAT SERIES. A MANAGER GOT FIRED AND PLAYERS WERE SPOTTED IN CHEATING. NOTE THAT, AT LEAST. DAUER NEVER GOT NAMED IN THAT DREARY MOMENT, OR TWO.

Tragedy struck at their World Series parade. Dauer suffered a head injury, resulting in emergency brain surgery. It brought his coaching career – 19 years strong – to a premature conclusion.

He was the perfect selection to throw out that first pitch at Minute Maid.

Dating back to that 1987 season in San Bernardino, it was his season to run things as a manager, also coaching. His playing career concluded in 1985. It should be noted that neither of those future Hall of Fame teammates, Ripken, Jr., Murray or Palmer, had ever played California League ball.

Dauer cut his teeth as a manager in that historical assemblage of minor league cities. At long last, California League ball eventually surfaced in various Southern California cities.

San Bernardino had joined the Bakersfield Dodgers, Fresno Giants, Modesto A’s, Palm Springs Angels, Reno Padres, Salinas Spurs, San Jose Bees, Stockton Ports and the Visalia Oaks. Truth is, the Salinas Spurs had moved to San Bernardino, adopting the Spirit name.

Here was Dauer, back in Redlands after a well-traveled baseball career. A few hundred had bothered to show that night. That ex-Oriole player seemed to be the perfect fit as the Spirit’s manager. Local product? Yeah. Ex-major leaguer? Ex-collegiate success story? A starter at a winning World Series? No wonder he’d been hired at San Bernardino.

Dauer played over 1,100 major league games, 984 career hits, batted .257 in 10 seasons, playing at Baltimore’s World Series — losing to Pittsburgh in 1979, then winning against Philadelphia in 1983. Two seasons later, 1985, was his final playing season. By 1987, well, he was managing a minor league team not affiliated with a single MLB organization.

“When I was growing up in Colton, it never occurred to me,” said Dauer on that April 1987 night, “that there’d ever be a minor league team in San Bernardino.” Funny thing was that he became its first-ever manager.

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A TIGER INVITATION I’M GLAD I DIDN’T TURN DOWN

A Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From pro football’s Super Bowl to baseball’s World Series, from dynamic soccer’s World Cup to golf’s and tennis’ U.S. Open, major auto racing, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, more major tennis like Wimbledon, tiny connections to that NBA and a little NHL, major college football, Kentucky Derby, aquatics and Olympic Games, that sparkling little city sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10. – Obrey Brown

There they were, lined up, one shot apart among the leader board at the 1997 “Augusta Invitational.” It’s called The Masters. In a keen world of professional golf, this event is considered sacred.

Tom Kite had Tommy Tolles beaten by a stroke after 72 holes, 282-283. At 284, there was a legend, Tom Watson, a multiple major tournament champion. He was followed by a pair of golfers at 285, Constantina Rocca and Paul Stankowski. Previous Masters champion Fred Couples, two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer, British Open champion Justin Leonard, PGA Tournament champions Davis Love III and Jeff Sluman closed out their tournament with identical 286s.

They trailed by a lot, though. At 270 stood Tiger Woods. A dozen shots ahead. Dominant. A record 18-under par. Augusta, it seems, would never be the same.

He’d won The Masters.

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Tiger Woods, shown here winning the 1997 Masters. Sixteen years earlier, a 6-year-old Eldrick “Tiger” Woods showed up to play a 9-hole exhibition match at Redlands Country Club against a local girl with a standout game. (Photo by Wikipedia Commons.)

It would be our lead story in that April 14, 1997 issue in Redlands. There was a local angle, a major one. Sixteen years earlier, Redlands Country Club head golf professional Norm Bernard had called me with an invitation. Maybe it was an assignment. Or a request. Maybe he was begging.

Little Eldrick Woods, already known to the world as Tiger, had been invited to Redlands to play in a 9-hole exhibition match. On Dec. 30, he would turn six. Norm and I started a little verbal sparring. I didn’t necessarily want to be there. He very definitely wanted me to be there.

“I don’t know, Norm. A 9-hole exhibition?” A 6-year-old? A 12-year-old? Would our readers even care? “What else have you got going on?” Norm asked.

In truth, he was correct. Nothing, at least locally, was taking place. School was shut down for winter break. Except for that San Bernardino Kiwanis Tournament, a basketball extravaganza for Redlands High, nothing of a sporting nature was taking place locally.

This was before an eventual explosion of boys and girls soccer tournaments, or prominent basketball tournaments for both sexes would take place during the winter holiday break, which has now been stretched to three weeks instead of two.

In reality, there weren’t many options to cover much local sports during this period. It seemed like I could be working on something more meaningful that day, which would be Dec. 29.

“Aw, Norm.”

“C’mon. I’ll buy you lunch.”

He was being as gracious as possible. While being demanding. Charming. A little pushy. Norm was always under fire at that club. Private golf members can be really demanding. They want their privacy. They also wanted a little publicity when it mattered.

Redlands CC was full of private club members that were movers and shakers in our community. One of them, Bill Moore, had been my publisher. There had long been rumblings and grumblings about country club coverage in our local pages.

The women’s club had its set of demands. Of course, there was a club tournament. Weekly twilight play, results in the summer. Usually, it was similar names. Norm’s edict was simple: Make certain those results were printed. It was Norm’s job to process results for newspaper publication.

No resentment from me. All part of this job. Bowling had its own set of demands. So did recreation tennis. We had local motorsports. Soccer people were everywhere. Youth baseball. Little boys football. You name it. The sports section is for everyone. Any achievements should be duly noted.

That was a little undercurrent of that relationship between that local country club and a local newspaper. Ah, the life of a local journalist.

That year was 1981. It was just after Christmas. Owner and publisher Bill Moore, who’d sold this local paper a year or so earlier, was gone. His country club cronies were no longer bugging him to light a fire under me. Meanwhile, they’d light Norm under fire to get publicity. No longer were there job-related demands hanging over my head. This was truly my decision. I had to admit I was a little curious.

One day after this nine-hole match would be little Tiger’s sixth birthday. Already, this little guy had been celebrated on television, once on the Mike Douglas Show as a three-year-old that could amazingly swing a golf club. Bob Hope, an avid golfer in his own right, was also a guest that day.

Another appearance came on ABC-TV’s “That’s Incredible,” hosted by John Davidson, Fran Tarkenton and Cathy Lee Crosby.

Norm’s connections led to an invitation to Tiger to play golf at Redlands.

Twelve-year-old Michele Lyford, who would one day go on to win a girls’ CIF golf championship, was selected to be Tiger’s playing opponent on that day. There was a small gallery as Tiger finished the nine-hole round by shooting 51.

Lyford, who shot 41, was champion of that 1986 Junior World in her older 15-17 age category, an event held every summer in San Diego. It should also be pointed out that other yearly winners included Carolyn Hill, Kim Saiki, nearby Brandie Burton from Rialto, and Christi Erb – future LPGA professionals.

Lyford, in fact, beat Burton, runner-up by eight shots in that 1987 CIF-Southern Section girls championship at North Ranch Country Club.

Tiger, meanwhile, was headliner at Redlands on Dec. 29, 1981.

The highlight of that day was, at least for me, coming at that No. 9 hole. Little Tiger had knocked his ball smack into that bunker, smack dab against the lip – an impossible shot for even the most experienced of golfers.

This little guy was poised even then. One day shy of his sixth birthday, Tiger took out his club, chipped his shot back into the fairway, then chipped onto the green.

Then he knocked the ball in position for a double bogey. Even then, he was trained to minimize trouble. Of those people in attendance for this little showcase match, they had to be awestruck at that shot and club selection.

No one discussed that shot. No one told him what to do. Tiger was left alone.

Bernard, described as a huge proponent of junior golf, had known Rudy Duran, who was Tiger’s personal coach. Together, they formed this match, a 9-hole exhibition on RCC’s front nine.

It was Duran, Tiger, Michele and Earl Woods, Tiger’s dad who, at one point, hoisted his little guy up so he could see down the fairway.

“I was nervous,” Lyford-Sine said. “I couldn’t let this 6-year-old beat me. I was twice as old as he was and he was half my size.”

Those scores, 41 — not a bad score for a 12-year-old on the par-35 RCC front nine — and Tiger’s 51 came under guise as a “friendly.”

This little golf prodigy had played bogey golf throughout this match. That in itself was incredible! Afterward, the club gave Tiger a birthday party.

Afterward, I’m somewhat embarrassed to say, I handed this little guy a piece of paper – and a pen. Yes, I asked him for his autograph. He made his letters carefully, his little tongue sticking out corner of his mouth while he wrote, “Eldrick Woods.”

Wish I still had that little slip of paper.

Sixteen years later, he won the Masters. That 1981 day was just starting it all. My column on April 14, 1997 was all about Tiger. Redlands. Winning the Masters. My reluctance to cover it. I’d written, “I’m glad Norm convinced me to come.”

Norm called later to recall the memories.

I asked, “Any more birthday parties you want me to cover, Norm?”

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ANDRIESE, CHATWOOD: REV-BASED MLB PITCHERS IN TAMPA, CHICAGO

A Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From pro football’s Super Bowl to baseball’s World Series, from dynamic soccer’s World Cup to golf’s and tennis’ U.S. Open, major auto racing, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, more major tennis like Wimbledon, tiny connections to that NBA and a little NHL, major college football, Kentucky Derby, aquatics and Olympic Games, that sparkling little city sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10. That I-10 represented quite a few travels between Redlands and Arizona-based spring training sites for two Redlands East Valley pitching aces. – Obrey Brown

All talk of trading Tampa Bay pitcher Chris Archer might be music to ears of Rays’ pitcher Matt Andriese.

Tyler Chatwood, meanwhile, was headed toward becoming a stunner one summer in Chicago.

Andriese and Chatwood, a pair of former teammates on some very strong Redlands East Valley High School teams, headed for spring training with one thought in mind:

Claiming a spot in their current teams’ starting rotation.

Both seem destined for mound duty when that 2018 season opens. Both were in Florida on March 28 when their seasons opened. Tampa hosted Boston Red Sox and Chicago, those Cubs, were in Miami.

Former Redlands East Valley pitcher Matt Andriese, drafted originally by the San Diego Padres, is now toiling for the Tampa Bay Rays. (Photo by Wikipedia Commons)
Former Redlands East Valley pitcher Matt Andriese, drafted originally by San Diego, got dealt to Tampa Bay, the Rays. (Photo by Wikipedia Commons)

Andriese, an original draft pick by San Diego, was dealt to Tampa in a January 22, 2014 deal that sent southpaw reliever Alex Torres and right-handed starter Jesse Hahn to those Padres. Andriese was joined by second baseman Logan Forsythe, eventually sent to Los Angeles, plus right-handers Matt Lollis and Brad Boxberger.

That onetime REV star, who was drafted out of UC Riverside in that 2011 third round draft, is a career 28-38 over 221 MLB games with a shutout, four saves and a lifetime 4.65 earned run average.

One season with Tampa , Andriese headed into spring training as a possible fifth starter in that Rays’ rotation behind Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Blake Snell and Jake Faria.

Both Archer and Odorizzi, meanwhile, were rumored to be a target in New York and Minnesota , among other teams, since those Rays likely had no shot at pennant contention in 2018. Dealing them might be that team’s best chance to land some coveted prospects.

CHATWOOD BECAME A ROCKY BY ANGELS

Chatwood, meanwhile, was dealt to Colorado by his original team, Anaheim Angels, on November 30, 2011 for catcher Chris Ianetta.

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood (52)
Tyler Chatwood, a former Redlands East Valley ace, is shown pitching for Anaheim during his rookie year in 2011. By his final season in 2021, he was 40 wins, 48 losses with a 4.45 ERA. (Photo by Wikipedia Commons.)

When his Rockies’ contract expired following 2017, those 2016 World Series champion Cubs quickly sprung to sign Chatwood on a 3-year, $38 million deal. It could be under-the-radar signing of that off-season.

Chatwood, 40-46 with a 4.31 ERA between 2011-2017, seemed ready to fire on all cylinders. Moving from hitter-friendly Colorado to a more pitcher-friendly Wrigley Field could lift numbers of that 2008 second-round draft pick.

On that Cubs’ starting pitcher assemble, Chatwood was to follow ace southpaw Jon Lester, recently-signed Yu Darvish, Kyle Hendricks and Jose Quintana in what appeared to be a solid Cubs’ rotation heading into 2018.

MIXING ANDRIESE, CHATWOOD ON MOUND

That Chatwood-Andriese combination led REV into that 2007 Southern Section Division 2 championship game at Dodger Stadium against El Toro High School. El Toro, buoyed by presence of future Rockies’ slugging third baseman Nolan Arenado in its lineup, handed Chatwood a 7-0 loss.

Around a decade later, Chatwood and Andriese pitched against each other in a 2016 major league duel – Chatwood with Colorad and Andriese with Tampa. Andriese didn’t start, Chatwood lost for Colorado when those Rays beat him badly in a 10-1 outcome on July 19 in Denver.

Long after Chatwood was knocked out by Rays’ hitters – lasting three innings, surrendering seven runs – Andriese entered that game for Tampa’s final three innings.

Andriese relieved Snell, pitching three frames of three-hit ball and getting a save, surrendering a ninth inning home run to Rockies’ rookie shortstop sensation Trevor Story.

Snell surrendered just one hit to a Rockies’ lineup featuring All-Stars Carlos Gonzalez and Arenado.

Andriese, meanwhile, continued to pitch, concluding that game with a sparkling 2.78 earned run average, out of that bullpen. Most of their starting pitchers had much higher ERAs.

As for Chatwood, he surrendered a home run to Rays’ slugger Evan Longoria, his 22nd, among other hits. Chatting with him beyond that game wasn’t difficult.

“I didn’t throw any curveballs tonight,” he said, “and it’s always been my best pitch. I threw a lot of fastballs and didn’t miss barrels (of the bat) and kind of put us in a hole.

“I lost the game for us, pretty much. At some point, you’ve got to make an adjustment, and I didn’t make an adjustment.”

*****

Sure, sure, sure … there was more than a handful of other REV baseballers taken in drafts by various MLB teams – catcher Brett Martinez and outfielder Josh Cowles, both taken by Anaheims, infielder Paul Eshlemen by Milwaukee, plus Andriese’s brother David, an outfielder taken by Pittsburgh out of UC Riverside.

Then there’s pitchers Justin Jacome by Miami, plus a pair taken by Toronto, Jackson McClelland and Griffin Murphy.

Neither of those players ever made those big leagues.

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REDLANDS’ ED VANDE BERG SPENT SEVEN SEASONS ON MLB MOUNDS

A Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From pro football’s Super Bowl to baseball’s World Series, from dynamic soccer’s World Cup to golf’s and tennis’ U.S. Open, major auto racing, plus NCAA Final Four connections, Tour de France cycling, more major tennis like Wimbledon, tiny connections to that NBA and a little NHL, major college football, Kentucky Derby, aquatics and Olympic Games, that sparkling little city sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10.

I saw Ed Vande Berg. In Arlington. Pitching. On a steaming hot Texas night, he hurled 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief in a 6-2 loss to Milwaukee, then playing among American League teams. I was one of 26,526 fans that Thursday night. Arlington Stadium. Hall of Famers Paul Molitor and Robin Yount were in Milwaukee’s lineup. It was July 14, a Thursday night, in the summer of 1988.

Vande Berg, a Redlands High baseball-playing product, was playing for enigmatic Bobby Valentine, the Rangers’ manager. It was one of Vande Berg’s fina appearances during his seven-year MLB career.

Attended legendary Arizona State, where Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson and Jim Palmer –- not to mention Barry Bonds – played collegiately, among others.

Vande Berg rarely threw important pitches in a meaningful game during his MLB career. Who cares? He was a major league pitcher — with promise. It should be noted, however, that Vande Berg’s 1982-88 career span did not include playing for a team that finished at .500.

Ed Vande Berg
Redlands’ Ed Vande Berg spent seven seasons in major league baseball.

He was a left-handed specialist, a long reliever and, at one brief point, he started 17 times for Seattle in 1984.

Managers like Rene Lachemann, Del Crandall, Chuck Cottier, Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, Pat Corrales or Valentine might summon him to pitch against the likes of Fred Lynn or Eddie Murray, Don Mattingly or Lou Whitaker, maybe a Tim Raines, Darryl Strawberry or Keith Hernandez.

He had surrendered Reggie Jackson’s final career hit. Vande Berg, then with Texas, watched a broken bat single off that bat of a future Hall of Famer.

Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson’s final MLB hit came on a broken back single off Ed Vande Berg in 1987 (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

BASEBALL CARDS APLENTY ON THIS REDLANDS KID

Check out a website on Ed Vande Berg some time. Click on images. When you do, your entire computer screen should light up with baseball cards – Vande Berg with Seattle. Or Los Angeles. Or Cleveland . Or Texas.

He was an Alaska Goldpanner.

An Arizona State Sun Devil. Appeared in a College World Series.

Don’t let it slip your mind that Vande Berg was a Redlands High Terrier. Here was his background, stated by plenty of Redlands baseballers not to be much of a prospect while playing for Terrier coach Joe De Maggio.

When he showed up at San Bernardino Valley, Vande Berg took instruction well enough to burnish a slider. It was a new pitch. That resulted in an 18-1 record. State Player of the Year.

Fascinating! Movement, plus zip on his fastball, earned his way to Arizona State — a hub for future MLB players. That got him on radars of MLB scouts, who drafted him no less than three times before he signed.

He was a Rookie Team All-Star in 1982, the year he finished 9-4 with the Mariners, who had drafted him out of Arizona State. A league-leading 78 games accompanied that 2.37 earned run average over 76 innings pitched.

SAN DIEGO, ST. LOUIS, FINALLY SEATTLE

Vande Berg’s draft history was pretty interesting. San Diego took him. third round in 1978, but Vande Berg didn’t sign. A year later, St. Louis made him a fourth round pick. Again, he didn’t sign. In 1980, Seattle drafted him, 13th round. This time, he signed.

That ’82 rookie season, though, was something. Only 54 hits were allowed in those 76 innings pitched, including just five HRs. He was 23 when he made that MLB debut with Seattle.

In 1984, the Mariners made Vande Berg, a 6-foot-2, 175-pounder, a starting pitcher. He logged an 8-12 record (4.76, 130 innings) for a 72-90 team on a pitching staff topped by Mark Langston. Alvin Davis, who hit 27 homers, knocked in 116 runs and batted .284), was American League Rookie of the Year.

By 1988 when Vande Berg joined up at Texas, Ruben Sierra was clearly that team’s best player. Vande Berg was part of a bullpen backed by closer Mitch Williams. The staff’s ace was ex-Dodger knuckleballer Charlie Hough.

It was one season before Nolan Ryan signed with Texas. By then, Vande Berg was gone. Released. Final season of his career.

Who would remember a trade that sent Vande Berg from Seattle to Los Angeles in 1985? It was a straight-up deal on Dec. 11. Catcher Steve Yeager, who had played in three World Series with L.A., was sent back to Seattle.

The Dodgers paid Vande Berg $455,000.

That season, Vande Berg registered a 3.41 ERA over 60 games (71 1/3 innings).

Teammates included Cy Young Award winners Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser, both managed by Lasorda, a Hall of Fame manager. Vande Berg had relieved both pitchers during that 1987 season.

Tommy Lasorda
For one season, Dodger Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda summoned Redlands southpaw Ed Vande Berg into a major league game (photo by Wikipedia Commons).

Granted free agency in each of the following two seasons, Vande Berg found homes in Cleveland and Arlington, Texas.

Among Vande Berg’s Cleveland teammates was Joe Carter, who hit the game-winning World Series homer for Toronto a few years later. Another teammate was that ageless Julio Franco, who made Cleveland just one of his stops on a seven-team, 23-year career.

For a season and a half, incredibly enough, Vande Berg was teammates with another Redlands product, Julio Cruz. The two spent the entire 1982 season in M’s uniforms, but in 1983 Cruz was sent to the Chicago White Sox in a trade deadline deal.

His final game came at age 29 against, of all teams, Seattle, a Mariners’ team Vande Berg spent four of his seven-year MLB pitching for in America’s vnorthwest.

The end result was a 25-28 lifetime mark … 413 games … surrendered 52 HRs … 3.92 earned run average … 22 saves … not a bad career.

WINDING DOWN A SEVEN-YEAR MLB CAREER

A couple months after I watched Vande Berg pitch against Milwaukee in Texas, the Redlands product pitched his final game. Against his old team, the Mariners.

On Friday night, Sept. 30. At the Kingdome that night, 7,870 fans watched.

He pitched a full inning. With home plate umpire Rich Garcia calling balls and strikes, Vande Berg surrendered three hits, including a Rey Quinones double.

In Seattle’s lineup that night was Davis, not to mention future MLB Network broadcaster Harold Reynolds. Darnell Coles, from Vande Berg’s former Citrus Belt League rival Rialto Eisenhower, was also in that night’s lineup.

A lowly Rangers’ squad beat those lowly Mariners, 11-6.

Exactly one month earlier, Vande Berg picked up his final career victory. In an 8-6 win over Minnesota, Cecil Espy’s bottom-of-the-ninth, two-run HR cracked a 6-6 tie. Vande Berg, who had pitched a scoreless ninth inning in relief of starter Bobby Witt, logged the win.

It was career victory No. 25.