November 3, 1955
El Paso sports fans will have an opportunity to see the greatest array of Major League baseball talent ever assembled in El Paso when a touring team of All-Stars tangle with a local All-Star team at Dudley Field Thursday. Game time will be 1 p.m. with everything except box seats on a first come-first serve basis as far as tickets are concerned.
The touring Major Leaguers are due to arrive in El Paso about 11:45 a.m. by plane, and they will go directly to Dudley Field for a pre-game workout for fans who want to get an early look at the top talent.
Former N.Y. Giant Outfielder, Monte Irvin is the playing manager for the Major Leaguers, and he will put on the field such players as Junior Gilliam, Gene Baker, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Hank Thompson, Joe Black, Don Newcombe, and Sam Jones.
Larry Doby, recently traded 16 the Chicago White Sox in the biggest player deal of the year, also is touring with the Major League All-Stars. The former Cleveland Indian outfielder was swapped for Shortstop Chico Carasquel and Outfielder Jim Busby of the White Sox.
Furnishing the opposition for the touring All-Stars will be a local team of All-Stars put together and managed by Syd Cohen. The El Paso team will be composed of primarily pro players now in the armed forces in this area. Cohen has been working with Jack Lundquist, Ron Ultes, and John Fuscoe in the outfield. Lundquist belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies, Ultes was the 1954 baseball captain at the University of Illinois, and Fuscoe is formerly from North Carolina State.
For pitchers Cohen will call on Mel Work, the Brooklyn Dodger bonus pitcher; Jerry Alsup, property of the Detroit Tigers; and Charlie Schmandt, who formerly pitched for Visalia in the California League. The old left hander is depending on Bob Ford for a lot of the catching, and the former Georgia State Leaguer is rated a good hitter.
In the infield Cohen will have, among other players, bouncy little Joe Calderone out of the Big State League, Bob Williams of Michigan State, and Bob Dorset, property of the N.Y. Yankees. The touring All-Stars are expected to start Junior Gilliam in left field and have him hitting as their lead-off man. Also, in order will be Gene Baker at second, Willie Mays in center, Hank Aaron in right, Ernie Banks at short, Hank Thompson at third, George Crowe at first and Charlie White catching.
It will be a regulation nine-inning exhibition game which promises plenty of action and some of the world’s finest baseball players on display.
November 4, 1955
Major Loop All-Stars Beat Service Nine
Big hits by the batters and some fine hurling by Connie Johnson of the Chicago White Sox gained the touring major league all-stars at 6-2 victory over the El Paso Service all-stars before some 2,500 fans at Dudley Field Thursday afternoon.
Homerun clouts by Hank Thompson of the Giants, Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves and Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs featured the hitting for the visiting stars, who touched four El Paso hurlers for 11 hits. Johnson went the distance and scattered eight hits – three in the seventh inning when the locals got their first run – and struck out 12 batters – in a fine demonstration of control.
Bob Williams, Ft. Bliss first-baseman, provided the big clout for the local team with a solo homer over the left-field fence in the bottom of the ninth inning. Mightiest clout of the game was Banks’ solo belt in the fifth inning. The ball sailed high over the second-deck advertising sign in left filed for one of the longest balls ever hit out of the park.
Thompson’s homer in the first inning was the only run off Starter Mel Work, while Aaron’s two-run homer came with Junior Gilliam on base by an error in the ninth. Aaron also had a triple in the three-run fifth inning.
i bet alot more than 2,500 would turn out for something like that in this day and time.
Posted by: jim | January 31, 2009 at 12:05 AM
I bet you are right. It was standing room only at Cohen for Randy Johnson.
Posted by: Miller Girl | February 01, 2009 at 08:10 AM