Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Los Gatos Weekly-Times file photograph

Hugh Welch (right) seen here with football-playing friend Jim Thorpe, began Los Gatos Little League in the 1950s.

Picture from the Past

John S. Baggerly

District tourney will come to local Little League field

'Are you thirsty and tired from fatigue? Be refreshed by the Pee Wee League."

That was a slogan penned by Hugh Welch, a former Southern California high school coach who arrived in Los Gatos in the 1950s and organized Pee Wee baseball, which soon turned into Little League. Welch's slogan is recalled by one Bill Mitchell, who was a boy announcer once tutored by Welch.

All this comes to mind because this summer, Los Gatos Little League hosts a district tournament for 12-year-old all-stars at Blossom Hill Park. Last year this diamond qualified as the site of the divisional tournament, the winner moving to the Western Regionals in Southern California. The winner there goes to the World Finals in Williamsport, Pa.

In 1985 Leo Berk's Los Gatos All-Stars won the district, section and division titles and then won the Western Reginals to qualify for Williamsport. The best previous performance by LGLL was the Bill Murphy-Sam Holloway team of 1977, which won district and section before bowing in division play.

Welch's friend and contemporary was James "Jim" Thorpe, who excelled in track and field and football at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. In the 1912 Olympics he won the pentathlon and decathlon. A year later, however, some powers that be learned he had played professional baseball before the Olympics, and he was stripped of his medals.

Later, Thorpe played professional baseball and football and was proclaimed the greatest athlete of the 20th century and the greatest football player of all time. He came to California, and Hollywood producers featured him in several movies.

In later years, coaches John Galatea and Pete Denevi organized local Red Sox and Elks teams, and John Mesa was the first draftee on the flip of a coin. With these two teams and a Saratoga team, the trio played home-and-home games.

Soon both towns had leagues, and Los Gatos became cozy at Balzer Field--named for Ed Balzer, who was killed in an industrial accident.

It was customary to pass the hat at games to offset expenses. When Alberta Couchee's Balzer snack shack began to pay off, passing the hat was dropped, much to the relief of the players, who faced that chore with embarrassment.

Today, Grace Howell, veteran manager of the snack shack at Blossom Hill Park, is busy stocking up for the district tournament.

With a dash of showmanship, LGLL President Bill Dancer has scheduled Los Gatos and Saratoga to meet in a first-round game. Randy Frey, whose Pirates won the regular season title, will manage the Los Gatos team in the district tournament July 6-23. The Saratoga entry is managed by Bob Patterson, whose Yankees won their league title this spring.

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