Albie Pearson and me1957
US Navy 1962
The USS Pollux AKS-4
The USS Ranger CVA-61
Willow Glen High School, San Jose....there were around 5 streets around the high school
that were named after cousins of my Father....at one time my Dad's Grandfather owned
a large ranch that covered the area around the high school. When he died his kids devided
it all up and sold it... WAAAA!
EVEN MORE EARLY MEMORIES
My uncle Pete, who was an umpire in the California league, told me that the San Jose Red Sox would be doing their spring training in Santa Cruz and if I’d like I could be their “Bat Boy”. (They were a farm team of the Boston Red Sox.)
Whoa!!! How cool could that be??? Get to wear the teams bat boy uniform and every thing. Not so fast…The only uniform that would fit a “Walk on” player named Albie Pearson was MY uniform!!!
When I met him he was a 19 year old pitcher…. The manager, Red Marion…(an ex 2nd baseman from the Cardinal organization) lined the team up on the first day of training and had them sprint from one side of the field to the other…Albie took of like he was shot out of a cannon…Red said, “Son, go play right field”.
I learned a lot of “new words” being on the field and in the clubhouse with those guys for that 2 week period…guess I’m just a fast learner. Albie wasn’t like his team mates…guess he was younger than those other guys and had never been in a professional clubhouse…his vocabulary wasn’t as colorful as the rest of the team. Albie was a pretty friendly guy that was friendly to this 12 year old. I asked him if he’d like a home cooked dinner and he jumped at the invite so he came to our house for dinner.
My folks were impressed with this polite young guy….he told us that his Dad was a track star back in his home town and held all of the track records in his town and that when he got to high school the records still belonged to his Dad. Albie then said that he broke all of his Dad’s records. During the meal my Dad asked him if he had a girl back home and he said that was engaged to his high school sweetheart…..(AAAAWWWW that’s sweet.)
He had a great year in San Jose and the Red Sox won the California league by 17 and a half games…the next year he found himself in the Texas League , he won the league “batting crown” with around a .360 average. We were living in San Francisco in ‘56 or ‘57 when he was signed to play for the SF Seals I got to see him again and he would leave me tickets from time to time at the stadium box office.
He was traded to the Washington Senators and was “Rookie of the year” in 1958. He retired with a bad back in ’63 I believe. In the mid ‘70’s I heard that he was in San Jose speaking to some youth at a church…I had my uniform on and was on my way to pitch a fast pitch game and dropped by to see him. I stood in the back as he gave a great motivational talk to the teenagers there…after the talk there were a couple of dozen kids crowded around him, I walked to the side of the group and he glanced in my direction…I hadn’t seen him since I was 16 years old but he recognized me and excused himself from the group for a minute…when he came over to me reaching out his hand he said “Jack, What are you doing here?” we talked for a few minutes and he asked about my folks...he said to say “ Hi” to my Mom. He asked if I had heard his talk…I told him that he had done a good job with the kids…He asked if I was a Christian” and I told him “You betcha, sure am.” He asked what church I attended and I told him that I was a Mormon….he looked at me kinda puzzled for a second then said, “I guess the Lord loves Mormons too.” I said “You bet He does.”
That was the last time I talked with him until a week or so ago, I found out how to get a hold of him and left a message…he called me back and we talked for a little while…he is a minister in a church in California and has a ranch for kids…still a good man doing good things.
Back to our days in Santa Cruz…I hated leaving there because it was a wonderful place to grow up...(before the hippies took the place over.) Moving then to San Francisco was quite a culture shock. There were few black people or Asians in Santa Cruz. It took a little getting used to…mostly the races stayed apart from each other, even at school. I really grew to like SF because it was a fun place to be and it was easy to travel all over the city on the buses and trollie cars…The golden Gate Park was only 4 blocks away...downtown wasn’t very far and there…at the end of the street that I lived… (Geary Blvd.) there was an amusement park, Playland at the Beach, which was like the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz….there was a skating rink there and that I believe is where Bob and Darlene met. Got to go see the Niners play for free once in a while because not many people watche “Pro football” in those days.
I attended Roosevelt Junior High School. I was asked to take a drama class by one of my teachers I thought it would be an easy class so I took it. I played in a few plays in the 9th grade.( they did a play in the spring and another in the fall) I and another fella won the best actor award. Went to George Washington High School and played JV baseball and JVfootball…there were 3500 kids in that school mostly whites & blacks but also a buncha Asians. There were only a few juniors on the varsity so there was no chance of playing “Varsity” ball until I was a senior…. had a lotta fun but was a 135 lb. linebacker and back-up quarterback…only took a few snaps in the games…but I was the starting left linebacker.
I attended a Presbyterian church there once in a while…they had a good youth group with a few pretty girls…I also used to hang out at a gymnasium at the “Star of the Sea” Catholic Church….enjoyed boxing on some boxing nights there …I was a fairly good student…never any honor rolls but never in any trouble…just kinda cruizin. Think I see a pattern here, Eh?
My Dad died in 1957, I was in my junior year…we moved back to San Jose because Mother just hated that place.
I didn’t do well at Willow Glen High school in San Jose…it was a very wealthy school and all the guys I hung out with had relly nice cars and money seemed to be easy to come by for them….unlike SF, without a car it was pretty hard to get around to find and keep a job while your in school. Since I was not very motivated, missing my Dad…I left school and went to work. When I got laid off of my job I was faced with, no car, and down the road a few years getting drafted. I decided to enlist in the Navy.
I took the test to join the Navy on July 5th 1959…on the 8th I found myself in San Diego going to boot camp with my shaved head!! After Boot Camp I was sent to the USS Ranger, an aircraft carrier stationed in Alameda, CA. I was put into the Radar Division which was pretty cool because you not only observed everything that was going on around our ship but we spent a lot of time on the bridge where the Captain was. We worked on the clear plastic board that was used for tracking all the ships and aircraft in our part of the ocean. It was also a cool place to observe the flight “Operations”.
In February 1960 we made a cruise for 7 months to the far east..Hawaii, Japan, Philippine Islands, Taiwan, Hong Kong.. While at sea, one of our chiefs came up to me and asked if I’d like to fly off of the ship in an airplane…we would be going out as a “Radio satellite” (It was a way to trick an enemy into not knowing where the fleet really was.) Flying off the ship was cool…landing back on a moving ship was frightening but pretty interesting.
My uncle Pete, who was an umpire in the California league, told me that the San Jose Red Sox would be doing their spring training in Santa Cruz and if I’d like I could be their “Bat Boy”. (They were a farm team of the Boston Red Sox.)
Whoa!!! How cool could that be??? Get to wear the teams bat boy uniform and every thing. Not so fast…The only uniform that would fit a “Walk on” player named Albie Pearson was MY uniform!!!
When I met him he was a 19 year old pitcher…. The manager, Red Marion…(an ex 2nd baseman from the Cardinal organization) lined the team up on the first day of training and had them sprint from one side of the field to the other…Albie took of like he was shot out of a cannon…Red said, “Son, go play right field”.
I learned a lot of “new words” being on the field and in the clubhouse with those guys for that 2 week period…guess I’m just a fast learner. Albie wasn’t like his team mates…guess he was younger than those other guys and had never been in a professional clubhouse…his vocabulary wasn’t as colorful as the rest of the team. Albie was a pretty friendly guy that was friendly to this 12 year old. I asked him if he’d like a home cooked dinner and he jumped at the invite so he came to our house for dinner.
My folks were impressed with this polite young guy….he told us that his Dad was a track star back in his home town and held all of the track records in his town and that when he got to high school the records still belonged to his Dad. Albie then said that he broke all of his Dad’s records. During the meal my Dad asked him if he had a girl back home and he said that was engaged to his high school sweetheart…..(AAAAWWWW that’s sweet.)
He had a great year in San Jose and the Red Sox won the California league by 17 and a half games…the next year he found himself in the Texas League , he won the league “batting crown” with around a .360 average. We were living in San Francisco in ‘56 or ‘57 when he was signed to play for the SF Seals I got to see him again and he would leave me tickets from time to time at the stadium box office.
He was traded to the Washington Senators and was “Rookie of the year” in 1958. He retired with a bad back in ’63 I believe. In the mid ‘70’s I heard that he was in San Jose speaking to some youth at a church…I had my uniform on and was on my way to pitch a fast pitch game and dropped by to see him. I stood in the back as he gave a great motivational talk to the teenagers there…after the talk there were a couple of dozen kids crowded around him, I walked to the side of the group and he glanced in my direction…I hadn’t seen him since I was 16 years old but he recognized me and excused himself from the group for a minute…when he came over to me reaching out his hand he said “Jack, What are you doing here?” we talked for a few minutes and he asked about my folks...he said to say “ Hi” to my Mom. He asked if I had heard his talk…I told him that he had done a good job with the kids…He asked if I was a Christian” and I told him “You betcha, sure am.” He asked what church I attended and I told him that I was a Mormon….he looked at me kinda puzzled for a second then said, “I guess the Lord loves Mormons too.” I said “You bet He does.”
That was the last time I talked with him until a week or so ago, I found out how to get a hold of him and left a message…he called me back and we talked for a little while…he is a minister in a church in California and has a ranch for kids…still a good man doing good things.
Back to our days in Santa Cruz…I hated leaving there because it was a wonderful place to grow up...(before the hippies took the place over.) Moving then to San Francisco was quite a culture shock. There were few black people or Asians in Santa Cruz. It took a little getting used to…mostly the races stayed apart from each other, even at school. I really grew to like SF because it was a fun place to be and it was easy to travel all over the city on the buses and trollie cars…The golden Gate Park was only 4 blocks away...downtown wasn’t very far and there…at the end of the street that I lived… (Geary Blvd.) there was an amusement park, Playland at the Beach, which was like the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz….there was a skating rink there and that I believe is where Bob and Darlene met. Got to go see the Niners play for free once in a while because not many people watche “Pro football” in those days.
I attended Roosevelt Junior High School. I was asked to take a drama class by one of my teachers I thought it would be an easy class so I took it. I played in a few plays in the 9th grade.( they did a play in the spring and another in the fall) I and another fella won the best actor award. Went to George Washington High School and played JV baseball and JVfootball…there were 3500 kids in that school mostly whites & blacks but also a buncha Asians. There were only a few juniors on the varsity so there was no chance of playing “Varsity” ball until I was a senior…. had a lotta fun but was a 135 lb. linebacker and back-up quarterback…only took a few snaps in the games…but I was the starting left linebacker.
I attended a Presbyterian church there once in a while…they had a good youth group with a few pretty girls…I also used to hang out at a gymnasium at the “Star of the Sea” Catholic Church….enjoyed boxing on some boxing nights there …I was a fairly good student…never any honor rolls but never in any trouble…just kinda cruizin. Think I see a pattern here, Eh?
My Dad died in 1957, I was in my junior year…we moved back to San Jose because Mother just hated that place.
I didn’t do well at Willow Glen High school in San Jose…it was a very wealthy school and all the guys I hung out with had relly nice cars and money seemed to be easy to come by for them….unlike SF, without a car it was pretty hard to get around to find and keep a job while your in school. Since I was not very motivated, missing my Dad…I left school and went to work. When I got laid off of my job I was faced with, no car, and down the road a few years getting drafted. I decided to enlist in the Navy.
I took the test to join the Navy on July 5th 1959…on the 8th I found myself in San Diego going to boot camp with my shaved head!! After Boot Camp I was sent to the USS Ranger, an aircraft carrier stationed in Alameda, CA. I was put into the Radar Division which was pretty cool because you not only observed everything that was going on around our ship but we spent a lot of time on the bridge where the Captain was. We worked on the clear plastic board that was used for tracking all the ships and aircraft in our part of the ocean. It was also a cool place to observe the flight “Operations”.
In February 1960 we made a cruise for 7 months to the far east..Hawaii, Japan, Philippine Islands, Taiwan, Hong Kong.. While at sea, one of our chiefs came up to me and asked if I’d like to fly off of the ship in an airplane…we would be going out as a “Radio satellite” (It was a way to trick an enemy into not knowing where the fleet really was.) Flying off the ship was cool…landing back on a moving ship was frightening but pretty interesting.
When we returned to the States I bought a 1952 Ford 2 door hardtop with a Corvette engine that was VERY fast, from a friend with the last name Overbeck. When the Navy sent me back to Japan for my remaining 2+ years, I told my Mom to get the car to Kenny and for him to sell it for me. If there was anything left that I owed on it to pay my friend...Kenny told me a few years ago that he pulled the engine pulled the engine and sold it to a guy. and scrapped the car. Don't know whatever happened after that.
I was asked to go to Radar School…going to the school was like going back to boot camp…after a year and a half on the carrier I knew the job and it didn’t need all of electronics training…You NEVER fixed gear… you called an electronics tech to do that and I certainly wasn’t looking at this Navy thing as a career. So I asked them to send me back to the fleet.
I was sent to a supply ship, the USS Pollux stationed in Yokosuka, Japan. We would spend 3 or 4 months in our home port area then spend a few months going down to the ports south of us in Japan, then on to Taiwan and Hong Kong...and a few weeks in port at Subic Bay, Philippine islands. I was on that ship for over 2 years.
When I was down to the last 2 months on ship before my time in the Navy was up, I slid into 2nd base in a softball game breaking my right ankle….they operated on me and 6 weeks later sent me back to the states to Oak Knoll hospital in Oakland, CA. for another operation to remove the screw holding my ankle bone together. A month later I got out…I served for 4 years 1 month 4 days and 8 hours…but….who counted??
Leaving the Navy in ’63 I was 22 years old and HHHHAAAAAPPPPPPYYYY!
I was asked to go to Radar School…going to the school was like going back to boot camp…after a year and a half on the carrier I knew the job and it didn’t need all of electronics training…You NEVER fixed gear… you called an electronics tech to do that and I certainly wasn’t looking at this Navy thing as a career. So I asked them to send me back to the fleet.
I was sent to a supply ship, the USS Pollux stationed in Yokosuka, Japan. We would spend 3 or 4 months in our home port area then spend a few months going down to the ports south of us in Japan, then on to Taiwan and Hong Kong...and a few weeks in port at Subic Bay, Philippine islands. I was on that ship for over 2 years.
When I was down to the last 2 months on ship before my time in the Navy was up, I slid into 2nd base in a softball game breaking my right ankle….they operated on me and 6 weeks later sent me back to the states to Oak Knoll hospital in Oakland, CA. for another operation to remove the screw holding my ankle bone together. A month later I got out…I served for 4 years 1 month 4 days and 8 hours…but….who counted??
Leaving the Navy in ’63 I was 22 years old and HHHHAAAAAPPPPPPYYYY!
4 comments:
I love that you have been able to find all these pictures too! How cool to talk with your old friend!
Dad... You should've embellished on the way you left high school. lol, tell the story.
I thought I did....I wasn't applying myself to school after my Dad died and we had to move...I was just there...the dean of men...Mr. Bondalie, sat me down in his office and said, "Jack your just wasting your time here, why don't you leave and go to night school." I did.
that was on a Friday afternoon, I said if i get tossed am I an alumnus here....he said I was. That evening i showed up at school because they were having the annual "Senior vs Alumni Basketball Game" I played for the Alumni....got a lotta laughs from my buddies.
its really neat to hear about ur day growing up!! i've never really heard about them
Post a Comment