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Photograph courtesy of Jerry Howell
Home Team: Jerry Howell (back row, second from right) was No. 15 on his team, Tire Service, in July, 1952.
League of Dreams
The Willow Glen Little League celebrates its 50th anniversary at Saturday's opener
By Michele Leung
Willow Glen Little League players will hone their batting and catching skills this season as they have every season, but this year marks a special year in which grown-up players can reminisce. When the season opens this Saturday, March 18, it will mark the 50th anniversary of the league in San Jose.
To kick off the 2000 season, league officials plan to make a full day out of the event.
Beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Bramhall Park, fans can treat themselves to a pancake breakfast, a barbecue lunch, the T-ball classic and two baseball games. The league is inviting alumni players, coaches and managers to join the festivities.
In honor of the golden anniversary, the league will issue commemorative uniforms for players to keep. Some of the attendants include Vice-Mayor Frank Fiscalini and Little League district administrative staff.
Today, there are 30 teams in the Willow Glen league and close to 400 kids involved. But this figure is a far cry from the inaugural season in 1951, when there were only 12 teams playing. Boys didn't play the Giants or the Blue Jays, but competed for teams with names like First Baptist Church, Alma Nut Company and Royal Arcanum.
Willow Glen native Jerry Howell, who played during the league's first two seasons, wore No. 15 for his team, Tire Service. According to Howell, the league wasn't called Willow Glen Little League then, since there was only one league in all of San Jose. He recalls playing catcher and sliding with pads his mother made out of towels. "I was the only catcher. Injured or not, I still had to play," he says.
While some old-timers remember playing at Backesto Park in downtown San Jose, a highlight for Howell was a new stadium constructed for Little League games built near Bascom Avenue and Newhall Street in Santa Clara. According to an original program from 1952, it cost $5,000 to build this park, with funds coming from baseball games, a cartoon show and a chicken barbecue.
While Howell never aspired to become a professional player, Jim Copple dreamed of reaching the big leagues one day. Copple played pitcher and first base for the Lions during the early 1960s. "You run the show when you pitch," he says. "There's lots of pressure, but you can make the game go slow or fast."
Copple's hopes of reaching the professional level dimmed with an injury he sustained. He tried to impress other kids with the prowess of his throwing arm, which resulted in an injured arm that put him out of commission. "When I said I couldn't throw because my arm hurt, [the others] called me a crybaby."
These days Copple is content to coach as he has for the past six years. On opening day he says he will be scanning the stands for his mom, Barbara, who has been cheering on her son and grandsons for 40 years.
Copple represents the second generation of parent participation in his family. "Willow Glen Little League is as much for the parents as it is for the kids," he says. His father, Jack, owned Copple Construction, which was a team sponsor during the 1950s and '60s. A year after Jack Copple died, wife Barbara donated money to purchase a scoreboard, and Jack's poker friends gave money for the electrical wiring to go in the board.
Parents and coaches credit the league for teaching children to be good sports, while not fostering an attitude to win at all cost. "This is about kids and not taking competitiveness over the top," says current league president Jenice Condie.
"The atmosphere was not intense and cut-throat," says past coach Gary Cunningham.
One winning team Cunningham coached was the 1985 All Stars Willow Glen team, made up of 9- and 10-year-olds. At a Mustang Tournament, the team advanced all the way to the Northern California championships, eventually losing to a team from Moraga and placing second. "These were all night games so the highlight for the kids was playing under the lights," says Cunningham.
Another team that advanced to the championships was the 1997 Little League All Star team that took District 12 and lost the final game at the sectional level. No other team from Willow Glen Little League has gone that far. "Our biggest rival was Lincoln Glen. The kids would try and come close," says Pat Patterson, who has been league president and district administrator for 18 years.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. An all-male organization has evolved into a league that has girls play alongside boys, and mothers who are involved in team and league affairs. But fans don't waver in their intensity. "Sometimes, parents get more excited than the kids," admits Copple.
The league hopes the next 50 years will receive just as much community support as it has thus far. Officials aim to continue the anniversary theme throughout the season, with a 1950s dinner dance for parents and a celebration at the closing ceremony.
"Sports is so good for building kids' identity. We're looking for the Willow Glen Little League community to celebrate our 50 years," says Condie.
For information about opening day festivities, call the hotline at 408.450.8502.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
