Baseball player Hal Chase hailed from Los Gatos.
Photograph courtesy of Hal Edward Chase III.
Picture from the Past
Clearing uncle's record is the goal of Hal Chase III
By John S. Baggerly
Handsome Hal Chase, above, was the subject of a 1967 letter to the local press from the National Baseball Hall of Fame asking the whereabouts of Hal Chase Jr. It seems that a fellow in Metairie, La., claimed to be Hal Chase's son.
This was an easy one. Hal Edward Chase III, now a county fire chief and family historian, informed the baseball folks that Hal Chase Jr. was living in Campbell and was in advertising sales for a San Jose radio station. Learning this, the Hall of Fame secretary in Cooperstown warned the good people of Metairie; apparently impostors had been gaining free drinks from fellow barflies and flirting with ladies.
Chase III is a fire chief for Santa Clara County Fire District. His wife, Karen, is a teacher at Terrell Elementary School in San Jose. They have four children, three in college and one at Los Gatos High School.
Hal Chase the baseball player was born around the turn of the century at 321 University Ave. Baseballer Hal and four siblings were the offspring of Edgar and Mary Chase.
Fire Chief Chase become the family historian. Old-timers said Chase always had a ball, rock or apple to throw at a post or fence. He played sandlot ball here and in San Jose when his family moved to Race Street. He also played with the Santa Clara University varsity baseball team but never attended classes, nephew Hal says.
After his Santa Clara experience, Chase joined the Los Angeles Angels, part of the now-defunct Pacific Coast League. It was from there that he was drafted by the New York Highlanders--a nickname designating a New York area of high ground. The Highlanders later became the Yankees.
Chase's impact on the American League was immediate. When he arrived, first basemen were like statues, standing on the bag awaiting their teammate's throws. Chase changed that in a hurry. He was the first to position himself off the bag--deep or shallow--the better to field the ball. He was the first to charge bunts, tag the runner (even the fleet-footed, sharp-cleated Ty Cobb) or throw out a runner trying to advance a base.
Chase eventually joined the Chicago White Sox, who soon became a heavy favorite to defeat the Cincinnati Reds of the National League in the World Series.
A notorious gambler put up money to bribe Chicago players into throwing the series, but the plot had little hope without ace pitcher Eddie Cicotte, the team's linchpin in the 1919 conspiracy. Apparently the White Sox owner had promised 30-game winners a bonus but hedged against his promise to Cicotte by refusing to let him pitch in the last days of the season, on the pretext that Cicotte was being saved for the World Series. This action threw Cicotte into the conspirator's camp and Cincinnati won the series. Players in the "Black Sox" scandal were cleared in court but banned from organized baseball for life.
Chase, his nephew says, later played baseball in wildcat leagues in the Southwest portion of the United States. Hal Chase III believes his uncle's name should be cleared and works toward that end.
John Baggerly is now semi-retired. This column is from the Los Gatos Weekly-Times archives.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
