FROSTYS' FIRST YEAR

1948 – Riverside Dons Evens Park Sunset Riverside Press and Enterprise

April 28, 1948—DONS TRY TROJANS TONIGHT AT EVANS---With a grapefruit circuit record of two wins and one loss, the Dons will be out tonight to add another victory when they meet the USC “B” squad at Evans Park. Game time is 8:15. The starting line-up will mark the unveiling here of a number of new contenders for regular berths. Don Jameson, husky work-horse of the spring session, will be given a whirl at first base. Two other candidates for the job have already flunked out. Neither Bob Albin, big lefthander from Anaheim, nor Jack Allman, local aspirant, has proved themselves capable at handling the first base chores. Butler and Holmes will be tried at center and right field, respectively, and the promising Forrest Kennedy, brand new father of a future don, will be shifted over to left field. Gene LAN Franco will take the mound at the start.

May 1, 1948—DONS LINE UP AGAINST ANAHEIM IN SUNSET LEAGUE OPENER HERE—only two holdovers from the 1947 Riverside dons lineup will take the field against Anaheim tomorrow, when the dons open defense of their sunset league pennant at Evans Park. Game time is 2:15 p.m. –The other seven starters are wearing don uniforms for the first time. At shortstop is half-pint Bobby Astleford, 20, from San Marcos, Calif., bobby stands only 5 ft. 5 in. and has to be careful in a strong sind. He was rated the outstanding prospect in the San Diego Padres’ 1948 baseball school, and conducts himself like an old-timer on the field. Virgil Criscola, on option to the Dons from Tacoma in the Western International, calls Walla Walla, Wash., his home town. He will start at third base. Morley bockman, leftfielder, is 21 years old ands lives in Long Beach. While at Wilson High in the Beach city he starred in baseball, football and basketball. At the University of Nevada he won two letters in baseball and one in football. Hank Bartolomei, of Ukiah, Calif., is another optionee from Tacoma. Hank was a four=-sport man in high school, spent four years in the air Corps. He is 24, and will start at second base. His all-around play has virtually nailed down the second base job. Big Don Jameson will hold down the centerfield spot when the dons meet the Vals. Don is 24, stands 6 ft. 2in., and weighs a neat 200. In 1942 he played for Lake Charles, La., and Avarices, Ga., then spent three years in service, and played with Thibodaux, La., during 1946 and 1947. He attended high school in Middletown, Ind., and went to Indiana University. Forrest Kennedy will play his first game in organized baseball at right field. He is 22, stands 5 ft. 11 in., weighs 180, and makes Puente his home. He became a father a few days ago and has been celebrating at bat ever since. Despite a peculiar, wide-open stance at the plate, he hits a hard ball. On the mound for the Dons will be Gene LAN Franco, a 22-year-old Orange boy. Gene is a six-foot right hander and has shown a world of stuff during the spring grind.



DONS WALLOP ANAHEIM 11 – 2 IN LEAGUE OPENER, Hank Bartolomei Hits Season’s 1st Homer.
May 3, 1948 Monday (Riverside Daily Press) by Bob Weide, sports editor---The Riverside Dons looked like a top-notch ball club yesterday afternoon at Evans Park as they7 opened defense of their sunset League pennant with an 11-2 victory over the Anaheim Valencias. One thousand customers paid to see the Don’s new suits and new faces and the ceremonies that marked opening day. Two four baggers gave Las Vegas a 7-3 victory over Mexicalli in another opener, the blows accounting for five of the winners runs. A crowd of 1520 saw Reno win its opener against El Centro, 9-6. Bill Rogers accounted for Reno’s homer and Varv Ward duplicated the feat for the losers. The Dons, with only a couple of last year’s veterans in the lineup ,M nevertheless looked like the colorful and hard-hitting team manager George Caster promised would fight to retain the sunset title. Anaheim’s five errors—three were by leftfielder dick Faber—helped the don cause immensely. Hank Bartolomei, rookie second sacker, clouted the first Don four-bagger of the season over the left field fence in the bottom of the third inning. The Valencias scored the game’s first run in the second frame, when Second Baseman john Pena crossed the plate on Kenny White’s error, but the Dons struck back with a vengeance in their half of the period. Forrest Kennedy’s double sent Jerry Waitman and Hank Bartolomei scurrying home and put Don Jameson on third as the Dons began a five-run scoring spree. White walked Jameson home, Shortstop Bobby Astlteford singled Kennedy in, and then Whit scored on a catcher’s error. Riverside tallied four runs in the sixth to gain their final edge. Ton Criscola doubled and was pushed home by a leftfielder’s error and Morley Bockman’s single. Waitman’s two-bagger scored bock man, Bartolomei singled, and three Anaheim errors brought Waitman and Bartolmei in. The Valencias loaded the bases with only one man out in the top of the ninth, and it looked like they would narrow the margin, but Anaheim Pitcher Adrian Burd clouted a grounder to Don third Baseman Criscola, who threw to fist sacker Whitman for a double play that ended the game. Press and Enterprise Business Manager Arthur Culver exhibited trophies the newspapers will award to outstanding Dons each month, and Assistant Mayor E. V. Dales tossed in the first ball.