OTTO-Zane Smith Shares Memories of the Heyday of Military Fastpitch
December 15, 2009
Yucaipa, CA
Zane Smith shares memories of the heyday of military fastpitch softball
By Bob Otto
www.ottoinfocus.com
It took but one game. And Zane Smith was forever hooked on fastpitch softball.
In 1962 Smith was a young Navy Corpsman. And the Naval base he was stationed at had a fastpich team with a key position to fill. So Smith raised his hand.
“The manager asked, ‘can anybody catch?’” said Smith. “I said I could. I didn’t know anything about the game and I used a baseball catcher’s mitt.”
Little did Smith know at the time that warming up on the other side of the diamond was one of the all-time great military and civilian pitchers, Buck Brown.
“I was warming our pitcher up and I heard this’ Pow! Pow!” Smith said. “I turned and looked and it was Buck Brown warming up. He was really bringing it.”
Smith struggled his first year at the plate hitting .079, but he was determined to raise that anemic batting average and better his game. And over the next 28 years of his Navy career, Smith did just that.
In 1968, the right-handed power hitter was selected to the All-Marine Corps team. And he played in five All-Navy championships.
The 70-year-old Smith has long since retired from the Navy. But his memories of Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force fastpitch softball live on. Those were days when all the military branches had outstanding teams, pitchers, and players. Those were the days when the three branches battled ferociously to claim the title as the Inter-Service champion.
The heyday of military fastpitch has long since disappeared. But he cherishes those times still, and agreed to share some of his fondest memories.
Who were some of the great Navy pitchers?
Joe Lynch. He was the best Navy pitcher I ever saw. He was a big guy, about 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds and just 20-years-old in 1963 when I first faced him. The ball was a white blur. He threw harder than anybody I ever faced. When you were in the batter’s box he scared you. You stayed real loose.
“We played him at Camp Pendleton and he struck out all 21 of us. He got out of the service when he was 21 in 1964, and went on to play for Aurora and Clearwater (Bombers). He was the MVP pitcher and MVP player for Aurora when they won the ASA national championship (1964).
“Roy Burlison was the second best in the Navy. He could bring it too. Everybody in the world wanted him when he got out. And Jim Sperry, a crow hopper, had the great rise ball and the great drop.
“In about 1969, me and Darwin Tolzin were picked up for the All-Navy Tournament. Darwin started out as an outfielder. He had the good rise, good drop, and an unreadable change drop that you couldn’t hit at all. (In 1976, along with Al DeWall, Tolzin pitched All American Bar of St. Paul, Minn. to the ISC World Tournament Championship held in Long Beach and Lakewood, Calif.)
What were some of the great fastpitch military bases?
“The two best were Sub-Marine Atlantic near London, Connecticut, and Sub Flotilla One in San Diego. Our base team (San Diego) played in the Western Softball Congress for years.”
What branch played the best fastpitch?
“The Air Force. They had some great pitchers. Big Bill White was 6-foot-6 and when he warmed up he started from the outfield fence and kept moving in. When he got to 46 feet, he was really bringing it. Then there was Jim Swilley, he was only about 5-foot-6, but he was really quick.
“The Air Force held world wide (selection) camps to chose their team. They had all the best players and softball was their job.
Describe one of your most memorable moments?
“In 1972 I hit a three-run homer to tie the game and we went on to win the championship (and qualify) for the All Navy Tournament.”
Who was one of the best all around players?
“Cary Weiler. He gave you everything he had as a pitcher, and he was one hell of a hitter, and a good first baseman. He’s one of the best competitors ever. I remember one tournament where he was all cramped up and he just took the ball and kept going. He was also a good basketball player and made All-Navy.”
What about position players?
“George Giles was the best position player ever. He could slap hit and played every infield position, and when he ran he just glided along and fielded everything. Pete Russo was a 5-foot-7 centerfielder who could go get the ball with anybody. After he left the Navy he played with the Vista Bombers.”
You also managed. Tell us about that.
“I started playing and managing in 1972. I managed teams like Stanley Andrews (San Diego), Mel’s Car Wash in Oceanside, the Oceanside Bombers, San Bernardino Stars, and Albuquerque Roadrunners.
“In 1981 we won the Western Softball Congress with the Oceanside Bombers and went to the (ISC) World Tournament. We split four games with the Camarillo Kings in the WSC and they won the World Tournament. They had Mark Smith, and he was a barnburner. He threw awfully hard.”
When you retired from the Navy, you managed teams in the ASA and ISC (Western Softball Congress) and saw many great players. Name a player who really impressed you?
“Nick Hopkins, Sr. I was in awe of him. He played shortstop for the Long Beach Nitehawks and he could hit and field with anybody. He could reach any ball and had a great arm and instincts for the game. I was a dead pull hitter and they had a shift on me, so I tried to hit to the right side and bunt.
“He came up to the stands after our game and said, ‘son, you’re really messing up. Quit trying to bunt and hit the other way. Go back to hitting the way you do.’ It was the best advice anybody ever gave me.”
Best rise ball pitcher?
“Bob Todd (Long Beach Nitehawks). He started at the letters and kept walking the pitches up. He had pin point control.”
Best drop ball?
“Ralph Salazar of Fresno. He pitched for Winchells and RKT. He was so strong and he just rolled the ball straight down like off a table.”
Best change up?
“Vaughn McClure (Navy). I remember a game against the Nitehawks when he gave up back-to-back doubles in the first inning and they didn’t touch him the rest of the way. We ended up losing, 2-1, in 12 innings. Every team in the Congress wanted him.”
With all those years spent playing military and civilian fastpitch, what has the game come to mean to you?
“It was a love. A true love.”
