Lewis Edward Sanclemente, 92, passed away  recently, leaving behind a multitude of friends and admirers and memories of a lifetime spent in or around baseball.
Ed Sanclemente grew up near the University Heights playground, where he shagged baseballs for young slugger Ted Williams and honed a game that would take Sanclemente to national championships on two levels.
Sanclemente played for coach Mike Morrow at San  Diego High and was the starting third baseman on Morrow’s 1941 Post 6 American Legion squad that swept Berwyn, Illinois, in a three-game series at Lane Field in San Diego.
After playing third base and shortstop at the University of California in 1943-44, Sanclemente served in the U.S. Navy and then returned to Cal and was the Bears’ third baseman on the 1947 team that won the first College World Series.
Sanclemente batted .369 during the 1947 regular season and was 4 for 10 with 4 runs batted in as California swept Yale in a two-game series for the national championship.
Sanclemente played two seasons of professional baseball. He taught and served in administrative capacities at South San Francisco High and for the San Francisco Olympic Club before returning to San  Diego and coaching baseball at La Jolla High in 1956.
Mike Morrow appointed Sanclemente to the coaching staff at San Diego Junior College in 1957.  Sanclemente  succeeded Morrow as head coach  in  1958, when Morrow started the University of San Diego program.
Ed’s success on the two-year college level included conference championships at San Diego J.C., later known as San Diego City, and at Mesa College, where Sanclemente was the Olympians’ first coach when the school opened in  1964.
Dozens of Sanclemente’s players signed professional contracts, some reached the major leagues, and many became coaches and athletic administrators.
Groups of 10-15 former players honored Sanclemente every Thursday for years.  They were his hosts for breakfast at D.Z. Akins restaurant on Alvarado Road.
SWUNG A MEAN RACQUET
Ed Sanclemente made a name for himself on the tennis courts at University Heights and throughout the city before he turned his attention to baseball.
Newspaper accounts from as far back as 1933 reported that “72-pound Edward San Clemente won the first of a series of tennis tournaments for children of grammar school age.”
According to tournament coordinator Wilbur Folsom,  Sanclemente’s 6-4, 10-12, 6-4 victory over Dick Brink in the finals of the  event at University Heights was after a “three-hour struggle that saw several rallies for crucial points last as long as five minutes.”
Sanclemente won numerous tournaments in the area and became one of the city’s top junior players.
Back in 1979, I was a student at San Diego Mesa College, and decided to take a tennis class because I had enjoyed it as a P.E. class in high school. Mesa had 8 tennis courts at the time, and on the first day of class, he ranked the students by ability, and placed 4 students on each of the 8 courts, court 1 being what he called “the superstars”, on down to court 8, where he placed me (WTF?!). Coach Sanclemente had a plan. He had me adjust to the “continental” tennis grip, and by the end of the second semester, I was in Court 1, thanks to Coach Sanclemente. One day, I had hit a wicked backhand winner, and let out a yell. I turned around, and there was Coach, and he said “feels pretty good doesn’t it?”. Coach had to scold me numerous times for juggling tennis balls during his pre-class meetings. I will never forget him.
I took your note to breakfast Thursday at D.Z. Akins, where a group of us treated Ed every week for probably 10 years. They all enjoyed your remembrance, as I did. Thanks for writing.
Charlie Smith was quite a guy. Talk about a legend in his own time; surely such a title fit him to a tee. For decades, he doubled as both varsity baseball coach and a defensive back coach for Aztec football teams. Let me remind readers Charlie was the lone team coach during his career; his number of assistant coaches for defense, batting or pitching, etc, were none, zilch, nada! HEY RICK: a future timely project would be to feature the feats of not only Charlie, but the Buddies of his era named: Schutte, Ziegenfuss, Sportsman, Kash , Gross, Vitalie and Governali. NOTE: Paul Governali was not the most popular coach of Aztec lore, but let me tell you his ability to analyze the performances of eleven players at the same time was most awesome and genius-like in nature. Later in the years, when I was coaching myself, I had trouble evaluating two, or at most, three players on a single play. Getting back to Charlie, an afternoon with a few “BH” (before Hubba) players and then a few from my era, could get together to gather some zany memories your readers would love to read about. For example, in 1958, his NAIA squad won the National Championship, and then just two years later his Aztec nine won the 1960 CCAA title. In 1961, during our annual road trip to Fresno, Charlie danced a jig at home plate while trading line-up cards, to the fancy of a half dozen of his elderly lady fans (they were much older than he), who would frequent the ball yard when he was in town. And there was the time Burt Swaim, Larry Kramer and I were riding home with him after a three game series in Santa Barbara, when he missed the caution signal light and another car broadsided us. His immediate remarks blamed us for the minor dent in his Buick, because we encouraged him to tune in a rock and roll station, rather than the county music playing on the radio. Mind you, I was still shaking because the car that hit us left its mark on the rider side door, where I happened to be seated. Burt and I laff heartily each time we reminisce on the occasion.
Ed (Sanclemente) was a natural fill-in for Mike Morrow back in the day at San Diego Junior College. I never played for him, but my friends who did have nothing but fond memories of him. I would run into him, from time to time at various sport events around town, and he would always greet me as if I was one of his former players. It must be noted local junior colleges have had s long list of outstanding baseball coaches. After Mike and Ed, they include the likes of (Bill) Sandback, (Bob) Vetter, (Jerry) Bartow, (John) Seeley, (John) Harmon and (Jake) Molina. During my umpiring career, we were able to fashion a friendly and mutual admiration for each other, and the yarns we could spin, recapping our countless ballyard adventures, would include laffs galore, and probably last from sunrise to sunset.
Thanks for writing, Bob. I might add that in your four years at San Diego State you came under a legendary coach, Charlie Smith.