The Willow Glen Resident

The life of a 1950s batboy in San Jose

By Chuck Oeland

Since it opened in 1942, the San Jose Municipal Baseball Stadium has been part of the community. The park, located at the corner of E. Alma Street and Senter Road, has been through many changes in the past decade. The improvements include landscaping, murals, great barbecue and the San Jose Giants.

To find out more about the stadium, I checked out the Web site and found only a brief sketch of the overall history. I hadn't heard of anyone who had been involved with the park until I spoke to Susan Sunzeri, the office administrator where I work. Her husband, Michael, had been a bat boy at the park in the mid-1950s.

In the 1954-55 season, Mike was a batboy for one of his father Warren's teams, the San Jose Red Sox. Mike's dad could cover all positions, but he played shortstop. Mike wore the standard clothes of the day--striped T-shirt, blue jeans and black high-top PF Flyers, the shoes that could make a boy run faster and jump higher.

The team members were mostly family men who had regular day jobs. Mike's dad was a tile-setter for residential accounts. There were a few hopefuls who vied for positions with the Oakland Oaks or San Francisco Seals, two top Pacific Coast League franchises of their day. It would be a few years before major league ball clubs moved to the Bay Area.

Mike would line up the bats graduated by length. It was his job to clear bats off the field while the ball was not in play and supply the umpire with new balls and shag fouls when his team was on the field.

"It was great being with my dad and his friends," Mike added. "Listening to their stories and viewpoints on what was taking place on the field really gave me insight on the game."

Mike told me his favorite story about being recruited by the opposing team to be their batboy for the afternoon.

"Things were really going well for Dad's team, the Red Sox. Forgetting where I was and being taken in by the excitement of the game, I cheered them on."

When it came time to pack it up and go home, someone from my dad's team asked, "Aren't you going to throw the kid a few dollars for helping you out?"

"You've got to be kidding!" was the reply. "He was cheering for the wrong team."

"The mid-'50s were a different time," Mike stated. "Not like the high salaries and media hype of the Bay Area today. The sports equipment was different as well. Many players used their old, well worn-in gloves, which were much smaller then, making it impossible to scoop the ball out of the air.

"My dad's team could really keep their outfield alive by whistling, cheering and encouraging themselves on. That's something I don't hear much at games anymore."

Years later, Mike had a chance to look back on the good times he shared with his dad. "In the mid-'80s, an appreciation dinner was held at the Italian Gardens for former ballplayers from the San Jose area, and my dad was recognized for his contributions as a shortstop. Since he had passed away, I accepted the award for him. In the audience there must have been at least 100 players who had been affiliated with various ballclubs from the San Jose area."

Over pizza and beer in the lounge of the De Anza Hotel, I thanked Mike for this story. Through this glimpse into the past, I came to appreciate San Jose's minor league history. This legacy continues today with the San Jose Giants and those kids in the dugout, the batboys.

Chuck Oeland is a Willow Glen resident.

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