Eighty years ago, on July 27, 1929, the Tracy Tigers decisioned the Manteca Maulers at Tracy by the score of 3 to 2. The game was one of those stingy affairs, neither side getting a lot of chances to break any records. This was simply because of the adverse weather conditions and the work of the two pitchers. Benny Hooper was responsible for both Manteca runs. He worked a bases-loaded walk to force Stan Dinkel in for a second inning run and then tripled in the sixth to drive Dewey Percival across. The weather condition that we were speaking about was the terrible wind that blew across the diamond right against the batter. The sand was flying throughout the game and was very dirty as that Tracy country is, you know.
In other sports stories from the Bulletin files:
90 years ago: August 1, 1919 - The baseball lovers of Manteca don’t have to leave home now to see first class ball. The Manteca team now stands at the head of the league and is playing first class ball. The game with Gloria’s of Oakdale was one of the best of the season, Manteca easily winning by a score of 8 to 3. Elmer Blodgett showed the visitors too much speed and too many curves. Percey Toomes got three hits for Manteca.
70 years ago: August 3, 1939 - Playing a flawless brand of ball for six innings behind the next to invincible pitching of Bill Enders, the Manteca Merchants displayed a complete reversal of form in the seventh and eighth frames to lose a heart-breaking 6 to 4 game at Livingston Sunday. The loss dropped Manteca into second place and the Wolves are now the new California Valley League leaders. Enjoying a 4-0 lead after seven innings, the locals committed eight errors in the final two innings.
Milo Candini was the subject of a write-up in the Wenatchee, Washington Daily World. Milo is now pitching for the Wenatchee club of the Western International League.
Probably the Manteca Honeydews should have been content with the 1-0 win over the Pittsburg Redwoods three weeks ago, because the lumber boys came back with an 11-0 trouncing for the locals in softball action at Recreation Park last Friday night.
60 years ago: August 4, 1949 - Frankie Albert, famed quarterback for the San Francisco Forty-niners, will speak to the local Junior Chamber of Commerce at their regular meeting tonight at the Little Club.
The Manteca Merchants hit a hornet’s nest last Sunday with the Linden Firemen as they pulled ninth-inning rally to win 12-11. Merle Kleist singled home Fred Hubbard with what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Hubbard was the “Big Stick” for the day for the locals with four hits in as many trips to the plate.
50 years ago: August 6, 1959 - The Bobson’s Cleaners nine was finally beaten in little league play when they went down to defeat by the bats of Lathrop last Tuesday. The final score was 9-5. One handicap was the loss of Bob Leatherwood, starting pitcher, who is no longer with the team.
40 years ago: August 1, 1969 - Bob Bressani shot a 77 to win the Manteca Golf Club’s Junior Championship last week. Bob also took the 14-15 title. Steve Conley shot an 85 for the 16-17 title and Gary Lowe had a 93 for the 13 and under title.
Manteca ran its record to 3-2 in the San Joaquin Amateur Baseball League with a split of two games last week. The Buffaloes were edged 4-2 by first-half champ Galt and then rebounded to down Tracy 5-3. Galen Smalley’s base hit scored Al Betschart and Rudy Flores with both runs in the Galt contest. Monty Buck was credited with the Tracy win as he allowed but four hits.
30 years ago: August 1, 1979 - Tradeway Chevrolet batters struck out 10 times and gathered only four hits in losing to Stockton Caballos 4-1 in Mexican-American baseball action yesterday at Billy Hebert Field in Stockton. The locals managed their lone run in the sixth inning when Manuel Rodriguez tripled and scored on a deep fly ball to center by Mike Runge. Rick Hogan had two of Tradeway’s four hits.
In a meet decided in the last four relay races, the Manteca Dolphins fell 11 points short of first place Ripon and finished second with a team total of 535 at the Trans-County Swim Conference finals at Escalon High yesterday. Six records were shattered by Manteca swimmers, including the boys 15-18 200 medley. The team of David Breitenbucher, Eric Johnson, Lyle Hughes and Pat Schimke had a winning time of 1:58.7. Other local record setters were Julie Brinton (11-12 girls) in the 50 back, Kevin Frisk (boys 9-10) 25 back, boys 7-8 100 medley team, Suzy Johnson (girls 6 and under) 25 breaststroke and boys 9-10 25 breast by Chad Johnson.
20 years ago: August 4, 1989 - East Union High physical examinations for fall sports athletes are scheduled as follows: male athletes will be examined on August 14, with females on August 16. Manteca High athletes are reminded that physicals for the 1989 sports season will be on August 7 for sophomore and varsity football and cross country, August 11 for freshman football and all winter sports and August 14 for volleyball and girls tennis.
In a gallant move at San Francisco’s tough Olympic Club, Manteca’s Kevin Wentworth shot the final day’s best score of 4-under-par 67 to tie for fifth place in the Pacific Coast Amateur Golf Championship. Wentworth, who will be a junior at Oklahoma State University this fall, totaled 291 in the four-day event.
Eric Wohle of Manteca added a second and third to his collection of medals at the Far Western Long Course Swim Championships yesterday at Concord. The 16 year-old was third in the 200 freestyle and anchored the Delta Valley Aquatic 4x100 free relay team to a second place finish.
10 years ago: August 4, 1999 - On paper it would appear East Union High’s Jim Cowan has the more difficult task at hand righting a football team that hasn’t had much success at the freshman level in recent years. However, like Cowan, Sierra High’s Steve Clark is faced with a comparable challenge: building on a promising program perhaps destined for big things in the coming season. Regardless of the situation the two 30 year-olds are eager to get the ball rolling, so to speak, as new freshman football coaches at their respective high schools. Cowan replaces Dan Triglia at EU and Clark moves over from Manteca High, where he was the frosh coach.
