Bi-District Battle

Monday, July 28, 1958

Last year's Little League post-season tournament had Area, Division, Section, State and Regional levels of competition. 1958, however, saw the inclusion of a "Bi-Divisional" playoff: in our case, this meant Division 19 champ West Covina American would play Division 20 winner East Whittier for a spot in the Section III Tourney in Colton this coming weekend.

In the showdown at Barranca Park in Covina, Denny Allen shone on the mound, holding a strong East Whittier offense to only 2 hits. Allen's bat was key to winning the game, as well. In the 4th inning, he hit a double that advanced Tom Finch to third. Finch then took advantage of a wild pitch to score the game's only run.

West Covina American.....000 100–1 3 0
East Whittier............000 000–0 2 0

Another great action photo. Clearly, Tom Finch didn't just stroll home on that wild pitch!

East Valley's Best

Saturday, July 26, 1958

A lot was at stake for West Covina American and Pacific Coast of West Covina today at Glendora Little League Field: the District 19 title, of course, but the outcome would also decide the City Championship, and beyond that, secure the winner bragging rights as the best Little League team in the East San Gabriel Valley.

It was a hard-fought game. West Covina American pitching ace Don Bunch was truly on fire, striking out 14 while giving up only 1 hit, and extending his post-season scoreless-innings streak to 12. Pacific Coast was strong on defense, though, stranding 11 WCALL baserunners. With nothing but goose eggs on the scoreboard through 5-1/2, the break came when Steve Fox hit safely with a runner on in the bottom of the last frame to end the game.

Pacific Coast of West Covina.....000 000–0 1 1
West Covina American.............000 001–1 4 2

I noted with some concern that Mike Okura was hit by 2 pitched balls today. I'd hate to think that was intentional...

Here's Dad accepting the District 19 Championship trophy. Pretty impressive for a local-level Little League award, isn't it? I know I have a couple of family photos of this beaut somewhere, but I can't seem to find them at the moment.

In my dad's notes, I found this bracket of the 1958 tourney action thus far. Out of all 13 Little League teams in the eastern SGV, WCALL had come out on top.

Now it's on to the Bi-District playoff next week in Covina!

West Covina Beats Covina, Again

Friday, July 25, 1958

West Covina American defeated Covina National today in the late semi-final game of the 1958 District 19 playoff at Glendora Little League Park.

Denny Allen was the starting pitcher for West Covina, but was replaced by Gary Beecher after Allen gave up a lead-off home run followed by 2 walks in the top of the 1st. With the game tied 1-1 going into the last inning, West Covina's offense exploded for 9 runs in the top of the 6th, with Mike Okura and Randy Harrison each hitting a 2-RBI double, and Denny Allen sealing the win with a 3-run homer. Gary Beecher had 11 strikeouts on the day, throwing 6-1/3 innings of shutout ball.

West Covina American.....100 009–10 4 1
Covina National..........100 000– 1 2 3

Bunch Hurls No-Hitter!

Friday-Saturday, July 18-19, 1958

Mom messed up and didn't save any newspaper clippings about Game 1 of the Area 4 playoffs, but from other information in the scrapbook, I was able to glean that Gary Beecher was on the mound for West Covina American Friday evening when they defeated Glendora American 8-2 at Cortez Park.

However, I do have an article and an official score sheet from Saturday's game against Covina American, and what a game it was! Our Don Bunch pitched a no-hitter! He struck out 12 of the 18 batters he faced, and would have thrown a perfecto except for walking the first batter. Greg Mulligan slammed a 2-RBI homer in the bottom of the 4th for the game's only runs.

This is a terrific photo. It's like a freeze-frame of an instant replay, and it clearly shows the umpire's pick-off call was correct, just by a fraction of an inch.

Shoddy reporting by the Tribune writer, though. Don Bunch couldn't possibly have retired "21 consecutive batters," because there are a maximum 18 outs per side in a regulation Little League game. Anyway, have a look at the official score sheet below and see for yourself that Covina American only had 18 at-bats.

Covina American..........000 000–0 0 0
West Covina American.....000 20x–2 6 0

So Area 4 champs West Covina American will face Area 3 winner Covina National when District 19 playoff action commences next Friday in Glendora.

The 1958 All-Stars

Tuesday, July 15, 1958

The tournament paperwork was signed and notarized today. The roster's official now.

Mike Adams (Exchange Club) – 12
Denny Allen (Elks Club) – 12
Gary Beecher (7-Up) – 12
Don Bunch (Driftwood Dairy) – 12
Tom Finch (7-Up) – 11
Steve Fox (7-Up) – 12
Steve Gray (Driftwood Dairy) – 12
Randy Harrison (7-Up) – 12
John Lyons (Elks Club) – 12
Lee Meyers (Driftwood Dairy) – 11
Greg Mulligan (Elks Club) – 11
Mike Okura (Driftwood Dairy) – 12
Ritchie Reiner (Elks Club) – 12
Terry Thorsness (7-Up) – 12

The 1958 West Covina American Little League All-Star Team

Click image for full-res file.

Standing (l. to r.): Ed Shannon (Manager), Steve Gray, Mike Okura, Ritchie Reiner, Don Bunch, Randy Harrison, John Lyons, Gary Beecher, Fred Allen (Coach). Kneeling: Greg Mulligan, Steve Fox, Terry Thorsness, Tom Finch, Denny Allen, Lee Meyers, Mike Adams.

 

The pitching staff: Mike Okura (Catcher), Denny Allen, Gary Beecher, Don Bunch.

Click image for full-res file.

Beecher will be on the mound when Area tournament play officially gets underway on the 18th.

Postscript: I remember Dad telling me that Mike Okura's surname was spelled "O'Kura" to protect him from possible anti-Japanese discrimination. That's why, throughout the tournaments, you'll see Mike's name printed with an apostrophe in newspapers, programs and on official league forms.

 

Champs Again!

Saturday, July 12, 1958

In the season-ending playoff game today, 7-Up defeated Elks Club to win its second straight West Covina American Little League championship title.

7-Up, 1958. Interesting little bit of trivia: three of the players on this baseball team eventually went on to excel in football; one even earned a Super Bowl ring!

Click on photo for full-res file.

Standing (l. to r.): Moe Fox (Co-Manager), Steve Fox, future Dallas Cowboy defensive end Pat Toomay, Gary Beecher, future Cleveland Brown and Atlanta Falcon defensive lineman Lou Sabatino, Randy Harrison, Larry McDermott, Terry Thorsness, Ed Shannon (Co-Manager). Kneeling: Future West Covina High School star quarterback and Cal Hall of Fame free safety Ken Wiedemann, Jim McKenzie, Larry Young, Mike Church, Tom Finch, and Mark Wiedemann (batboy).

The official players' trophy for 1958 may have been small and plain, but it was always one of my favorites in Dad's collection.

Last year, the championship coaches were awarded a nice brass plaque, but not this season. Instead, the boys themselves signed thank-you notes. Personally, I consider this a higher honor.

Tournament play gets underway July 18, when the West Covina American All-Stars go against Glendora American in their Area 4 opening match at Cortez Park.

 

The 1958 Post-Season

It's that time of year again! Baseball season, of course, and in particular, time for another 60-year-later look-back at the post-season adventures of the West Covina American Little League All-Stars.

This year's retrospective will be less detailed than last, though. Main reason being, Mother's 1958 baseball scrapbook is incomplete. She evidently used an inferior brand of adhesive/mucilage, which not only visibly stained much of the scrap, its hold is weak, so just in the normal course of handling the album over the years, several clippings describing the earlier games were lost.

Coverage of the 1958 All-Stars will also be shorter due to the simple fact that the team didn't advance as far into the post-season playoffs as it did in 1957.

But there's still a fair share of action and surprises in store! So once more: let's PLAY BALL!

 

The Perfect Game

Friday, August 23, 1957

No recap of the Little League post-season of 1957 would be complete without the telling of what is perhaps the greatest Cinderella story in youth baseball history: the improbable and unstoppable march to Williamsport of a scruffy bunch of upstart Mexican pee-wees which culminated in the historic perfecto pitched by their ambidextrous ace in the final game of the Little League World Series.

The team blanked by Monterrey Industrial 60 years ago today was La Mesa, California: the champs of the same State Tournament in which West Covina won Third Place less than two weeks before.

My mother was so thorough in her scrapbooking that she actually subscribed to the Williamsport newspaper so she could also document the Little League World Series that year. The following are selections from her many pages of clippings.

By all accounts, the pint-sized niños from Mexico were celebrated fan-favorites, contradicting the political narrative in the 2006 film The Perfect Game, which portrayed the team as a target of xenophobia and racism throughout their tournament play. It was simply not true. (I don't care how good a team is from a technical point-of-view: you can't win 13 games in a row in any sport if the crowd is constantly hostile towards you.)

Click on the jump for more articles and photos!

Why It Matters

So what does it matter what a bunch of local Little Leaguers did 60 years ago?

I suppose in the grand scheme of things, not much. But in West Covina, in 1957, what these young men did mattered a lot. As I said previously, this was the first team from the city to ever play and place in a state-level tournament, and firsts in sports history are always noteworthy.

Our family's only official mementos of the tournament. Of all the trophies in my father's collection, this plastic one was the cheapest-looking of all, and yet, it was his first as a manager of an All-Star team, and probably his most-treasured. My mother made the presentation case for the pins.

One might argue that "Third Place" isn't a whole lot to cheer about, but let me explain why the West Covina American All-Stars' winning finish in the 1957 State Tournament was such an exceptional accomplishment.

• After losing their opener, the team had to win 3 games in a row just to place in the tournament, which they subsequently did, and convincingly, too.
• Only one other team won 3 consecutive games, and that was the State champ, La Mesa.
• Overall, our boys were the most productive. West Covina played more games in the tournament than any of the other teams–4 in less than 48 hours–and in their 3 victories, West Covina scored 20 runs; La Mesa only 11.
• Finally, we ended up beating the team that sent us to the losers' bracket to begin with, which means that West Covina–just like La Mesa–defeated every opponent they faced.

Considering all this, I've little doubt that, if not for that one wild pitch in the last inning of their tourney opener, West Covina would have claimed the State crown, not La Mesa. And if one recalls what happened to La Mesa in the Little League World Series final that year, had West Covina knocked them out at the state level, a certain history-making baseball game would not have taken place...

Win or lose, though, there is no question that the 1957 West Covina American All-Stars made local sports history, and I hope that, through my storytelling here, I've managed to do justice to them and to their achievements.

The Big Parade!

Sunday, August 11, 1957

The day after West Covina American won Third Place in the California State Tournament, their accomplishment was feted with a parade and reception at the then-brand-new West Covina Plaza shopping center. Everybody and their sister was there! Without a doubt, it was the biggest public celebration in the history of the young city.

This was my most vivid memory of the days surrounding the tournament. I mean, how could any little boy forget seeing their very own dad riding on a fire engine in a parade? I even remember that we were standing opposite the Thrifty Drug Store when the team passed by.

Below right, my grandmother holds your cub reporter up so he can get a better look at the big news event!

 

Presentation

Saturday, August 10, 1957

Tonight, the West Covina American All-Stars were awarded their Third Place trophies by the State Tournament's official sponsor. Here, 7-Up Youth Foundation official Jim Smith presents the team trophy to managers Ed Shannon and Fred Allen, Sr. The players in attendance were (l. to r.): Denny Allen, Freddy Allen, Jim Kendall, Carl Lenz, Rudy Bullen, Alan Myer, Gary Walker, John Montgomery, Bruce Young, Steve Fox, Don Bunch, Gary Beecher, Tom Dolan and Mike Okura.

A closeup of the team trophy. Although presented to my father, I'm sure he turned it over to the League. Dad had a ton of trophies in our house, but this one was never among them. I wonder if West Covina American–or perhaps the city–still has it...