The whole idea of baseball is to go home, and that’s just what happened recently when a dozen members of Fullerton’s 1975 American Legion baseball team reunited in Downtown Fullerton for the first time in 47 years.
On the back patio of Roscoe’s Famous Deli, over sandwiches and beers, faded memories were strung together like a late-inning rally. One story led to another, then to another, and then to one more until a big hit brought the former teammates to cheers and laughter.
Fullerton’s “Boys of the Summer of ’75” are now in their mid-60s. They came back to their hometown carrying with them scrapbooks, photos and programs to help them reflect on their shared accomplishment of being arguably the best legion team Fullerton ever produced.
The 1975 Fullerton Dodgers, representing Fullerton’s American Legion Post 142, were coached by longtime city resident and former Brooklyn Dodgers farm-hand Ron Lee Sr., and assisted by his son Ron Jr., and Leonard Burke.
The team battled all through the summer of ’75, winning the District 29, Area 5, and California State championships to advance to the Far West Regional in Pueblo, Colorado for a chance to play in the American Legion World Series.
In the deciding game that would determine which team would advance to the World Series, Fullerton’s Billy Moore led-off the game with a solo home run and the onslaught was on! Fullerton humiliated a “cocky” Las Vegas team 22-0 to advance to the World Series for the first time in Fullerton history.
The victorious Fullerton Dodgers jumped on their bus and headed to Rapid City, South Dakota, the host city of the 50th annual American Legion World Series. A pre-series banquet was held for all the competing teams, with the guests of honor being then-Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller.
Fullerton’s opening round game was against the team from Yakima, Washington, who would later go on to win the title, but on that day, Fullerton had their number. Pitcher Jim Leicht scattered eight hits and increased his season record to 14-0. Fullerton won 8-3.
In their second game, pitcher Bob Hook came out of the bullpen to pitch five and a third innings to earn the win over the Cheverly, Maryland team, 10-6, which guaranteed Fullerton a place in the tournament’s Final Four.
Next up was the Cedar Rapids, Iowa team, which the Rapid City fans had claimed as their own. The highly partisan crowd booed every strike and cheered every ball thrown by Fullerton’s Matt Sutherland. Facing future major league all-star pitcher Mike Boddicker, Fullerton got behind early and could never recover.
Boddicker went the distance, pitched all nine innings, and struck out 16 Fullerton batters. The next day, Fullerton again had to face the local favorites, and were again vanquished by Cedar Rapids 8-1.
Fullerton was eliminated. Out of nearly 4,000 American Legion teams in the vast tournament, Fullerton (36-7) had finished third.
The team returned home to proclamations from city officials and a banquet dinner held at the Elks’ Lodge. The speaker that night was Gary Carter, a former Fullerton Dodger himself. He had just completed his first full major league season, finishing second for the Rookie of the Year Award and was on his way to a Hall of Fame career.
The “Boys of the Summer of ’75” were given championship windbreakers, and the celebration capped-off with a pool party. After that, their time together, and their moment in the sun, was over. Life moved on.
Some of the Fullerton Dodgers went back to their senior year of high school, where they competed against each other as Lancers and Indians. Some went on to play in college, and four members of the ’75 team eventually signed professional contracts.
For some, the American Legion World Series was their last hoorah, and they “hung ‘em up.” Some went to work, got married and moved away. Some stayed in touch, some didn’t. Sadly, a few have already gone on to their Field of Dreams.
Those who attended the reunion echoed Dennis Duncanson’s thoughts, “It was fun reconnecting with this great group of guys.”
They say that old friends can start up just where they left off, and that seems to be the case as the reunion continued well into the sun-soaked afternoon.
Bob Hook, the organizer of the reunion, added, “This was a group that got along so well. We hope to make this a more regular thing.”
As the reunion came to an end, Bill Moore, Curt Baker and Duncanson decided to walk the two blocks to Amerige Park. Hope International was playing a baseball game at the time, so the three former teammates stayed and watched the game for a while.
Suddenly, and unexpectedly, Baker shouted out for all to hear, “We used to own this field!”
David Jerome, better known as Mr. Bucketlist, is an author and resident of Fullerton and writes the occasional column for the North County News Tribune. Follow more of his adventures at mrbucketlist.com. Email him at [email protected].