One day at Wrigley Field Los Angeles

 One day at Wrigley Field Los Angeles



     I was lucky enough to attend many games at Wrigley field over on 42nd and Avalon when the Pacific Coast League minor league Angels were out favorite team until our Dodgers came out from Brooklyn. It was a cozy place with room for about 20,000 fans and power alleys at 343 feet. The LA Angels were big time in town during the mid-1950's with stars like Steve Bilko and Gene Mauch. However, the club was owned by cheapskate William Wrigley and their major league affiliate was the perpetually crummy Chicago Cubs. So, while much can be said about Wrigley and Gilmore field across town where the Hollywood Stars played this little story is about the brief period when Major league baseball was played in Wrigley. Walter O'Malley ended up buying the park and trading the land to the city of Los Angeles for the land at Chavez Ravine where he built magnificent Dodger Stadium that opened in 1962.  BC had excellent connections with the Major League Angels and once got me their star Albie Pearson's cleats and bat. The kindly Billy Jordan was the affable ticket manager who drove a 1949 Packard you could see in the parking lot at the Dodger stadium when I made pick-up in the 60's. On this occasion he set us up with prime seats on the first base line for Jack, Greg and I  ready to root for the downtrodden expansion Halos. The team was winding down their initial season and had a rookie pitcher named Dean Chance who actually won a Cy Young and pitched two no-hitters later in his career. It was 1961 and the only year for big league games at Wrigley but the team was playing the American Leagure with the dreaded Yankees featuring Maris and Mantle flexing their home run muscles. We were wise guys who found the hi-jinks of Halo Harry, a  self-appointed cheerleader beyond cool but we cheered when Cheeky Wagner, a Giants washout, boomed a home run into the picnic tables in  right and the Angels were holding their own against an established ball club. Wagner was a favorite since he  had a commerical on TV for his clothing store and he would shout "Buy your glad rags from Daddy Wags!"  In those days most pitchers were terrble hitters since they did not practice and it was assumed they would be an out. There were a few exceptions but Dean Chance was one of the worst and his 4 of 65 stats the following year prove that. However, on this day he swung late, made soft contact and bounced a little dribbler to an infielder and the stadium roared. A drunk sitting very near us stood and shouted into the crowd. I this guy gets a hit I will take a beer bath! So when the lineup turned over we sat up at attention when Dean Chance brought his normally useless bat up to the plate. Once again his inept swing connected and he bounced one toward the mound but the  pitcher flinched and it rolled into center field. The drunk stood and poured a full beer over his head as we cheered with admiration and appreciaton for making a meaningless game fun to watch. 



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