1969 was a great year for me being a baseball fan. Seattle got, what would be it's first MLB team.That would be the Seattle Pilots, who only played one year before moving to Milwaukee and becoming the Brewers.
Walla Walla, where I was growing up got a Minor League baseball team, known as the Bears They were a Single A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies and would play in the Northwest League. The Northwest League played a much shorter season, from approximately mid June to mid August and was made up of teams around the Pacific Northwest comparable to Walla Walla.
This was very exciting and I went to as many games as I could, I bought a program at each game, which I saved for many years.
I also followed them in the local paper, The Union-Bulletin.
During a road game,late in the season, a bizarre incident took place. Pitcher Mike Cobel was caught smoking behind the team dugout. Being a violation of league rules, he was ejected from the game. Apparently, this so insensed his teammates that he kicked the entire team out of the game. When manager Howie Beddell complained, he was ejected as well. The team had to forfeit.
Ever since, I had not heard of that happening at any game, Major or Minor League.
Thank you to my brother Steve for finding this article.
3 comments:
Great nostalgic post Mike. I remember those days fondly. They say there's no smoking in baseball, but the 1969 Bears took getting smoked by the umpires to a whole new level. Getting tossed from a professional sport usually involves a massive brawl or aggressive yelling. Instead, the Walla Walla Bears went down in history because a pitcher wanted a quick smoke behind the dugout. Minor league baseball back then was all about long bus rides, small budgets, intimate community parks like Borleske Stadium, and erratic tempers created the perfect environment for legendary, unscripted moments that you would never see in Major League Baseball today. the era was defined by a revolving door of identities. Walla Walla cycled through being the Bears (affiliated with the Phillies), the Selects, the Pilots, and later the Padres. It reflects a time when local independent and short-season teams were deeply intertwined with the community’s identity. While the 1969 team was busy getting ejected over a smoke break, the Walla Walla minor league pipeline of this era eventually brought legendary Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn to town in 1981 with the Padres. It shows just how vital this small-town hub was to the broader fabric of baseball history.
I think smoking pro athletes are much less common these days as training regiments are tougher. Back then, especially, with baseball players, it was quite common. Managers were often scene smoking in the dugout. Tougher rules have banned that.
Great comment and don't forget the wizard of OZ.
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