The Old Pacific Coast League: 1946 Promotional Film.

[Music] a your narrator is Oscar risho this is the home territory of the Pacific coast leag from Seattle to San Diego more than 1700 M apart our Splendid teams play taking in Portland Sacramento Oakland San Francisco with Hollywood and Los Angeles in between in the top leagues of the East the American and National the longest distance is some 900 miles between Boston and Chicago but our great League of the West regard such spaces as but normal and to reach the 18 million people in our territory long jumps from City to City are commonplace like the Pacific Ocean we too stretch along and connect the cities of the entire Coast for 43 years the Pacific coast league has been flourishing in this territory its president a gentleman famed in the National Baseball World Clarence Roland will tell you more Baseball fans I am pleased to present to you through the medium of this film an inside picture of our Pacific Coast League we are now in our most important season for this is the year in which we have declared Our intention to be become a major lead and this is the year in which we shall seriously go about proving our point in this Great Pacific area where we play we have approximately 15 million people more than enough to bring our league up to the peak in baseball you will no doubt be familiar with many of the names and faces of the players in this film of our spring training for those who have not achieved great Fame they on the verge of it the 1946 season is here and our clubs are giving you the best in baseball let's get acquainted with all the managers in the Pacific coast league first meet Frank Lefty Odo Lefty has taught many players a lot about baseball the dagio boys Joe Vince and Dominic all passed through his hands as manager for 10 years of the San Francisco Seals he has had outstanding teams but that isn't strange because odul is one of baseball's Immortal figures twice he led the national league in hitting one year coming within the coveted 400 Mark and if you're interested in more figures he holds a base hit record for a season he hammered out 254 hits one year lefy teams are fast and energetic they take after their manager in this respect and year after year they reflect his hustling spirit and all Pacific Coast League fans know it here we have Marvin Owen of Portland watch him get that ball to first base with deadly accuracy he's a real playing manager he can lead a team hit and field and what a great Pair of Hands he has this is no easy trick he can hold seven Baseballs in one hand if you think this is easy try it sometime first first try to get the seven balls that's the hard trick here's a new manager to the coast but not new to baseball Casey stingle manager of Oakland the great Casey who manages the Boston Braves and the team we hear so little about the Brookland bums for so many years he's the leader for a group of businessmen who are determined to win a pennant regardless of the cost he's tops and you'll hear much of his team this summer here's a fire brand Bill Sweeney of Los Angeles once a great first baceman and what a manager after 6 months rest he's practicing up on how to be sweet and gentle to umpires all right Bill stop arguing with that umpire you know you can't win that smile is a rare shot folks watch for it during the season and boy what a slide that was done by the one and only pepper Martin the fellow who stole the whole show for the St Louis Cardinals in the world series of 1931 here's the third of our playing managers Buck faucett pilot of Hollywood a hitter with a lifetime average of over 300 and the manager who plays with so much contagious Spirit himself that his own work is reflected in the hustle of his team he came to the Pacific coast League from Cincinnati three seasons ago and his play was so outstanding that almost by popular demand he was made manager at Hollywood this year he has virtually a new team and has made to dire threats against the rest of the League this is Bill skiff manager for the past five years of the fine teams which Seattle invariably puts into League competition he was a smart catcher with the New York Yankees he knows the game thoroughly and his teams show that he knows it and there isn't a phase of baseball that he hasn't patiently gone over with his youngsters and his veterans he's a brainy manager skiff his mind is on one thing the game he's playing and he plays those games to the utmost of his ability here's another brainy manager Earl Shey of Sacramento he is remembered as one of the game's finest Fielding first basem the younger element among our Pacific Coast League fans know him as the man who made Sacramento into a fighting team he's not a fire brand this fellow Sheil unless an Umpire arouses him have you ever wondered how these teams are put together how they train how the players are weeded out watch six or seven weeks before the season begins great squads of players assemble in these towns here the the various teams have their training camps left oou and his seals are arriving in Honolulu this is the first time the seals have trained on this lovely Island it was a holiday in Honolulu when they arrived thousands saw the players on Parade to the City Hall where the fans and officials gathered to pay them welcome following the usual custom of the island the members of the San Francisco contingent were beded with beautiful lays the mayor and other officials of the city Administration greeted the boys from the mainland assuring them that everything possible would be done to make their stay a pleasant one president Charles graah and Mr Paul Fagan of the San Francisco Club were royally entertained to show his sincerity the mayor presented president graah with a key to the city which he said was symbolic of the hospitality they could expect while in Honolulu all the managers in the league had hundreds of players to look at this season starting with Sacramento you can see the squad manager Shey had to choose from before selecting his club for the campaign like Shey manager skiff had many men in Camp that he had never seen before or had not seen in several years he had to give each and everyone the one sober before making up his mind where to use them this places a very important responsibility on the manager for the final decision as to a player ability rests on his shoulders mistakes made at this point may result in the difference between a first or second division team it takes rare judgment on the part of the manager to select the awkward rookie who will later develop into a valuable player the same was done by manager Marv Owen of Portland whose players you see in action in the training camp after winning a pennant in 1945 Marv worked hard to get his men in shape for the 1946 race more than 60 men were in uniform in the Hollywood camp where manager Buck faett put the players over the jumps before passing judgment on their merits and deciding which ones were to make the team the Oakland Oaks lost no time this spring in getting into first class condition as manager stangle put his players through a rigid training period with Casey it was up early in the morning and early to bed as soon as the players got into their uniforms and on the field in boy Springs they were sent around in squads many of the players who were just out of the service did not relish this but manager stangle saw that each and every player Circle the field several times before starting the day's practice Casey did not have the usual baseball Squad but instead he had a regiment of players as you can see he did not allow any of his players to sh their duties as he stood in one spot throughout to see that no one fell by the wayside the idea of this system of training of sprinting and walking is for the purpose of getting the wind in shape and this is one of the most important parts of the training period if a player's breathing is bad it will affect his playing on the field no one knows that better than Casey we are in the spacious stadium in Honolulu here you see the seals and their daily exercise of bending and leg drills this is Leti O's idea of getting his men ready as he says you cannot play good baseball without having good strong legs and he also declares that you cannot have too much weight around the waist his boys were pretty lame for a few days after this grind started odou didn't complain he didn't take the exercise his players however came back to the mainland in tiptop shape Bill skiff missed this one he let Eddie T his coach take over in this grind Taylor a bit heavy around the waist didn't kick too much it helped him to lose a few pounds too Taylor did a nice job of keeping the reers at this work throughout the training period after they were through many of the players had to take a notch or two in their belts proving that this type of training does help notice this wrist exercise Buck faet is not teaching his men to say bye-bye but once them to loosen their wrist which is necessary for good throwing in baseball Buck thinks it is essential that the wrists be limber in All Phases of playing the game he also believes that the leg muscles must be stretched thoroughly before the player can get down to real tough training in the spring these exercises he contends has much to do with getting the wind and legs in first class condition Bill Sweeney calls this his back breaker and I believe him any player who can do this 25 to 30 times without falling down must be in good shape not only is it good for the player but I think Bill gets a pretty good workout too this is another of those wind and leg exercises the players however do not recommend this as a regular diet fans this is a new one on the Pacific coast it teaches control you see a rectangle watch the ball go through this represents the strike zone meaning the height and width to which a pitcher has to pitch a ball to get a strike over the plate here you see pepper Martin coaching pitchers Olsen and Carl dumbler of the San Diego team in the art of throwing the ball through this rectangle these pictures as a result of using this device have shown unusual ability in getting the ball over the plate this would be a good idea for use in high schools and playgrounds it would teach the youngsters control there much more to spring training than the fans realize spring training is not the only means of getting into condition managers have to instruct and teach the recruits the fine points of their positions during this period a manager wishes he had a dozen pair of eyes Bill Sweeney of the angels shows one of his pictures how to keep the opposition from seeing whether he is going to pitch a curve or or a fast ball in other words the youngster must be taught how to hide his delivery work has to be done by the manager in every Department he has to keep his eye on about every man in Camp to see whether he is doing something right or wrong he has to watch his infielders as well as his outfielders Sweeney has noticed that one of his young first basemen has not yet learned how to shift his feet on taking a throw from the second basement watch how Bill shows him how to do it words of advice along this line often are the making of a young ball player that is if he will take the advice given by a smart manager and apply it to his work great speed is required in baseball in this play notice how fast the runner slides into first base and the speed with which the first baseman puts the ball on him Coach Herman pet of Sacramento talks to the boys about how to slide away from the tag and also how the first baseman should follow the slider's foot with the ball Herm should know because he picked many a man off first base in his day spring training is not easy on Veterans they find it pretty tough to take off weight touching the toes from a prone position is the one drill that reduces the waistline and prepares them for a busy season when spring training is over the individual ual Elements which are being kept for the season are assembled into a team a team that works plays and thinks together this coordination is essential for Success it is a necessity incidentally to have great teams in a league where the attendance last year was well over 3 million and where a larger attendance is expected this year players as well as the owners know this and are showing more hustle than they have in years this determined action makes for a more attractive brand of baseball the patrons of the game enjoy this aggressiveness and look for it on all ball clubs we now want you to get a glimpse of some of the old and new players in our league here is a new one Charlie gasway of the Oakland Club he's a left-hander and has shown that he can fire the ball over the plate with decided Effectiveness here is how he grips the ball for his best curve watch him deliver it Bill Randi Oakland's first string catcher he has been in the league many years and probably is one of the most popular ball players The Oaks have ever had lescar s is swinging that bat left-handed and how he swings it for those home runs danger is written all over him when he walks up to the plate and opposing right-hand pitchers fear him greatly with men on the bases hersel Martin also packs a mean w up from the left side of the plate and he is still hitting with the same power that made him Troublesome in the major leagues fenes in the league are not too far away for him Ed K who wears a purple heart is back from the service and doing a great job for stangle behind the plate as you can see by the way he blocks a runner trying to score here is an old favorite JoJo white of Sacramento he still fascinates the fans with his hitting and terrific speed on the bases he's always a tough man to pitch to Jean Corbin also of the Solon shows you how a bunch should be made to advance a runner Jean Lillard is not only a pitcher with a good fast ball but is always dangerous with a stick Jess landram is another of Sacramento's timely and dangerous hitters his work at the plate and in the field have been a tower of strength to Sacramento Tony freedus has been one of Sacramento's leading southpaws for many years his stretch in the service did not lessen his skill or his Worth to the Sola he is one of Sacramento's favorites Al Smith is one of the veteran left-handers in the Pacific coast league and has an assortment of pitches that is not only puzzingo left-handers but right-handers as well Hal Turpin who pitches with great ease is known in the coast league as a controlled pitcher he has been a member of several clubs in the league and on each has always been a winner guy Fletcher always takes his time on the rubber he is a student of his work and sizes up every hitter before he makes a pitch he wants to be sure that the ball is in the right spot when it crosses the plate opposing hitters know that his pitchers will be around the plate somewhere Don pford is one of the League's best curveball pitchers he works hard to get this particular pitch to Perfection and when he does he's Mighty tough to hit Coast league players will vouch for this here's Jake Moody a fellow who has been pitching for quite a few years he was called to Detroit last summer and on several occasions did some Splendid pitching for the Tigers as he is now doing for the be Roy hster again shows the form that has made him one of the outstanding southpaws in the Pacific coast League he also shows that quick throw to first base that keeps the base runners hugging the bag Frank Shon in addition to some heavy hitting has done a lot of fast base running for the beavers and we see here how hard he goes into the bag he comes up smiling so he must have beaten the throw here we have catchers how sui and Bob Finley of Seattle comparing gloves good workmen must have good tools each has a different kind and each thinks his is the best that however is a matter for individual opinion two of Seattle's pitchers Ira Hutcherson and Douglas Ford do a lot of warming up Preparatory to pitching and practice games before the season starts Bill skiff acquired a speedy base runner when he got Bill Ramsey pitcher Charlie Eisman of San Diego was a major in the Marines while in the Marines he pitched a lot of ball and mastered control which has made him very effective Carl dumbler of the Padres while not overburdened with weight is a right-hander that gives the right-hand hitters in the league a lot of trouble manager pepper Martin watches his form and warming up as he does that of Al Olsen a young left-hander who has shown a great deal of promise outfielder John Jensen came back from the service to take up where he left off for the Padres three years ago he played a lot of ball for Uncle Sam and he too continues to show much promise the Hollywood stars picked up Mr X from Pittsburgh that's what he is called by his teammates but his right name is Xavier REO and the stars were lucky to get him but Moran is one of the favorites in Hollywood not alone for his ability to play first base but because of his timely hitting Manny Perez once pitched in Mexico he says that he wants no more of it and prefers to remain in organized baseball with a chance to go to the majors one of the assets of an outfielder is his ability to throw consequently they have to do a lot of warming up before a game here we have outfielders John dickshot collie Rickard and Tommy O'Brien getting ready for the game the seals were most fortunate in being able to train in Honolulu after work in the stadium they were taken to the alluring Beach at w Kei this was part of a daily routine what a pleasure it was in the distance is Diamond Head you get a glimpse of the beautiful Shoreline as well as the luxurious hotels that are on This Magnificent Beach the San Francisco players as well as manager oou enjoyed this part of their training they paddled around in Outrigger canoes for considerable time thereby getting exercise that they did not get on the field they also did some swimming that is those who could swim you see the boys paddling back to San Francisco they started in the right direction but after bouncing around for a while decided they' rather go home on the Clipper which they did new construction was essential to accommodate anticipated increased attendance Sacramento modernized its spark both outside and inside changing its entrance and adding additional box seats Oakland too made many improvements in its seating capacity increasing by approximately 7500 putting in new bleacher sections in right and left field you have seen our setup for this season our parks are being enlarged as quickly as material can be secured this is big leag territory we we have big league fans and big league players and a big league population just watch us [Applause] [Music] go oh [Music] la

Channel: Nostalgist1938

Views: 59,982

Keywords: Baseball, Pacific Coast League, 1946, Clarence Rowland, Casey Stengel, Lefty O'Doul, Pepper Martin

Id: dPv41VZ68yE

Length: 26min 18sec (1578 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 10 2012