‘The Boys of ‘62’ by Tim Ursich.
If one wanted to write a book appealing to the widest possible San Pedro audience, it would be about one of three things: San Pedro history, growing up in San Pedro during its postwar heyday, or San Pedro athletics.
Tim Ursich’s recently published memoir, The Boys of ’62: The Inspiring Story of the San Pedro Little League Champions (Pedro Scribes Publishing, available on Amazon), combines all three elements in a touching story about the early life of one of San Pedro’s best-known and most decorated baseball players and coaches. Even though the focus is on one person at a specific time, any boomer raised in San Pedro can relate to this book, even if you weren’t involved in sports, and younger readers will enjoy the historical aspects.
For that reason, it’s self-recommending, but unlike a lot of self-published books, it’s also eminently readable, a fact that even Ursich himself points out would have surprised his San Pedro High English teachers: Mr. Bergeron, Mr. Sheffield, and Mr. Matsutani. (That also includes this writer, who has known Ursich since San Pedro High School and Harbor College, where I covered many of his games in my early sports writing career. I knew him for his prowess, both as a hard-hitting catcher and City championship softball coach, and later in life, for his chiropractic expertise, never fathoming there was an author in the on-deck circle.)
Unsurprisingly, the book’s first half leans heavily on Ursich’s childhood experiences growing up on 16th Street below Pacific Avenue in the kind of ethnic neighborhood that prevailed at the time. This part of the book is a touching tribute to his multigenerational family and myriad others—like 15th Street Elementary School playground director Walter Andrews—who played a role in his development, not just as an athlete but as a person.
Tim Ursich.
You’ll learn what it was like living in a home where Croatian was still spoken, where kids spent most of their time outdoors, often exploring in one of the open fields that dotted pre-development San Pedro, and how typical “street kids,” when they weren’t playing sandlot baseball, sometimes ended up where they shouldn’t, like the notorious nearby Beacon Street.
You’ll also meet a bevy of colorful characters from Ursich’s youth, and not just the kids with the funny nicknames but adults, such as the legendary Freddie “The Hat,” who he knew personally, and Paul Zubak, a former pro ballplayer who lived on his block and took the slow-footed, undersized boy under his wing and became his mentor.
Consumed by baseball from early on, Ursich found his place behind the plate and was a standout catcher his entire playing career, beginning at age eight in 1959 with Little League at Bloch Field.
The journey of the 1962 Southern League All-Star team to the Western Boys Baseball Association Little League World Series title in Northridge doesn’t even begin until the book’s second half.
We meet all of Ursich’s teammates—Dennis Andries, Shawn Blakeman, Ed Brummel, Jerry Garcia, Frank Karmelich, Terry Martin, Joe Rios, Danny Seaman, Steve Skommesa, Billy Suarez, John Sullivan, Mark Vidovich, Chip Williams, and Jay Zuanich—and the coaches, Bob Schroeder and Andy Vidovich (with an excellent “Where Are They Now” postscript), and also meet Donny Jimm, a Native American all-star from Idaho who has a profound effect on Ursich’s world view at age 11. So much so that Ursich is already writing a second memoir featuring Jimm. If it’s as good a book as the first, I can’t wait to read it.
Peter Navy Tuiasosopo.
IN MEMORIAM
San Pedro in general and the Samoan community in particular were jolted by the unexpected death of Peter Navy Tuiasosopo on February 10. The San Pedro native, a 1982 San Pedro High School graduate, was 61.
Tuiasosopo was a standout lineman for the Pirates, played at Harbor College, and earned a Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo scholarship. He was inducted into the Pirates’ Hall of Fame in 2016 alongside his siblings, Andrew and Adaline.
He began acting in the ’90s, appearing in numerous films and TV series. The longtime emcee for the SPHS Athletic Hall of Fame, even after moving to Phoenix, Tuiasosopo exemplified Pirate Pride.
Known for his exuberant spirit, good humor, positive disposition, and love for Jesus, Tuiasosopo will be missed by all. spt
