This is a collection of articles, quotes, etc., regarding Walter Johnson's visit to California in the fall of 1924... [2004 note - I have glanced through the Los Angeles Times for the period of two weeks on either side of the Brea Bowl game and found extremely heavy coverage of Walter's arrival and his activities in California, the games, etc., including a photo of Ruth hitting a homer off Johnson in the 10/31 contest which appeared in the 11/3 edition. I would be glad to look up any specific news items and answer your questions about their contents. CWC.] Both Fullerton newspapers, by now dailies, were scanned from Friday 10/10 (the last day of the world series) into mid-November for any news of Johnson and/or coverage of the big Brea game. There was heavy coverage in both, often on the front page. The Anaheim Gazette was still an 8-page weekly and had a limited amount of news. The Orange County Plain Dealer, published six evenings a week in Anaheim, had a lot of news, as did the daily Anaheim Bulletin. This is a brief summary of the most interesting items: 10/ 4 APD -- Heavy world series coverage, and also much discussion of the recent Dolan-O'Connell scandal. An article in this issue on WJ's background without much new info... "Walter Johnson, pitcher for the Senators, is an old Olinda boy... "Cripps is the man who taught Johnson how to pitch, says Tuffree [Johnny Tuffree of Placentia, former Olinda player]. The two of them spoiled the wall of the livery stable, so a backstop was put up for them... "Plans for the Hallowe'en party and street masquerade, Oct. 30th, under the auspices of the M. M. Ass'n were pushed forward yesterday afternoon, when sub- committees were named..." 10/ 7 AB/APD -- Articles mention that the parade and street dance will be ON Halloween (10/31). After this, all APD publicity gets the date right, 10/30, but AB is sometimes unclear. 10/ 8 AB -- World Series news will be carried on a "giant electric score board at the Bulletin"; there are more than 500 fans present to root for "Orange county's own Walter Johnson". 10/ 9 AB -- "WALTER JOHNSON MAY OPPOSE BABE RUTH IN BASEBALL GAME "If plans of the Anaheim Elks lodge materialize, Orange county baseball fans will have an opportunity of seeing the great Walter Johnson in action in the near future. Not only will Johnson perform but, the one and only Babe Ruth and Bobby Meusel will show their wares here. "L. A. Lewis, exalted ruler of the local lodge, is in communication with Johnson and with Christy Walsh who is managing the Ruth-Meusel tour of the Pacific coast and if he is assured that Johnson will pitch, the game will be arranged. If it should be played, October 29, 30 or 31 will be the dates selected. "Orange county fans are particularly interested in Johnson, who formerly lived at Olinda and attended Fullerton high school. He pitched his first semi- professional game in Anaheim. Many of the old time fans will remember his first start against the Hoege [sic] nine of Los Angeles, on the diamond near where the Santa Fe station now stands. [The first WJ start in Anaheim that we know of was indeed against the Hoegees on 3/5/5!] "There is no question but this would be the banner athletic attraction in the history of Orange county and would attract people from all parts of Southern California." 10/ 9 AG -- "Anaheim is going to hold a carnival on Hallowe'en, the last night of October..." Note date! Members of committees are named, then article closes with "This is the first of what may prove to be an annual festival if it works with the success the promoters hope for." No mention of WJ or Ruth yet! 10/ 9 APD -- An interview with WJ on the front page; he sounds pessimistic after two world series losses, doubts Washington will renew his contract, mentions spending the winter in Reno and negotiating for the Oakland club. 10/10 FT -- Front page headline "WASHINGTON TAKES WORLD SERIES", but very brief article with no mention at all of Johnson's part. 10/10 FN -- An even bigger front page headline "SENATORS ARE CHAMPIONS / WALTER JOHNSON STAGES WONDERFUL COME BACK...", with a complete play-by-play and box score beginning on the front page and continued inside. In another story, it is described how a crowd of 300 gathered around the FN building to hear the games announced via megaphone. 10/11 AB -- "LEWIS NAMED U.S.A. CLUB PRESIDENT "L. A. Lewis, prominent attorney, was unanimously elected president of the U.S.A. club of Anaheim at a meeting of the club which was held at the Elks' club last night..." About the only local news which competed with the stories of the Halloween parade and Brea Bowl game was the scandalous discovery that four of Anaheim's five City Councilmen, and nine of its ten policemen, were active members of the Ku Klux Klan. The U.S.A. club was formed to oppose the Klan's influence and to push for a recall of the four Councilmen. According to a friend of mine whose family has lived in Anaheim for 100 years, robed Klansmen marched in the first Halloween parade. This is something which the local newspapers may have chosen to ignore in their coverage of the event. (I looked through the APL's files on the Klan and found nothing on the KKK having been in the Halloween parade, but lots of stories about their huge rally in Anaheim City Park (now Pearson Park) near downtown Anaheim in August 1924. Among the memorabilia in the file was a form letter the KKK had sent to Warren Hillyard, now an Anaheim resident, asking for his response to a questionnaire. The Plain Dealer was a big supporter of the KKK and was put out of business as a result of a libel suit brought against it by a local clergyman who opposed the Klan. The Bulletin denounced the Klan vehemently and ended up acquiring APD's assets after it folded in 1925.) 10/12 AB -- It is said that WJ is expecting to buy and manage a PCL club in 1925. Several articles, usually datelined Washington or Oakland, treat this transaction as though it is a done deal. 10/16 AB -- Big headline: "WALTER JOHNSON TO PITCH FOR ANAHEIM ELKS; RUTH TO PLAY" This was the first definite information that WJ will play here, and is based on a telegram which Lewis received last night from Christy Walsh. The date is set for 10/31, but the location isn't determined yet. The game will benmefit the Anaheim Elks' Christmas charity fund. 10/17 AB -- "SELECT BREA BOWL FOR GAME" This article states that it will be WJ's only appearance in a game on the Coast, which turned out not to be true. Partial lineups for both teams are given; the Bowl's capacity is given as at least 15,000. 10/20 APD -- A front page article on Walter's return to Coffeyville which ends: "The Johnson family will leave tomorrow for Fullerton, Calif., where he will appear in an exhibition game. Fullerton is responsible for Walter as he gained his experience there. "The big pitcher and his family will spend the winter in Reno, Nev. He will decide while in California whether to take over the franchise of a coast league team." There is a brief announcement in local news of the Brea game, the first one to appear in Anaheim or Fullerton papers, other than the 10/16 AB story. 10/20 FN -- "Will Play Exhibition at Brea" heads a cartoon of the Meusel brothers and photo of Babe Ruth, but there is no accompanying story. Under Brea news, "At the regular meeting of the Lions in the Scout Cabin Friday noon plans were made for the reception to be given Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth and the Meusel brothers when the play in Brea Friday, Oct. 31. The ballplayers will be the guests of the Lions club at luncheon on the day they visit here..." 10/21 AB -- The Halloween parade will be "held on the evening of October 30 as originally planned"; this corrects an erroneous statement in an earlier AB. 10/21 FN -- "Walter Johnson, outstanding figure of the 1924 world series, will pitch in an exhibition game against the Vernon coast league team Sunday. The veteran twirler will arrive Saturday and will be in the White King lineup in the Sunday game. On the same team will be a number of Major and Coast League stars." There is also a brief article describing WJ's visit to his home town to pitch for Coffeyville yesterday against Caney, Kansas. "Johnson leaves today for California..." 10/22 AB -- Another article on WJ's Orange County background mentions him pitching his first game against the "Hoegee Blues", but doesn't have any really new info. 10/22 APD -- An article lists most of the players to appear at Brea. 10/23 APD -- A big headline on the front page: "INVITE BIG LEAGUERS TO PARTY" "Walter Johnson and perhaps Babe Ruth and the Meusel brothers may head the parade -- efforts to get them were started today by Secretary George W. Reid of the C. of C. and Merchants and Manufacturers' Ass'n..." The first large ad for the game appears, too big to copy but similar to the FT ad which I sent Hank. 10/23 FN -- "Walter Johnson, world series hero and major league star for the last 18 years, will arrive Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday will appear at Washington park in a benefit game for a local institution. "Babe Ruth, with his mighty bat, comes to town Monday morning..." 10/23 AG -- A front page article still says 7 o'clock on October 31. A small article mentions WJ's stop in Coffeyville on 10/20, and his leaving 10/21 for Fullerton. 10/24 APD -- "California is surely giving Walter Johnson a great reception. He is being honored everywhere he goes. Uncle John of K.H.J. is giving him a chance to broadcast his greetings to all of radioland today." 10/24 FN -- There is a big picture of the Babe captioned "Swat King Comes To Brea". There is a long, mostly illegible article with some mention of WJ's Orange County background. On the editorial page, part of the usual editorial column is devoted to praising WJ, "...Fullerton may take considerable pride in the fact that he learned to play baseball while a student at the Fullerton Union High School, and after playing a year or so on an oil company team, graduated into professional baseball. Fullerton fans are going to have an opportunity next week to see 'Our Walter' in action..." 10/25 AB -- "JOHNSON'S FORMER COMRADE POLICES GROUNDS FOR GAME "The problem of policing the grounds here when the all-star teams, including Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson, put on their exhibition game October 31, under the auspices of the Anaheim Elks, has been assigned to the Brea post of the American Legion, under Commander Ted Craig. "Not many years ago, Craig and Walter Johnson were attending the same school together just a few miles from the Brea bowl [Olinda grammar school?], where the pitch-fest between Ruth and Johnson is scheduled to take place, and in the midst of the activities at the grounds yesterday, Craig paused long enough to remark: "'A few seasons ago, we thought we were fortunate if we managed to get out a crowd of a hundred to witness a ball game with this same Walter Johnson doing the pitching act, and here I am arranging for a hundred Legion boys just to help handle the enormous crowd that is sure to be here. Life's a funny proposition, but if anybody is entitled to fame and glory in the baseball world I'll say it's Walter Johnson.' "It is pointed out that the ex-service boys will only be pressed into service at the grounds, the sheriff's office and the motorcycle squad having already planned to take care of the congestion on the highway." 10/25 FT -- Following is from an article on tomorrow's game at Brea Bowl between Union Oil of Brea and Buick of L. A.: "Through the effort of the Union Oil nine Brea Bowl has come to be one of the best equipped and most attractive diamonds in Southern California. Everything has been done by the players themselves out of receipts from games and through labor supplied by themselves. It is on this diamond that Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth and others will appear next Friday under the direction of the Elks Club." A 1/4 page ad for the game appears in this issue which I've copied. 10/26 AB -- The almost daily article on the coming Brea Bowl game is illustrated with a picture of WJ, in uniform, perched on the fender of a Lincoln which was presented to him by Washington fans before the first game of the World Series. 10/27 AB -- Brief story of yesterday's Vernon vs White Kings game, which mentions that WJ "received a tremendous ovation" from the more than 20,000 fans in attendance. Also, there is a very legible copy of Faye Lewis' article which I had already copied with great difficulty from FN. Made photocopy for Hank. 10/27 APD -- "LaFayette Lewis, who used to play ball around Anaheim with Walter Johnson, and who arranged for the big game at Brea Bowl, will do his utmost to get Johnson out here in the parade. Babe Ruth and possibly the Meusel brothers are others to be sought as participants. "Walter Johnson was greeted by a crowd of 20,000 at Washington Park yesterday... Uncle John enticed the great pitcher into the broadcasting room at K.H.J., and, after digging up all the flowers in his garden of speech, introduced Walter to radioland. Walter's delivery was faulty, he had great speed at times and choked at others. He said that he had a royal time, and expected to settle down and make his home in So. Calif." "Babe Ruth plays at Washington Park today for charity..." 10/27 FT -- Front page article with picture of Babe visiting kids in hospital. A half holiday is being declared in Fullerton, Anaheim, Placentia and Brea. A crowd of 15,000 is expected. Another article credits Joe Burke, now the "United States District Attorney of Los Angeles", for helping WJ get started in baseball. Friday's meeting of the Brea Lions Club at the Boy Scouts building is reported on, with plans for the Lions to host a luncheon for the players at next Friday's meeting. "Many members of the Brea Lions Club are personal friends of Walter Johnson, who have watched every move of his career since he attended school at Olinda, a few miles from here..." There are ads for tickets on sale at several local stores -- General Admission for $1 and Reserved for $2 -- and a Pacific Electric ad to take the train to the game and avoid parking problems; the Brea Bowl is just two blocks from the P.E. Station. 10/27 FN -- A front page article mentions that the opposing lawyers at the Doheny trial declared a truce to go see WJ pitch against Vernon at Washington Park. Other than the fact that he pitched seven innings, no info on the game. There is a picture, said to have been taken in Chicago, of WJ pitching to Walter junior, with Eddie catching, with a caption "Walter and the 'kids' are coming back to Northern Orange County, where 'Daddy started playing baseball.'" Another article mentions that "Walter Johnson is in the north today with an interview scheduled with J. Cal Ewing at Oakland, following his appearance at a benefit game yesterday." The following article was copied in its entirety, misspellings and possible errors included: "LODGE RULER RECALLS PAST MEMORIES OF 'OUR WALTER' by FAY LEWIS "Exalted Ruler, Anaheim Lodge B.P.O.E. No. 1345, and former Captain, University of California Baseball Team "The first game I ever saw Walter Johnson pitch was against Rube Ellis' Rivera club and was on the old grounds next to the Santa Fe railroad at Los Nietos. At that time the Rivera bunch was one of the strongest in Southern California, and the Olinda team was much broken up because the regular pitcher, Art Crips, would be unable to pitch that game. Walter Johnson, just a kid at that time, was brought out to pitch for us that day. The players on our team considered there was no chance of winning and instead of getting in and backing the kid up, as they should have, played a terrible fielding game, making at least nine or ten errors (the writer remembers making at least three or four on easy chances), but in spite of the ragged support given Johnson, he just pitched all the harder and forced Rube Ellis' team to eleven innings before they were able to defeat us. Needless to say, that before the game was completely over, we realized we had the making of a wonderful pitcher in youthful Walter Johnson. [An excellent description of the 1/29/05 game!] "Pitched For Fullerton "During the early part of his playing with the Olinda team, he was attending Fullerton High school and pitched for that team. In those days, it was rather difficult to find nine boys large enough to play on the high school baseball teams of Fullerton or Anaheim and it was practically necessary to pick for one or two outfielders kids who wore knee pants. The greatest game I reall was one that Walter Johnson pitched for Fullerton High school against Santa Ana High school, which was a much larger school, and against Bill Coleman who was the star twirler for Santa Ana High school at the time. The game went, I believe, eighteen innings and ended one to nothing. During that time, if my memory serves me correctly, Johnson struck out either twenty-seven or twenty-nine batters. [As an Anaheimer, Lewis probably wouldn't have been at this game and is repeating a second-hand account.] "Pitchers' Duel "Another pitching duel engaged in by Walter Johnson was against the Downey team, led by the famous speed ball pitcher, Walter Settle of Norwalk. This resulted in a win for Settle over Johnson by a score of one to nothing. [We don't have anything that even resembles such a game!] "In the old days the principal semi-pro clubs in Los Angeles were the old Hamburger's, managed by Charlie Bennett, now a very well known tobacco salesman, the old Tufts Lyons club, the Hoegee Flags, managed by Bill Goodman, and the Rivera team. Among the players in those days were Rube Ellis, who played on the old Rivera team, Fred Snodgrass, Art Shaffer, and Bill Goodman, who starred on the Hoegee Flags. On the old Olinda team at that time were such players as Art Crips, Rube Crandall, Ted Easterly, Guy Meats, Bill Elwell, Anson Mott and Claire Head, the latter two of Garden Grove, Jack Burnett, Joe Burke, now United States Attorney for the Southern District of California, 'Deac' LeBrand, the famous catcher and comedian, and the writer, who took Joe Burke's place at second base, and afterward played shortstop on the team when Jack Burnett was moved into the outfield. The team was managed by Tom Young of Olinda and the umpire was Bill Kammerer of Olinda. The games were played on the old Santa Fe grounds just west of the old Santa Fe depot, and people came from all over Orange county to attend the weekly games. During Walter Johnson's days as pitcher he defeated various bunches of professional and semi- professional players assembled in Los Angeles who were brought down to trim the Olinda team. "Defeats Professionals "One game I recall particularly was played between the Olinda team and the old Apex Bar team of Los Angeles. The Apex Bar team was composed of the finest professional players wintering in Los Angeles -- players from the Coast League, American Association and other eastern leagues. The pitcher was Oscar Jones, who was the leading pitcher at that time of the old Coast League and one of the most graceful pitchers that ever adorned the box. A huge amount of money was wagered on that game, as the Apex club was one of the strongest clubs that was ever banded together in Southern California. Oscar Jones forgot that the Olinda team did not always play orthodox baseball and proceeded to groove the first ball to the first few batters, with the result that two baggers and home runs pulled in rapid succession, much to the disgust of Oscar Jones, which put the Olinda team eight runs to the good, the score winding up eight to four in favor of Olinda. [This sounds like the 3/6/04 game, pitched by Crips and won by Olinda 6-3, even down to the amount of gambling going on! Either that or it's a game of which we have no other record.] "About that time, Russ Hall, managing the Seattle club, came down to look over Johnson. In the game played between Olinda and the Hambergers of Los Angeles, a big lefthander by the name of Hartman was pitching for the Hambergers. After seeing the game, he chose Hartman over Johnson and signed him for the Seattle ball club. Little did he realize that he was passing up one of the greatest pitchers of all times. Shortly afterwards, the Los Angeles ball club, under 'Cap' Dillon and 'Hen' Berry, passed up Walter Johnson with the remark that he would never make a pitcher. [Sounds familiar! We're saying this happened at a game with Rivera, based on contemporary newspaper reports, but after 18 years, Fay's memory could have been a bit fuzzy. Or maybe this happened at the 4/1/06 game against the Hamburgers? I did see Hartman's name in some box scores for Hamburgers later in 1906, so who knows.] "Greatest Game "One of the most exciting games ever played by the old Olinda team was played at Ventura for the championship of Southern California. A special train was chartered by the Olinda rooters and the game was played on the old fair grounds at Ventura. The game went sixteen innings without either side scoring a run and was filled with some of the greatest fielding stunts ever pulled off in a semi-professional or professional game. Ventura was led by a little Cuban named Andrade whose left handed shooting completely baffled the Olinda batters for seventeen innings. In the sixteenth inning, Olinda scored two runs from a three bagger by Jack Burnett, a single by Lewis, a stolen base and a single by Phil Harris. The first batter up for Ventura in the last half of the seventeenth inning was George Johnson who knocked the ball so far over Art Crips' head in right field that he made no attempt to retrieve it, the same going for a home run. Johnson tied up, struck the next three batters out and brought to a close one of the greatest games of baseball ever played." [This must be the 7/9/05 game. Maybe Walter's "cousin" did indeed hit a home run! [The FT box score showed runs scored by Burnett & Harris; Lewis did have one steal. The story confirms all runs scoring in the 13th inning.] 10/28 AB -- "Faye Lewis, acting for the commitee, is still making an effort to induce both Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth to come to the city for the celebration" on 10/30. 10/28 APD -- "...a monster parade several miles long led by the Brea Fire Department, and featuring the Fullerton U. H. S. band, will make a tour of the county Thursday afternoon as a final reminder of the opportunity to see the county's most famous ball players in action the next day." "OAKLAND TOO HIGH, ASSERTS JOHNSON "Los Angeles Oct. 28. 'I would like to own a club in the Pacific Coast league and I may be able to come to terms with the Oakland owners.' "This was declared here today by Walter Johnson, pitching ace of the Washington club, before he left here for Oakland and San Francisco. He said while in Oakland he would talk with Cal Ewing of the Oaks regarding a purchase. "Ewing is said to have asked $450,000 for the Oakland franchise, which is held far too high by Johnson, who is reported to have been offered the Vernon club for $150,000. Johnson, it is known, considers Oakland a much better purchase, however, than Vernon." 10/29 AB -- A monster front page headline: "WALTER JOHNSON HONORS CITY "Baseball King Will Lead Parade "Through the untiring efforts and courtesy of Faye Lewis..." Walter Johnson will lead the Halloween parade. No mention of Ruth. 10/29 APD -- A monster front page headline: "JOHNSON WILL HEAD HALLOWE'EN PARADE "Walter Johnson will be here! The great masquerade parade... will be headed by the illustrious Walter Johnson..." Then a rehash of APD's usual coverage of the coming celebrations. It is mentioned that Anaheim HS' Friday football game against Garden Grove has been moved up to Thursday to avoid conflict with the Brea game. 10/29 FN -- A front page article: "WALTER JOHNSON, 'OLD GANG', TO BE HONORED AT ANAHEIM "The great masquerade parade of the Merchants and Manufacturers' Association of Anaheim Thursday night, October 30, will be headed by the illustrious Walter Johnson and the team he played ball with in 1903, 1904 and 1905. "The older residents of Orange county will have the privilege and opportunity of again looking upon the boys who were the winners in the county in those years. Through the courtesy and untiring efforts of Fay Lewis the following boys from the old team will be here: "Walter Johnson, pitcher. Guy Meats, catcher, from Olive. Bob Isabell [sic], first base, from Olinda. Fay Lewis, second base, Anaheim. Anson Mott, third base, Garden Grove. I. W. Fuqua, field, Whittier. Joe Wagner, field, Placentia. Joe Burke, field, Los Angeles. Johnny Tuffree, field, Placentia. Dutch Brown, field, Brea. Bill Kammerer, umpire. Clare Head, shortstop, Garden Grove. "Many will be glad to look upon the old aggregation of ball players and honor the man who not only has kept baseball clean, but has made a character that which will be the model and ideal of all young men who desire to enter his profession. Always timid, unassuming, yet steady and courageous, Walter Johnson has attained the highest place in the baseball world. We welcome him and extend the hand of friendship. "His friends have arranged a dinner at the Elks' club immediately after the parade and a pleasant evening will be spent with his old associates. "On the following day at Brea the great game will be played at which Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth will be the stars of action. This game, handled by the Elks club, will give all Orange county a chance to see the masters of the profession in action." Another article mentions that Fullerton High School and Fullerton Junior College will both be closed Friday afternoon and lists school activities which are being rescheduled because of the big game. In the sports section, there is a description of plans for the game including: "The Meusel boys are members of Elks Lodge No. 1345, Anaheim, and Walter Johnson's former home was Olinda, in the northern Orange county oil fields, while many of the other players have personal friends here." 10/29 FT -- The Fullerton City Council passed a resolution last night endorsing the game and urging citizens of Fullerton to attend it. 10/30 AB -- "Orange County Awaits Big Ball Game "All Roads Lead to Brea For Monster Athletic Contest "Tomorrow is the big day. Orange county will be closed tight--you won't be able to get a drink or a shave after one o'clock. Everybody will be headed for Brea Bowl..." 10/30 AG -- Its front page coverage is still talking about a Friday night street parade and celebration: "It is now believed by the managers, although not positively announced, that Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth, the world's two greatest baseball players will lead the procession, or follow in an auto behind Field Marshall Andrade." (Andrade, whoever he was, had been scheduled to lead the parade riding a "black charger".) 10/30 FN -- A front page article headed: "BIG LEAGUE STARS TO 'STRUT STUFF' TOMORROW AT BREA" It mentions that music will be provided by the Fullerton High School band and that "over 6,000 extra bleacher seats have been added." There is a full page ad, describing WJ as "THE OLD WARHORSE" and describing the matchup of "THE WORLD'S BEST PITCHER VS. THE WORLD'S BEST BATSMAN." 10/30 FT -- Giant front page headline: "EXPECT THOUSANDS AT BENEFIT" Long interview with Minnie Johnson taken from a Washington paper. Nothing new, e.g. "never even saw a baseball game until he was 14. Then we moved from Humboldt, Kansas..." Walter's uncle, a Dr. John Johnson, was also present at the interview. In another article, a caravan of baseball boosters were said to have driven around the county to promote the game, escorted by motorcycle cops with their sirens blaring. There was a full page ad, complete with pictures of both Walter and Babe, and it's different from FN's ad. 10/31 AB -- "Crowd of 20,000 See Johnson and Ruth" headed an article describing preparations for the game. The following may be the only article to appear describing the Elks' Club dinner: "Walter Johnson Is Guest At Dinner To Old Friends "Walter Johnson was pleasantly surprised at the Elks' Club last night when he was greeted by the entire team with which he played in this city more than 20 years ago. The hero of the World's series was visibly affected by meeting so many of his old pals and many a game was played over as they gathered around the banquet board. "Johnson and his team-mates headed the Hallowe'en parade and were given a tremendous reception all along the line of march, the thousands who lined the route of the parade paying a great tribute to the man who has brought so much fame and glory to this community. "Johnson spoke briefly at the dinner, telling a few incidents of the great series which closed in a blaze of glory for himself and team. He mentioned the two defeats he sustained as being but a part of the day's work and he told of passing Young to get at Kelly in the final game as one of the daily incidents in the intrigue of the game. "The great twirler expressed his genuine pleasure at meeting so many of his old pals. He said he hoped to end his days on the coast and no place looked better to him than his old home county. If the Washington club makes it worth while Johnson will stay another season in the big show, after which he expects to purchase a club in the coast circuit. He said he had had several conferences with the owners of the Oakland club but had not made a definite decision. "United States District Attorney Joe Burke, who played with Johnson years ago, was one of the speakers, and Faye Lewis and Tom McFadden also told many interesting tales of ancient history dealing with Walter's boyhood days. More than 400 covers were laid at the banquet." 10/31 APD -- "Prominent businessmen... voiced their opinion... that the event should be made annual." The coverage of last night's celebration is full of euphoria over its success and lack of problems, e.g. no drunks or rowdies. 10/31 SMO -- A front page article: "Relatives Gather to Meet Johnson "Showing that the interest in the great old American game of baseball is attractive to persons of all ages, Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Perry of Twenty-Fourth street, Santa Monica, today are at Brea bowl watching their grandson, Walter Johnson, idol of the Washington team, entertain friends of the same district in which as a boy-comer he taught opposing teams the finer points of the game. "Mr. Perry is 82 years of age and Mrs. Perry is 72. [According to family history information, they were 81 and 74 at the time.] They entertained Walter Johnson and his wife at their Santa Monica home yesterday. Grandfather Perry and his wife were taken to today's game by a son, George Perry, and his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Clint Perry of Venice are also watching the favored nephew fling the horsehide." [Did Sam Carey take the day off from Armacost Nursery to go to the game? Did Dave Carey cut classes at Santa Monica HS to go?] There was no news of the game itself, most of the sports coverage being given to the big football game played on 10/31 between Santa Monica and Venice High Schools before 7,000 spectators. 10/31 FN -- On the front page: "JOHNSON RETURNS TO SCENE OF EARLY BASEBALL TRIUMPHS "Walter Johnson, baseball's most honored hero, today came back to the citrus groves and oil fields of Orange County, where, as a boy of 14 years, just arrived from the Kansas prairies, he pitched his first game of the national sport..." The article quotes him speaking to some local kids on the virtues of "sticking to it". 10/31 FT -- The paper went to press in the early afternoon and described fans coming from as far away as Bakersfield and San Diego. Traffic started converging on Brea Bowl at 11 a.m. "P. C. [Russell?] Annin, who now makes his home at Wasco, near Bakersfield, came down specially to see the game. He played with Walter Johnson on the Olinda team 18 years ago in the days when those around here little dreamed that Walt would return covered with national honors." 11/ 1 AB -- "Walter Johnson Day Is Huge Success" was the headline for a long story about the game and events surrounding it. It was mentioned that a lot of guys took part in the game without the scorekeeper bothering to record their presence, including youngsters and some of Walter's old teammates. "Walter Johnson posed for a picture with the old Olinda team of twenty years ago with whom he once played... The Babe hit one ball over the centerfield fence a distance of more than 550 feet away, perhaps the longest hit he has ever made, according to himself..." 11/ 1 FN -- A lengthy article with a box score of the game, headed: "MIGHTY BAMBINO HITS TWO HOMERS IN GAME IN BREA" The News gives its "conservative estimate" of the crowd as 15,000 fans. The Brea Lions Club put on a luncheon for the players before the game at the Boy Scouts' hut in the park near the Bowl. The Elks of Anaheim were hosting them at a dinner afterwards. 11/ 1 FT -- A fairly brief article on the game, which was "witnessed by a crowd estimated at 15,000." In each paper's article, one of Babe's home runs is estimated as having travelled 550 feet. It is mentioned that "Judge Joe Burke" was present at the luncheon yesterday. 11/ 3 FN -- Under "20 YEARS AGO", "The game of ball in Anaheim Sunday afternoon between the Apex team of Los Angeles, and the famous Olinda Oil Wells ball teams resulted in the defeat of the visitors after the most exciting game that has ever been played on this diamond. Score, 3 to 6. A return game will be played this Sunday on the same grounds between the same teams, and another warm scrimmage is expected." [I can't find anything in Nov 1904 that sounds like this, but they could have been talking about the 3/6/04 game also; there was a return match the next Sunday which Apex won, 9-3, with Oscar Jones pitching.] 11/ 5 FN -- An Olinda man, L. Jones, has a bat which WJ used when playing with the Olinda Oil Wells 20 or so years ago. It was split when Walter himself "hit a mighty drive" with it. 11/ 6 FT -- In the Olinda column, "Walter Johnson was a visitor on this lease Saturday and called on many of his old friends. He made his home here several years before he became famous... Mr. Jones [the same one as in the 11/5 FN article?!], Mr. Greminger, and Mr. Isabelle [sic] attended the banquet given at the Elks' home in Anaheim in honor of their old friend, Walter Johnson." 11/ 6 AG -- "STREET PAGEANT WAS HOWLING SUCCESS" "...The affair, first of its kind ever staged in Orange county, was a howling success, and it has already been determined by the Merchants' Association that this shall be an annual event..." [Hank seems to have this article already.] "...The Anaheim Elks added several thousand dollars to their charity fund by pulling off the Johnson-Ruth game. Indigent people and kiddies will reap the benefit..." "County Clerk Joe Backs came over from Santa Ana Thursday to attend the luncheon given to Walter Johnson, and also was among those present at the Johnson-Ruth game. Joe used to play ball with Johnson, and made a high reputation as a pitcher. Had he drifted into professional company he might have become a star." [Only mention I've ever seen of this former teammate!] 11/ 7 APD -- "Mrs. Walter Johnson is reported as being ill with appendicitis. She is receiving treatment at the St. Vincent hospital. Walter had to postpone a business trip to Oakland Monday evening. The great pitcher is still dealing with the Oakland club. Walter would be quite a different character in the association of league owners to that of Col. Ewing, the present Oakland owner. The Coast League would be lost without Bombshell Cal Ewing. Cal has been scraping somebody ever since the league was formed." 1991 Following are a few AB items regarding the final Anaheim Halloween festival: 10/26 "...the 68th annual festival..." 11/13 "Anaheim Halloween Festival Inc. dissolved itself Tuesday, citing a lack of funds and prohibitive costs in keeping the 68-year-old festival going." [The city of Anaheim was withdrawing a $50,000+ annual subsidy.] "...the longest-running nighttime parade in the United States..." 11/14 An article refers to the first parade as beginning "at 7 o'clock on the night of Oct. 31, 1924". =============================================================================== THE NEWS SOURCES: AB -- Anaheim Bulletin AG -- Anaheim Gazette APD -- Orange County Plain Dealer FT -- Fullerton Daily Tribune FN -- Fullerton Daily News. Its microfilmed issues from 1924 are badly faded and could not be copied. Many articles were too illegible to decipher. SMO -- Santa Monica Evening Outlook