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Photograph courtesy of George Chrisman Jr.
Trees, houses and telephone poles were all part of the experience of playing baseball on the field that is now Helm Field.
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Picture from the Past
Former Los Gatos sports writer recalls days before Helm Field
By John S. Baggerly
From the distant past arrived an envelope containing photographs and the story of one George Chrisman Jr.'s sports writing career--a career starting in Los Gatos newspapers and expanding to the San Jose Mercury News.
Today's photograph looks northward toward homes along New York Avenue and toward what today is Helm Field, athletic home of the Los Gatos High School Wildcats football team. It also hosts track and field events.
Baseballs hit into yards to the right of the pictured house and pole and into the trees meant an automatic double for the batter. Balls hit into yards of homes left of the pole were ruled home runs. Today, part of this diamond is land occupied by LGHS swimming pools.
Writing from his home in Phoenix, Ariz., George Chrisman Jr. recalls: "Because no one was covering Los Gatos Merchants baseball games for the Los Gatos Mail-News, I took in a story and offered it to [editor] L. B. Peck--he ran the story on page one of an issue dated July 4, 1940. I was age l2. I continued writing for the Mail-News and added the Times a year or so later--so I had stories in both newspapers each week. The editors were a great help to me. In 1943 I also wrote a sports column as a freshman for the high school's El Gato.
"I covered high school sports for the San Jose Mercury-Herald in 1945, joining the staff full-time in 1947 after graduation at LGHS. Covered all Bay Area sports at one time or another. In 1979, I joined the Daily News-Sun in Sun City, eventually becoming managing editor. Retired in 1984, now editing a newsletter for the Arizona Senior Olympics.
"A sidelight: Pete Denevi, with whom I played softball in grammar school, was along on my first out-of-town baseball trip to Salinas in 1941, and my first out-of-town football trip to San Luis Obispo Oct. 22, 1947. And because of the Los Gatos connection, I enjoyed an interview with Frank Crosetti when he was coaching the Seattle Pilots."
Columnist's note: Crosetti was a ball boy for the old town baseball team that played on Sundays at the diamond shown above. When the Crosetti family moved to San Francisco, young Frank joined the Seals as a professional player and advanced to the New York Yankees. Today he lives in retirement in Stockton.
The home on the far right in today's photo belonged to the Lepurin family, immigrants from Slavonia in Eastern Europe. Their home, like all the others on New York Avenue, fronted fruit orchards in the rear. These properties extended northward to Los Gatos Lodge; their sites include LGHS's current parking lot.
Son Stephen J. Lepurin graduated from LGHS in 1932, after becoming what Coach Doug Helm called the school's best ever athlete. A life-long contractor, he resides in Los Gatos
Daughter Mina Lepurin Fowler, LGHS '35, joined with friend Ida Alario to form Ida-Mina's Dress Shop. When the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake destroyed their downtown building, the firm moved to a location north of town. Today, Fowler travels extensively and visits a daughter living in France.
Chrisman's rare photographs are worthy of a second column on Los Gatos baseball.
John Baggerly came out of semi-retirement to write this column is for The Los Gatos Weekly- Times.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
