I moved to Woodland in the 60s and started playing for a team called Franks Market. We didn't win much, but we sure had a great time. I met a guy on that team named Manuel and we ended up playing ball together for over twenty years. Goes without saying that we became very good friends.
We ended up being the dominate team around these parts in the 70s and part of the 80s. Sometimes we would play against these big giants and we would just base hit the hell out of the ball and beat them. I remember hearing one of those guys say "damn we let those little guys beat us". That felt pretty good. I played outfield, i had a pretty god arm, but the reason i was asked to play was because i was a good right field hitter, That's why they picked me up.
I played on a team that, when we played in a tournament on the weekends, some of the guys would have a beer with their breakfast right before the game and we would drink beer all during the rest of the day. These guys were some great players and that's just the way we rolled. I remember one time we were having a good game, we were playing in a tournament the score was tight and right in the middle of the game the police came and arrested our pitcher, yup put him in handcuffs right on the pitcher's mound and took him away. These guys were a bunch of characters and a whole lotta fun to be around. You just never knew what they would come up with next. When someone didn't show up for a game, we knew he either got too drunk the night before or got busted or both, but these guys were still a pretty reliable bunch to play ball with.
We weren't "purty" like some of the other teams,we didn't have uniforms, but we knew how to play the game. We just went out and kicked ass. We also had a large rooting section, they would fill up the bleachers and line up along the first and third base line, the place would be packed and it was always one big party when we were on the field.
There was this one lady who owned a bar that agreed to sponsor our team and buy us uniforms. Of course we took her up on it. After a game we would go to her bar and party till closing time, then she would close up the place and let us party and play pool for free till the wee wee hours of the night. She was a great lady and one of the most vocal spectators in the rooting section. When Dubach park was built,teams would come from Sacramento, Vacaville, San Francisco, Marysville and other places to play in tournaments here. They all enjoyed playing here. Of course we didn't win all the tournaments, but we did win our share. Those were some really great times.
A friend of mine named Melvin got me started coaching, he told me i would make a good coach. Of course i had my doubts, but i said i would give it a try. I started with a mens team, we got our butts kicked all over the place, but i wouldn't give up, i kept right on trying, then he got me involved coaching a girls team. After about a couple of years, i had all the right players on the girls team and we made a run for it, these girls became one of the teams to beat in this area, we had some rowdy players on the team that were always ready to kick ass. We got along with most teams but there was always some that didn't like us. That was o k, it made for a good rivalry. I remember these girls playing in a tournament one time and we were the underdogs, we made it to the finals and we played the team that was favored to win it and we beat them in a hard fought tough game. Talk about being proud. I couldn't have been more proud of them. My wife played on that team and she made some very good defensive plays at catcher to keep the runners from scoring. I'll never forget that game, it stayed etched in my mind. My team showed a lot of character and class in that tournament, they way they played and their sportsmanship, you just couldn't top it. I still have the newspaper clippings. They finally gave us a real nice write up. Back then some of the teams that took second or third place in tournaments would get a big write up on the first page of the sports section. We would take first place and get a write up in the third page down at the bottom of the page and it would be about two inches by two inches big. Since then, i've coached men's, women's, co-ed and seniors softball. I guess i must have done something right, because i have a bunch of trophy's to show for my time and effort. I'm 66 years old now and i'm managing two men's teams ( one is a seniors men's team i pitch for) and i'm helping coach and pitch for a co-ed team. I still pitch for the younger men's team once in awhile, but with the new batts they have out now, the ball comes back at you too quick for me, i've been nailed quite a few times and i've seen people get nailed, it's not pretty. People are starting to wear masks and chest and shin protection, but that's where i get off. Don't know how much longer i can play this game, but i still enjoy it, probably as much or more then i did when i was younger. I guess i'll just keep on keeping on till my body says "no mas".
