The typically good baseball played in the area was augmented by another stable of outstanding players.
Pro teams signed dozens and several made it to the big leagues:
Dave Duncan and Eddie Herrmann were the first two of the eventual five catchers from Crawford to reach the top. Others included Lincoln’s Lou Marone. St. Augustine’s Bob Spence, Madison’s Al Fitzmorris, Clairemont’s Kenny Henderson, Hoover’s Frank Jerry DaVanon and Helix’ Ron Slocum.
A few would be back for the 1964 season, including Crawford sophomore third baseman Bob Boone, who became a catcher in 1971, played, managed, administered, and was working well into the first quarter of the 21st century.
San Diego’s Bob Cluck reached the AAA level and then retired to go into scouting and was a pitching coach for 10 years in the majors.
Despite all of that city talent, Helix and El Capitan met in the playoff finals, below.
ALMOST HISTORY MAKING
San Diego High took little solace when it was pointed out that the Cavemen’s 23-4 shellacking by Hoover was not the most one-sided ever sustained by the legendary program.
But almost.
According to Don King’s Caver Conquest, the athletic history of the school, there was one defeat even more stunning. Santa Ana High, the Cavers’ oldest rival, won the final game of the year on May 6, 1905, 21-1.
The Hilltoppers, as they were known, were coached by Lawrence Carr, Sr.
Fast forward 58 years for a remarkable coincidence. Carr’s son, Lawrence Carr, Jr., was in his ninth year as principal at San Diego High.
2/27/63
Morse’s first game ever was a 6-4 victory at Mar Vista, the Tigers scoring two runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Jim Woodard and Bart Miller combined to pitch a two-hitter and Chula Vista blanked visiting Monte Vista, 2-0.
2/28/63
Freshman Steve Christopher of St. Augustine hurled a one-hit, 1-0 triumph over Helix at Golden Hill Playground and scored the winning run in the sixth inning on a single by Don Carlos Stafford.
Two Clairemont runners stole home in the seventh inning, forcing extra innings, and the Chieftains scored two more in the ninth to win at Oceanside, 4-2.
3/2/63
Inglewood Morningside was the visitor when Crawford’s Dave Duncan singled home Eddie Herrmann in the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory.
Grossmont’s Bob Wilson hit two home runs, but those were all the hits allowed by La Jolla’s John Fink, aided by John Jenkins’ home run in a nine-inning, 3-2 win.
Al Fitzmorris allowed three hits and Madison blanked Morse, 1-0, in a battle of first-year schools.
3/6/63
Dave Duncan launched a 370-foot home run that cleared a 30-foot-high fence in left field at El Capitan and Crawford won, 6-1, in a rematch of the 1962 championship game.
Another Dave Duncan singled in El Capitan’s only run in the fifth inning.
Four Kearny pitchers held Hoover to five hits in the Komets’ 5-0 win.
3/7/63
Daro Quiring struck out 19 batters and his single scored the winning run in Poway’s 2-1 win over El Cajon Valley.
3/8/63
San Diego’s Bob Cluck outdueled Lincoln’s Lou Marone, 5-4.
The Cavers led, 5-1, in the sixth inning before the Hornets scored three runs, two on Bob Rands’ triple, but Cluck then struck out the side and did the same thing in the seventh.
Herb Palmtag’s, eighth-inning, two-run home run, a 360-foot drive which landed in some eucalyptus trees in right field, broke up a pitching duel between the Pointers’ Russ (Hush) Puppe and host Kearny’s John Fletcher.
Palmtag’s shot was the difference as the Pointers won the Western League opener, 3-1.
3/9/63
Home runs by Bill (Sledge) Homik and Frank Jerry DaVanon knocked in three runs each and Hoover beat St. Augustine, 8-4, in an Eastern League opening game.
“Balls were bouncing all over the football seats at the Hoover stadium, whose ‘Pony League-sized’ baseball field is 200 feet down the right field line and stretches to 380 in center,” wrote Larry Littlefield of The San Diego Union.
The Saints’ Paul Toumainen also homered and the Saints’ Bob Spence hit three ground-rule doubles.
Clairemont’s Jim Estes came within one out of a no-hitter, spoiled by Mike Chase’s single in Vista’s 7-0 loss. Crawford blanked Morse, 9-0, as Ron Dargo hurled a one-hitter.
Jim Woodard’s pitched a two-hitter as Chula Vista edged Coronado, 1-0.
Don Parish and Joe Stetser, who reported late after the basketball playoffs, combined to stop Helix on four hits in Hilltop’s 1-0 win.
Mount Miguel’s Jim Canaris pitched a two-hit, 5-0 shutout against Sweetwater.
3/13/63
Daro Quiring allowed one hit and Poway edged University, 1-0, in a Palomar League opener.
Dave Duncan’s three-run home run gave El Capitan a cushion in a 5-3 win over Granite Hills in a Grossmont League so-called “lid-lifter.”
Lincoln’s John Carroll stopped La Jolla on two hits, 3-0.
3/14/63
Madison, with many students and players who originally attended Clairemont, defeated the big brother Chieftains, 2-0, behind Al Fitzmorris’ two-hit pitching.
Lincoln’s Bob Rands hit a home run and, with help from reliefer Lou Marone, was the winning pitcher, 5-4 over Sweetwater.
3/16/63
Hilltop patiently took the generous offerings of visiting Escondido pitchers, coaxing 14 bases on balls and serving notice with a Metropolitan League-opening, 12-2 win.
The Lancers also profited from a seven-run third inning, highlighted by Dave Braswell’s grand-slam home run.
University’s Dave Timms pitched the season’s first no-hitter and struck out 13, including the last six, in blanking San Dieguito, 2-0.
Richard Romero hit a pair of home runs as Clairemont topped Point Loma, 4-2.
3/20/63
Four games, including three in the Eastern League, required extra innings and nine of 18 were decided by one run.
Hoover beat San Diego, 5-3, in 10 innings and took the Eastern League lead with a 3-0 record. St. Augustine beat Morse, 4-1, in 10 innings on Bob Ahearn’s three-run home run and Crawford edged Lincoln, 2-1, in eight.
3/23/62
Clairemont’s Jim Estes retired 17 batters in a row during a one-hit, 6-0 victory over Kearny. The gem was Estes’ second of the season.
Point Loma scored two runs in the 10th inning without a base hit and topped Mission Bay, 4-2.
Bill (Sledge) Homik, John Petersen, and Frank Jerry DaVanon each homered as Hoover stayed in front in the Eastern League, 5-0 over Morse.
Dave Braswell’s two home runs produced all of Hilltop’s runs in a 5-1 win at Mar Vista.
3/27/63
Hoover (5-0) beat visiting Crawford, 8-3, to take a two-game lead over the Colts (3-2) and San Diego (3-2) in the Eastern League.
John Peterson and Lloyd Jacobsen each homered for the Cardinals, while James Murphy and Loren Dantzler went deep for San Diego as the Cavers beat St. Augustine, 9-2, behind Bob Cluck’s five-hit pitching.
No-hitters were posted by sophomore Paul Gerard of Marian and Henry Hyde of Rancho del Campo.
Gerard struck out 12 in a 12-0 win over San Diego Military and Hyde struck out 15 Julian batters in an 8-0 victory.
Bruce Bovee and Jeff Moler hit home runs and Bovee pitched Clairemont to a 7-1 victory over La Jolla.
Bob Simmons’ two-out single in the 10th inning was the difference in a 2-1 pitching duel between Helix’ Simmons and Grossmont’s Bernie Linn.
3/30/63
Mike Oddy’s five-hit pitching and Dan Hauser’s run-scoring single in the seventh inning gave Oceanside a 1-0 victory over University in a battle of Avocado League leaders.
Runs, hits and errors for Marian, 26-19-5. For San Miguel School, 4-3-19.
Doug Kennedy’s seventh-inning home run pushed San Diego past Lincoln, 8-7. Lou Marone went the distance for the Hornets and homered.
Paul Toumainen allowed one hit and St. Augustine tightened the Eastern League race, 3-0 over front-running Hoover.
Mission Bay’s Lynn Sparks struck out 16 La Jolla batters in the Buccaneers’ 1-0 victory.
4/3/63
Jerry Montiel pitched Escondido past Hilltop and into first place in the Metropolitan League, 4-3.
Hoover lost its second straight Eastern League game, 8-5, to Lincoln, which scored all its runs in the last two innings.
The Cardinals stayed ahead in the Eastern because Crawford fell to the one-hit pitching of Bob Ahearn and a 6-1 defeat to St. Augustine and San Diego was upset by last place and winless Morse, 7-6.
Bobby Falar homered and Point Loma beat Western League-leading Clairemont, 6-1, knocking the Chieftains into a first-place tie with Kearny, which rode Al Shufeldt’s three-run home run in the first inning to a 4-3 victory over La Jolla.
WHO’S ON FIRST?
Reports that Mount Miguel had been invited to a tournament in Hawaii were denied/confirmed by several parties.
San Diego Section honcho Don Clarkson said he received a telegram from island coordinators saying they had heard nothing of a tournament or the proposed trip by Mount Miguel.
“The thing is dead,” said Clarkson, who pointed out that the Matadors likely wouldn’t have received permission from the CIF for the trip and also were scheduled to play in the upcoming Lions tournament.
Melvin Grant, principal of the school near Lemon Grove, said that the “Air Force”, had agreed to fly the team.
“We haven’t heard from them,” added Grant of the military institution.
4/6/63
Faced with the prospect of having to share the Eastern League lead with San Diego, Hoover erupted for 21 hits and routed the Cavers, 23-4, in a game called after five innings by darkness.
Every Cardinals player hit safely. Ten players drew bases on balls and the Cavers committed five errors.
The Cardinals stood atop the East with a 6-2 record. San Diego fell to 4-4.
St. Augustine improved to 5-3 with a 3-0 win over Morse, behind Paul Toumainen’s three-hitter and a home run, double, and single, in three times at bat by Bob Spence.
Lincoln got a three-run homer in the seventh inning from Carl Sandstrom and evened its record at 4-4 with a 5-4 win over Crawford, the defending San Diego Section champion, which fell to 4-4.
Pickford of Army-Navy no-hit Fallbrook, 2-1, and Lee of San Miguel one-hit La Jolla Country Day, 3-2.
Chula Vista’s Bart Miller allowed a hit with two out in the seventh inning in a 2-0 win over Helix. Zinniger of San Dieguito pitched a one-hit, 7-0 triumph over Avocado League-leading Oceanside.
LIONS TOURNAMENT
4/9/63
Freshman Bernard Linn struck out 24 batters and gave up one hit in 10 innings, but Point Loma, seeking its third consecutive championship, won in 12 innings, 1-0, on an error, two walks and a hit batsman in first-round play in the 13th annual event.
Dale Twombley’s grand-slam home run was one of nine consecutive hits by Hoover in a 10-run fifth inning and 18-5 win over Mission Bay.
Rich Papike’s home run augmented the one-hit pitching of Rick McGriffin, who struck out 11 in Monte Vista’s 4-0 win over Vista.
San Diego eliminated Point Loma in the quarterfinals, 8-1.
Lincoln’s Lou Marone outdueled Hoover’s Lloyd Hutchinson, 1-0, and the Hornets topped San Diego, 7-3, later in the day to gain the Unlimited Division championship game against Kearny, which beat Crawford, 4-1, and El Capitan, 5-4.
Monte Vista, which brought a 2-9 record into the tournament, stopped Poway, 10-3, and Madison, 10-5, to reach the Limited Division final against University, 8-1 winner over Morse and 5-1 over La Jolla.
4/11/63
Unseeded Lincoln, in its first Lions final, and Kearny, a finalist in 1951 and 1954, met on the tournament’s long-standing site, Navy Field.
The Hornets (12-5) outslugged the Komets, 10-7, and Monte Vista beat University, 7-4.
Lincoln’s John Carroll, who relieved Lou Marone, restricted the Komets to one run over the last four innings. Carroll won his third tournament game and was named the event’s outstanding player.
After tying the score in the fourth, Lincoln added four more runs in the fifth on an error, walk, double by Marone (now playing first base) and single by Tommy Osaki.
MAJORING IN MAJORS
Lefthander Jon Majors worked five innings in relief to assure the Limited Division title in Majors’ third successful appearance in three days for the Monarchs.
Monte Vista (6-9) was tied for last place in the Grossmont League entering the tournament.
Escondido and El Cajon Valley won consolation championships in the Unlimited and Limited, respectively.
4/17/63
University’s Dave Timms hurled his second no-hitter in a 10-0 victory over Vista. Timms struck out five, walked one, and allowed one other Panther reached base on an error.
Point Loma’s Russ (Hush) Puppe pitched a no-hitter in a 3-0 win over Mission Bay.
Clairemont’s Jim Estes hurled his second shutout against Kearny, 4-0, limiting the Komets to three hits, as the Chieftains broke a first-place tie with Kearny in the Western League.
Hoover stayed two games ahead in the East with a 5-1 win over Morse and San Diego forged a three-way tie for second with Lincoln and St. Augustine.
The Cavers’ Bobby Alexander collected two doubles and a single in a 10-2 win over Crawford and Lincoln’s Lou Marone struck out 11 and outdueled the Saints’ Bob Ahearn, 2-1.
4/20/63
Ken Walling of El Capitan struck out eight and did not allow a ball out of the infield as the Vaqueros turned Walling’s perfect game into a 4-0 victory over Granite Hills.
Walling was aided by strong support. Third baseman Jeff Serrano handled seven chances without an error.
Walling improved to 7-2 and El Capitan to 11-5, moving the Vaqueros into a tie with Helix for first place in the Grossmont.
Helix did not lose but its game with Monte Vista was suspended by darkness after 11 innings and a 1-1 tie, denying a brilliant performance by the Monarchs’ Jon Majors.
Majors, who struck out 17, did not allow a hit for 9 2/3 innings and staked himself to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 10th with a run-scoring single, but Helix’ Ron Slocum’s single in the bottom of the 10th tied the score.
Bob Cluck allowed three hits and stopped St. Augustine, 3-0, leaving Lincoln tied for second place in the Eastern with San Diego, each 6-4, behind Hoover’s 8-2.
4/24/63
San Diego ended Lincoln’s eight-game win streak, 4-3, as Bob Cluck scattered five hits to put the Cavers one game behind Hoover, 6-5 loser to St. Augustine.
4/27/63
Rain intruded to sideline several teams, including Helix, but El Capitan played on, with a six-run rally in the eighth inning and 7-1 win over Monte Vista and took a half-game lead in the Grossmont circuit.
Bob Cluck, with an assist from Tony Pisciotta in the seventh inning, pitched surging San Diego past Morse, 6-0, moving the Cavers into second place in the Eastern.
5/1/63
Loren Dantzler deprived Pat Harrison of a potential, grand slam home run in the last of the seventh inning and San Diego earned a tie for first place.
The San Diego outfielder raced to his right and snared Harrison’s drive and then tumbled over the line of high hurdles which serve as Hoover’s leftfield fence.
Dantzler’s catch saved the Cavers’ 5-2 win and left hander Bob Cluck, who struggled in the final inning after holding the Cardinals to two scratch hits in the first six innings.
The visiting Cavers moved into a tie with Hoover in a game that took two-and-a-half hours and included 14, count ‘em, 14, rhubarbs between rival coaches Jerry Dahms and Jerry Bartow and the umpires.
Lincoln had 24 of the game’s 38 hits and beat Crawford, 17-10, behind home runs by Bob Rands, John Carroll, and Lou Marone, who each also pitched.
Ken Walling completed his week with 20 1/3 innings pitched and one run allowed. The El Capitan ace earned a 4-0 victory over Helix to maintain first place in the foothill loop and raised his record to 10-2.
5/4/63
Bob Cluck and Phil Warren pitched San Diego to an 8-6 win over Crawford, whose battery included future major league stars sophomore Bob Boone and Dave Duncan. Cavers Froebel Brigham and Rob Ortman had five hits and five runs batted in between them.
5/8/63
Poway defeated Ramona, 4-0, as Daro Quiring hurled a no-hitter.
El Capitan wrapped the Grossmont League championship, 7-3, over El Cajon Valley, and Oceanside claimed a tie for the Avocado loop title, 4-1, over Vista.
5/11/63
Bob Cluck’s one-hitter stopped St. Augustine, 1-0, the Cavers scoring in the sixth inning after a walk to Doug Kennedy, bunt single by Bobby Alexander, double steal, and James Murphy’s high bouncing shot to shortstop, which prevented a possible play at home plate.
Bill (Sledge) Homik socked two home runs and Jimmy Doyle hit a grand slam as Hoover beat Crawford, 12-8. Madison’s Al Fitzmorris shut out Point Loma for the second time, 2-0, as the Pointers’ Russ Puppe suffered his first league loss in two seasons.
STANDINGS AT A GLANCE
San Diego and Hoover tied for the Eastern League championship but Hoover was declared No. 1 for the purpose of postseason pairings.
Hoover and San Diego had 11-4 records. Lincoln, 17-7 overall but 9-7 in the East, missed the playoffs. El Capitan (10-1) finished two games ahead of Helix (8-3).
Oceanside (10-3) edged University (9-3) for the Avocado League crown, Clairemont was the Western League winner at 10-5, with Point Loma 9-6.
Poway ran the table in the Palomar League with a 12-0 record that outpaced Carlsbad (8-3). Marian also was unbeaten, winning the Southern loop at 8-0.
PLAYOFFS
2-AA
FIRST ROUND
San Diego (15-7) 0, @El Capitan 1.
Bob Cluck (12-4), who won seven straight Eastern League games to pitch San Diego into the Eastern co-championship, matched Ken Walling (13-2) except for the third inning.
The Vaqueros scored after three bases on balls and Bob Conen slapped a single into right field for the game’s only run. Walling kept the Cavers at bay, giving up only a triple by Froebel Brigham and bunt single by Arnold Murillo.
Point Loma (12-11) 0, @Escondido 2.
Jerry Montiel’s two-hitter augmented by Dave Sirbu’s two-run triple got Escondido the nod over the Pointers’ Russ Puppe and Jay Morgner.
Chula Vista (14-9) 7, @Clairemont 8.
Mike Anderson hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the fifth inning to bring Clairemont from behind. Bill Peterson added a solo shot for the Chieftains.
Helix 6, @ Hoover (15-7) 0.
Bob Simmons hurled Helix’ third shutout in a row, holding the Cardinals’ lineup of six .300 batters, to three hits, and was supported by Ed Carmichael’s three-run homer in a five-run second inning.
SEMIFINALS
2-A
Escondido (17-9) 0, @Helix 1.
Dick DiMeo’s first home run of the season, a 350-foot shot and the first hit out of the Helix park all season, decided the pitching duel between Escondido’s Jerry Montiel and sophomore Dave Elstrom and Bob Simmons.
El Capitan 5, @Clairemont (15-10) 3.
Ken Walling gave up a two-run homer to Bill Casey in a three-run first inning, which was halted when Kenny Henderson was picked off second base. Walling then rang up eight straight scoreless innings and El Capitan advanced on only three hits, aided by five Chieftain errors.
1-A
Marian (12-8) 2, @Oceanside 7.
The Pirates’ Bob Aurin pitched a five-hitter, interrupted by Bill Youmans’ two-run home run.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Helix (15-11) 4, El Capitan (19-6) 2, @Beeson Field.
Helix, a well-beaten runner-up to El Capitan in the Grossmont League, rolled again with its ace, Bob Simmons, who stretched Highlander pitchers’ scoreless streak to 36 1/3 innings before the Vaqueros scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning.
The usually light-hitting Scots raked El Capitan ace Ken Walling, pitching his third game in a week, for 11 hits. Helix scored three runs in the fourth inning on hits by Bob Brown, Simmons, Dave McGregor, and Ed Carmichael.
1-A
Oceanside (16-9) 0, @Poway (19-2) 3.
Daro Quiring (13-0) set down the Pirates on one hit. Poway scored all its runs in the first inning on a wild pitch and three consecutive walks, plus a base hit.
Boone didn’t catch until AAA Eugene in 1971.
For Bob Simmons….”Welcome Home”. I have often wondered how many of us served in Nam. Where did they send you? I managed to graduate from Washington St with an Air Force commission and fulfilled my lifelong quest to become a Pilot. Ended up flying 223 Combat Missions as an AF Forward Air Controller flying an 0-1/L-19 from a Special Forces camp in the Mekong Delta from 6-69 to 4-70. Great picture above from the 5-4-63 Union Tribune when you tried to pick me off after I got one of the three hits Hoover managed. (Ugh!) At least we lost to the champs! Jimmy Doyle…Delta Air Lines Ret.
Thank You for all the research and good memories, i enjoyed reading the 1963 baseball stories, as you see I was lucky enough to pitch a one-hitter in the CIF finals that year and win and went on to have a short career with the Twins. However, my career was interrupted by Viet Nam, a Purple Heart and 5 Bronze Stars in 68. No worries. After graduation from SDSU I was able to develop a start up company called Starbucks Coffee and now enjoying retirement.
Thanks for writing, Bob. You played during a wonderful era in San Diego baseball.
Rick,
A quick PS…I think I cured Bob Boone’s aspirations of Pitching when I hit a tape measure Grand Slam HR that ricocheted off the roof of the center field press box and out of the football stadium we played in at Hoover on May 11, 63. A definite good humored LOL to Bob whose career I followed…even got to attend a game in Cincinnati when his sons Bret and Aaron started in the same infield for the Reds. The Boone family has a lot to be proud of…especially Grandpa Ray…another Hoover graduate!
Jimmy Doyle
Jimmy, We were in Hawaii for a grandson’s graduation gift, so I’m catching up. I like the note about the homer off Bob Boone. Hoover’s right field was, like Lincoln’s, a very short porch, but your home run must have had some distance, since it cleared the stadium. The legend was that your coach, Jerry Bartow, would move the leftfield “fence”, which was a collection of track and field hurdles, back and forth, assaying the power of opposing righthand hitters. Thanks for writing, Jimmy.
Rick,
An Air Force friend of mine found your work online and forwarded the 1963 San Diego High School baseball summary. Really brought back memories of a lot of great ball players who did so well in college (At Washington State I played against Bill Homick and Pat Harrison at USC, Bob Spence at Santa Clara, and Bob Boone at Stanford.) and professionally where my good friend Jerry DaVanon did well after playing at Westmont. When you’re a kid in High School you have no idea how tough the competition is until history writes their stories. Thanks for the memories!
Jimmy Doyle, Hoover 63 (Capt. JP Doyle, Delta, Retired)
Hi Rick, good to see some coverage of baseball. This was my sophomore year at Point Loma. Just one correction Bob Boone who like his Point Loma counterpart, Mike Adamson, both made their varsity teams as sophs. You have Boone listed as a catcher which was his MLB position. I think at Crawford he was a pitcher and third baseman. In the 1964 season Crawford and Point Loma met for the CIF title with Adamson and Boone pitching against one another. Crawford prevailed and IIRC the score was 2-1.
I remember reading about Daro Quiring’s pitching at Poway which at the time was a small school. I think he went on to pitch for Stanford. Boone later went there as well but I don’t know if they overlapped.
Alan, thanks for writing. You’re right on all counts. I remember Boone moving from third base in college, or maybe after he signed a pro contract. He must have taken a realistic look and saw where his future was He had a couple decent years in the big leagues as a hitter but I don’t think Bob would have lasted nearly as long if he hadn’t changed position. And he deserves credit for playing as long as he did at that pivotal position.
Rick,
Boone played third for Stanford in his Sophomore year (for sure) as I remember our mutual smiles when I rounded third in May of 67 when I hit a Grand Slam against Stanford for Washington State as a Senior. I could hear him thinking…I told you not to throw Doyle a low inside fast ball! LOL! Great memories…Thanks!
Jimmy
Great story, Jimmy. Interesting, Boone was a third baseman and became a catcher. His dad, Ray, played catcher on Hoover’s 42 Southern California champions and played third base and shortstop in thre big leagues.