America 250: Locals led semipro baseball in Longview-Kelso
With America celebrating its 250th anniversary this year, there's no better time to look back at one of the most popular sports in the country: baseball.
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Baseball has been known as "America's pastime" since the late 19th century. The sport has gotten us through the Civil War and both World Wars and had a big impact on the Civil Rights Movement.
The sport also has a deep-rooted history in Cowlitz County. Prior to the Black Bears taking over Lower Columbia's David Story Field in the summer, semipro baseball teams found a home in Longview and Kelso in the 1920s and again in the 1950s in a league called the Timber League.
Both teams drew thousands of fans during the 1920s. Upwards of 2,000 fans filled the ballparks during the weekend. The teams became part of the community.
Prizes were awarded to local players who achieved certain goals, such as a free dinner for the player who hit the first sacrifice fly.
An editorial from the Kelsonian-Tribune in 1925 urged local townspeople to come support the club.
Some of the teams in the league were home to former professional baseball players, including the MLB. The Kelso Timber Wolves had Allen Howard "Red" Conkwright on the roster, who pitched in five games for the Detroit Tigers in 1920. Hoquiam's pitcher Sylveanus Augustus "Vean" Gregg was even a former teammate of Babe Ruth.
In 1925, the Longview Forest Rangers' roster included second baseman Howard Hobson, who went on to coach the University of Oregon to the 1939 NCAA basketball championship.
While most of the players from that era are long gone, some are still alive to tell their stories, and others live on through their children.
The submarine pitcher
Bob Giles Sr., the late father of Faith Family Christian Center Pastor Bob Giles Jr., and a former pastor himself, played for the Kelso Merchants semipro baseball team in the 1950s. Prior to that, he was a multi-sport athlete at Kelso High School, playing varsity football, baseball and basketball as just a sophomore.
Giles Sr. was such a good pitcher that he received offers to pitch from the University of Washington and Washington State University. However, he turned them down to attend Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho to become a minister.
He was even recruited by the Brooklyn Dodgers but rejected their offers as well because he wanted to keep his Sundays free to practice his faith.
"His first question was, 'Do you play on Sunday?'" his other son, Rick Giles, said. The answer was yes. "He said, 'I'm not interested. I go to the house of the Lord on Sunday.'"
Bob Giles
Printed June 26, 1954.
Rick Giles, 67, mentioned a moment when he learned his dad pitched against Tony Kubek, a former player for the MLB's New York Yankees. He and his dad were watching a game that Kubek was broadcasting, and the former Yankee was talking about a "big brawly guy" out of the Timber League who struck him out three times.
"My dad asked, 'Do you know who that guy was? It was me," Rick Giles said. "I said, 'Yeah, right, Dad.'"
Rick Giles' father played at a time when pitchers and coaches didn't care about pitch counts or how sore their arms would get, so his dad didn't understand why major league teams would take their pitchers out after a few innings.
"He would say, 'I don't understand why they are taking him out. He can throw 200 pitches," Rick Giles said.
His own throw would be considered unorthodox these days. Giles Sr. pitched underhand in a style called submarine pitching. It's not like softball with a big windup, but pitchers release the ball just above the dirt.
"He didn't have drop ball, curveball or fastball; he just threw it hard," Rick Giles said.
Bob Giles Jr., 74, said his father claimed to have only lost one game as a pitcher, and it wasn't his fault.
"He let us know he was good," Giles Jr. said.
He wasn't the only one who displayed a unique pitching method in the past. Rules weren't as strict back then, and some pitchers were said to be "cheaters." A Daily News article from 1973 describes that some pitchers threw spitballs, an illegal pitch where the pitcher alters the ball's aerodynamics by applying saliva or petroleum jelly to it.
One instance mentioned a pitcher who would fill the pocket of his glove with wax, put a sharp tack in his belt, and polish the ball with the wax, making it difficult to predict the ball's trajectory.
'The Lone Gray Wolf'
Carl Pritchard was a former pitcher for the Kelso Timber Wolves semipro baseball team in the 1920s. He was nicknamed "The Lone Gray Wolf" by TDN's D.M. "Doc" Simonsen and was described as a semipro legend in the area by former reporter Bud May. According to published reports at the time, Pritchard was "the one man most feared by other clubs in the league."
Carl Pritchard
In this undated photo from the Cowlitz County Historical Museum, Carl Pritchard, left, poses for a team photo for the Kelso Timber Wolves. Pritchard was a star pitcher for the Kelso Timber Wolves semipro baseball team in the 1920s and was nicknamed "The Lone Gray Wolf."
Pritchard later served for two terms as the county sheriff, Kelso police chief and undersheriff. He was also an investigator for the prosecutor's office.
Back to the good 'ole days
Kelso alum Dick Groce, now 92, played for the Kelso Scots semipro baseball team in the 1950s.
"It was a lot of fun," he said.
Groce said there was a lot of competition, and a lot of people came to watch his games.
Whitey Nelmark, 88, is a former Lumberjack who was inducted into the R.A. Long Hall of Fame in 2009. He said he was recruited by the University of Washington and the University of Oregon to play football, but he had to turn them down due to family obligations.
Whitey Nelmark
In this photo from the Lower Columbia College 1957 yearbook, Whitey Nelmark, left, poses for a photo with the LCC baseball team. Nelmark played baseball, football, and basketball for LCC. He also starred for the Longview Loggers semipro baseball team in the 1950s.
He instead attended Lower Columbia, where he played baseball, basketball and football, back when the school had a football team. He said he even played football against legendary NFL football coach John Madden while he was there.
"We didn't know he was gonna be that famous," Nelmark said.
Nelmark was also a former semipro baseball player for the Longview Loggers. He said he got to play against some major league stars.
During his time with the Loggers, Nelmark said attendance was a mixed bag.
"Sometimes there were good crowds, and sometimes the weather kept the crowds away," he said.
Editor's note: Some information in this story was obtained from the June 2002 Cowlitz Historical Quarterly, written by former The Daily News reporter Don Jenkins, received from the Cowlitz County Historical Museum, as well as from The Daily News' archives.
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