Morning Constitution

BEN HUNTER

One comment Hunter made during one of his shows has always bothered me.  He said that "a driver's license was a privilege."

The TV Party/Lost LA writes:

Do you by any chance remember a fellow on KTTV channel 11 in L.A. named Ben Hunter?

As I recall, he hosted one of those afternoon movie shows in which he would call someone at random, and they'd answer a movie trivia question. I believe he referred to it as Hunter's College of Movie Knowledge, or something like that. I remember he died in 1980, which upset all of us - his show had become a regular ritual for my mom and me (well, for me in the summer--I was in school back then).

If you do remember, is there a chance you might have a page devoted to him eventually?  From the LA Times: 

Having lived all over the country, growing up with L.A. TV in the 1950s and 1960s was the best. I saw such good movies on Channel 9 and 11 that I've never seen since. Programs like Chucko the Clown, Sheriff John, Ben Hunter's Movie Matinee (with cigarette and coffee cup in hand), George Putnam and the News, Seymour's Horror Theatre, the Channel Nine Movie (where you saw the same movie everyday for a week so you won't miss it). What a time to live! Today's reality junk starring forgettable losers will never compare. TV like those days we will never see likes of again.

An affectionate review of Ben Hunter's book, The Baja Feeling: 

THE BAJA FEELING was written by Ben Hunter, the host of KTTV's Movie Matinee (going back 30-40 years ago).  I remember him telling his TV audience about the book, but I never looked into buying it. For some reason, this summer I thought about it and decided to try to find it. It is a gem of a book if you like to read about traveling. And it is a special gem, because the Baja that existed when Ben and his wife traveled, no longer exists. I was sad to find out that Ben Hunter died not too long after having written this book--and I haven't been able to find a good biography of his life on line. It would be nice to find out more about him...I think his wife lived about 20 years or more as a widow, and I read somewhere that one of their sons lives in the house they built in Baja. GOD BLESS BEN AND MARGIE HUNTER...THANK YOU FOR A GREAT BOOK ABOUT AN ENCHANTED TIME!

At the 2:07 minute mark of this video, you will see Ben Hunter advertising home equity loans with Continental Home Loan.  He had a terrific voice.  But watch the video all the way through if you can.  You'll find lots of terrific commercials from those days.  Love them.

Sally Baker, a.k.a. Hobo Kelly.  Here is her Facebook page.  Here is her Wikiwand page.  There was something disturbing about her I thought.  I didn't like that she called her dog "Dum Dum," nor that her make-up made her look like she had a missing front tooth.  I would not let my kids watch her show if it were still on.  

After I received today's comment from Raiderman, I cleaned the format on this post up a bit.  Thank you, Raiderman.  And in doing so I found that a few of the links were now dead, so I needed to replace them.  I found that Sally Baker who played TV's most lovable hobo was married to Walt Baker, who according to this IMDB biography was known for "macabre movies."  Now that may explain why I found Hobo Kelly a bit creepy.  I don't know.  But then I found this.

Baker was the executive producer of a sex education documentary that aired on Channel 9 on Dec. 29, 1983. In a seven-paragraph review that appeared in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, reviewer Peter Bunzel wrote, “My impression is that executive producer Walt Baker . . . told his writer . . . ‘We’ve got a hot potato here—let’s pour on titillating innuendo and as much bare flesh as we can get away with. Viewers will eat it up.’”

So that's troubling, though in his defense, he sued for libel, but people do have 1st Amendment protections of free speech.  Then there was this.

Baker sued the newspaper and the reviewer, saying that no such conversation took place and that the article defamed him.A state trial judge threw out the libel suit, ruling that the review was an expression of opinion, but a California appeals court said it went beyond a mere critique and reinstated the suit.

After the state Supreme Court overruled the appeals court, saying that the article was a constitutionally protected statement of opinion, Baker brought his case to the nation’s highest court, but the U.S. Supreme Court in January 1987 refused to revive the suit.

At KHJ, Baker also produced other documentaries and was executive producer of Los Angeles Lakers road games. He later served as vice president of Celtic Vision in Dublin and as director of programming and public affairs at KBCI-TV in Boise, where he hosted Eye on Idaho. 

So what is the verdict?  Given what I saw on screen then and what I see on YouTube today of her episodes of her old show, I am creeped out.  I would say that Walt Baker was pushing the envelope of decency.  And how does one overlook the fact that he created the character El Vira?  Baker was an executive at KHJ-9, Channel 9.  I remember it well. 

Walt Baker, a former programming executive at KHJ-TV in Los Angeles whose libel lawsuit over a highly critical TV review in a local newspaper made it all the way to the Supreme Court, has died. He was 84.

Baker, who hired Cassandra Peterson to host late-night horror movies as the sexy and gothic Elvira character, died April 7 of natural causes at his home in Boise, Idaho, his family said.  Sexy and gothic? 

Yeah, I'd say he and his wife, Hobo Kelly, were into something.  

 Cal Worthington and his dog, Spot.

LA Athletes

THE RAMS

Here you've got Jack Snow, #84, on the left, wide-receiver for the Los Angeles Rams under George Allen, and on the right you've got his son, J. T. Snow for Jack Thomas Snow, first-baseman for the San Francisco Giants for eight years, 1997 to 2005.  His dad passed in 2006, so maybe his 2005 departure had something to do with his dad.  I don't know.  Wikipedia explains that 

He was known for his exceptional defense. After his retirement as a player, Snow worked in radio and television broadcasting. He has also worked as a special assistant to the general manager for the Giants

Jack Snow went to St. Anthony's High School in Long Beach.  

He played at Notre Dame.  No wonder I loved him.  That feeling came from my dad's love for Notre Dame.  It would be impossible for me to dislike any Notre Dame player anywhere, regardless of talent.  If he played at Notre Dame, he was to be honored. Wikipedia explains

1964 was coach Ara Parseghian's first season with Notre Dame, and Parseghian made several key position switches in 1964, including moving Snow from flanker to split-end. Snow lost 15 pounds to compete more effectively as a split receiver. Notre Dame's passing offense in Parseghian's first season helped produce 27 team and individual records, including five records set by Snow for receptions (60), receiving yards (1,114) and touchdown catches (9) in a season; receiving yards in a game (217, vs. Wisconsin); career receiving yards (1,242). He broke the previous record for receiving yards in a game (208, by Jim Morse in a 1955 game vs. USC), more than doubled the old record for receiving yards in a season and scored 19 more receptions in one season than any previous Notre Dame player. Snow also averaged nearly 37 yards per kick as the 1964 team's punter. 

Did not know that he was picked by the Minnesota Vikings in 1965. Fascinating.  So he could have had a playing career in the great and cold rust belt. 

   

I loved Jack Snow, Wide Receiver, #84, as a kid growing up.  The Rams were our home team.  There was no other football team in Los Angeles, thank God.  Anaheim had the Angels, but that was baseball and the only guy I liked from their team was Jim Fregosi (see my comments on Fregosi below).

Deacon Jones, #75.

Merlin Olsen, #74.  One of the Fearsome Foursome.

Imagine being a quarterback, even in the NFL, and seeing this group of guys standing on the defensive front line.  Look how hungry they are--and there are four of them.  Terrifying.

And I thought that this was interesting.  The ticket below was from a game dated 1954, a little before my time.  Literally. 

Rams Football ticket, 1954.  See the date at the lower, left-hand corner.

Then there were the Los Angeles Dons, whom I had heard of but paid no attention.  

Los Angeles Dons Football ticket, 1948.

So who were the Los Angeles Dons, and who in the hell named them the Dons!  They were LA's installment of an American League Football team.  

In 1946 a new professional football league was launched to do battle with the long-established National Football League (NFL). This new league, the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), included eight teams — an Eastern Division with three teams based in the state of New York and another in Miami, and a Western Division with teams in Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The AAFCs Southern California franchise, which was to compete directly with the newly relocated Los Angeles Rams of the NFL was known as the Los Angeles Dons.

The leader of the ownership group was Benjamin Lindheimer, a Chicago real estate and race track executive. Other owners included Hollywood notables, Louis B. Mayer, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and actor Don Ameche. 

So that was interesting that Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and actor Don Ameche were part owners.  Oh, boy. 

The Dons' head coach was "Dud" DeGroot, a Stanford football player who had gone on to earn a Ph.D. from that institution.[2]DeGroot had served as head coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins in 1944 and 1945 before jumping over to the rival AAFC for its debut 1946 season.

The Dons shared the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with the Rams for its home games. 

This was interesting.  

they were in the same division as the league's two most powerful teams, the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers. Unlike the Browns, 49ers and Baltimore Colts, the Dons were not one of the AAFC teams that remained intact when the AAFC merged with the National Football League in 1950: they merged with the crosstown Rams of the older league after the 1949 season. 

   Roman Gabriel, Quarterback.  #18.


THE DODGERS

Don Drysdale, #53.  One of the greatest pitchers of the game.  Certainly one of the toughest.  The event that I've been trying to find online is the Dodger game against the Giants where Dick Dietz interfered with Drysdale's pitch by walking into it so that he could go to first base and walk in a run as the bases were loaded.  I listened to that game on KFI from inside my dad's 1962 VW Bug.  He had it parked on the west side of Ralph's grocery store in Arcadia at 2nd and Foothill.  I found that story here. 

The Giants loaded the bases with no outs. Drysdale hit Dick Dietz with a 2-2 fastball, seemingly the end of the shutout streak. But umpire Harry Wendlestedt said Dietz didn't try to get out of the way and called the pitch a ball. After Manager Herman Franks was thrown out in the ensuing and inevitable argument, Dietz hit a shot fly to left and the runners held.

So there was that.  The New York Times wrote this upon Dietz's death in 

But Dietz was best known for what happened at Dodger Stadium on May 31, 1968. Drysdale was in the midst of setting a major league record of 58 2/3 scoreless innings and bidding for his fifth straight shutout when the Giants loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning.

Dietz came up and was hit on the elbow by a 2-2 pitch from Drysdale, a future Hall of Famer. But before Dietz could take his base and force home a run that would break Drysdale's streak, the plate umpire Harry Wendelstedt ruled that Dietz had not tried to get out of the way of the ball, nullifying the hit batsman.

Don Sutton, #20.

Willie Davis, #28, and Don Sutton, #20.  Two Dodger greats! Davis had that 31-game hitting streak, and Sutton had the most wins or something.  

I remember Popovich's number as #26, but apparently, it changed from season to season and from team to team.  With the Dodgers, he was both #26 and #22.  Which years he was which, I have no idea.    

Then there was short-stop, Paul Popovich, #26, whom I will never forget because when my dad and I would play catch in the backyard, he would throw me ground balls and then narrate the play with a "Popovich barehanded the ball, throws to first!  Out at first!"  My dad was the greatest.  

Then there was short-stop, Paul Popovich, #26, whom I will never forget because when my dad and I would play catch in the backyard, he would throw me ground balls and then narrate the play with a "Popovich barehands the ball, throws to first!  Out at first!"  My dad was the greatest.  I remember Popovich's number as #26, but apparently, it changed from season to season and from team to team.  With the Dodgers, he was both #26 and #22.  Which years he was which, I have no idea.    

I will never forget listening to the World Series between the Minnesota Twins and the Dodgers in 1965.  I was locked in. No wonder sports fans turn games into a whole other world. Is there ever a time when young boys are more focused?  Joe Pepitone, Clete Boyer, and others filled my mind.  The following is the 1963 World Series between the Yankees and Dodgers.  It was only a couple of years later that I was listening to the game on my own. 

   Dodger Manager, Walter Alston, #24.

Bobby Knoop, #29, played 2nd baseman for the Chicago White Sox.  My first infield glove was signed by Bobby Knoop.  

Nicknamed "Nureyev" by sportswriters for his exciting and acrobatic fielding plays, Knoop played a deep second base, with exceptional range and a strong arm.

He turned the double play well along with shortstop Jim Fregosi, to give the Angels an outstanding keystone defense. 

Fregosi is the one with the ball in hand, and Knoop is behind him. 

In 1967, the pair both won the Gold Glove Award at their respective positions. As a hitter, he had his best season in 1966 with career-highs of 17 home runs, 72 RBI, 54 runs and 11 triples.  He graduated from Montebello High School in Montebello, CA.  That's an interesting detail.  Finding a defensive picture of him turning a double play wasn't the easiest of finds.  So these will have to suffice for now.  

Part of the fascination of reading about the different LA athletes is to learn where they came from. Take center fielder, Willie Davis, for example.  He went to Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, today a predominate Mexican community.  But back in the day, my dad grew up there, hanging out with friends. It was a Jewish and Irish community long ago.  

It saddened me to learn that Jim Fregosi died.  He was so strong, such a trooper on the infield for the California Angels, yes, the California Angels and not the LA Angels, that I couldn't help but admire him.  Then later he was coach and manager.  And always a fun-loving guy.  And now his era is drying up, his days are gone so to speak.  They're not completely gone.  Some people do try to recover them.  This is how I remember Jim Fregosi, 1942-2014.

Here is his baseball card.  It always amazes me to see how young these stars were. 

I absolutely loved this.  This was my life.  The names that flooded my brain were Billy Grabarkewitz, Len Gabrielson, Bill Singer, Bill Sudekis, Ted Sizemore, Paul Popovich, and others.  On Grabarkewitz, Wikipedia has this to say:

played third base, second base, and shortstop in the Major Leagues from 1969 to 1975.

His best season was 1970, when he was the starting third baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and was selected as an All-Star. That year, he led the team with a .399 on-base percentage, hitting .289 with 17 home runs and 84 RBIs; he also set the Dodgers franchise record by striking out 149 times. 

On William Paul Sudakis, #22, nicknamed "Suds," Wikipedia writes

He played as a power-hitting third baseman whom the Dodgers tried at catcher in 1970–71.

In 1969 he was the last Dodgers rookie to homer in four consecutive games until Joc Pederson in 2015, and he was the youngest Dodgers rookie ever to do so until Pederson succeeded him.

He was on the 1968 roster.  Apparently, in '85, he got busted for cocaine possession.  Who didn't, right?  

I absolutely loved the power of this guy.  I have to send this to Joe.

 
Loved seeing the name Lou Brock. And I just loved Bob Gibson. He just seemed so dominant.  1968 World Series highlights between St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers.

Keep this link around for future comments on the Dodgers.  

I have to add this picture of Nolan Ryan, whose fastball was so dominant.  I liked it because he is so young here. 

He was with the Mets in '66, '68 to '71.  So you tell me what year this photo was taken.  '69 maybe?

Wrigley Field, Los Angeles 1925-1965

Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, 1925-1965.

1930s, View of Wrigley Field, located in South Los Angeles at the intersection of 42nd Place and Avalon Boulevard, showcasing its multi-story clock tower on the left. In the foreground, a concession stand features a large sign reading: "Auto Park 15¢."

From 1925 to 1957, the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League were the primary tenants of Wrigley Field. Owned by William Wrigley Jr., who also owned the Chicago Cubs, the team played at the ballpark until moving to Spokane, WA, after the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles. The Hollywood Stars, another Pacific Coast League team, shared Wrigley Field with the Angels from 1926 to 1935 and again in 1938 before moving to Gilmore Field. In 1961, the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball played their inaugural season at Wrigley Field. The Angels moved to Dodger Stadium (shared with the Dodgers) in 1962 and then to Anaheim Stadium in 1966.  Water & Power Museum.  Thank you to Jack Feldman.

1925, September 29, Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, Opening Day.  Thanks to LA Mag. 

Wrigley Field, Los Angeles.  The original home of the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League.  Here's a shot of the field from the outfield.

"Erected in 1925 at 42nd Place and Avalon Blvd., Wrigley Field was a 21,000-seat, home-run hitters paradise. It also doubled as the set for such films as "Pride of the "Yankees", "Dam Yankees" and "Alibi Ike" and the "Home Run Derby" television show.*"

1926, August, Los Angeles Angeles, Wrigley Field, Los Angeles.  Thank you to The Homestead Blog. 

1930s, Wrigley Field in the early 1930s.

1937, More than 30,000 fans crowd the 22,000-seat Wrigley Field for a celebrity charity baseball game for Mt. Sinai Hospital.  LA Times photo, July 17, 1937.  Thanks to the Water & Power Museum. 

1937, Wrigley Field, Los Angeles.  Thank you to LA Magazine.

1940, View of Los Angeles Angels game, Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, CA. 

1949, Chuck Connors played for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1949 to 1951.  More baseball pics of Chuck Connors.  You will enjoy these!!  Here are even more pics of Connors through the years.  Didn't realize how popular he was in 70s television and how wildly he was liked.  He even had an event with Brezhnev, the Soviet leader.

1951, Ever wondered what happens when a major league baseball player decides to chase his dreams in Hollywood? Meet Chuck Conners, known as "The Rifleman," who stepped up to the plate with the Cubs in 1951. In his 214 at-bats, he managed a .239 average and knocked out 2 home runs. But his story didn’t end on the diamond. Conners traded his baseball glove for a Hollywood career, becoming a television legend. What led him to this dramatic change, and how did he make his mark in Tinseltown? Thanks to Sofia Russo Conti.

  

1952, The PCL Angels playing at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles.  Chuck Conners is at bat in the picture above for the L.A. Angels minor league team.  

1952, Chuck Connors. 

1955, Wrigley Field, Los Angeles.  Thank you to LA Mag.

1956, "Steve Bilko hits homerun on Wrigley Field, Los Angeles (Calif.), August 27, 1956.  Going for distance--Steve Bilko of Angels lets loose mighty blast into the bleachers for his 50th home run of the year in the first game.  Angels split with Rainers."