The passing of San Bruno baseball legend Tom Lara at age 89 Thursday night was a big story that I was privileged to write for Prep2Prep and have teased to on San Bruno Patch and other sites.
After the story was published folks I tried to contact continued to respond to my inquiries, so I'm going to add some quotes gathered as well as some information I gleaned from a story written in 2013 by Jean Bartlett of the Peninsula Progress.
--Lara was born in Honolulu and was the eldest of five boys, Bartlett wrote, but grew up in North Oakland, near Emeryville. Both his parents were from Spain.
--Lara was a little wild as a youngster, but credited the nuns at his Catholic elementary school with setting him straight. "Those nuns didn't take any guff and they straightened me right out," Lara told Bartlett.
--Lara attended McClymonds High in Oakland, alma mater of such noted big leaguers as Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson, , Curt Flood, Lee Lacy and Ernie Lombardi.
--The San Bruno baseball icon met his wife Connie at age 19 and they were married for nearly 70 years. "We've been married for 68 years and I'm still head over heels," Lara told Bartlett.
--Lara was a manager at Astro Packaging in Hayward. He and Connie moved to San Bruno in 1955 and never left.
--The Laras had three children -- Tom III, Linda and Paul. Tom III played baseball and football at Serra. Paul played for his dad on the San Bruno DiMaggio team.
--Lara became the father of San Bruno baseball almost by accident, he told Bartlett -- starting a program after being told at the San Bruno Rec Center there were no baseball teams for his oldest son to play in.
--Lara was a mover and shaker in starting San Bruno's system of leagues -- Pee Wees, Midgets and Teeners. He was also a founding father of the Joe DiMaggio League for 16- to 18-year-old which began in 1967. Lara coached one of San Bruno's two entries, Flying Goose Sporting Goods, led by outfielder George Gladius and pitcher Matt Kriletich of Capuchino High.
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The kind words have been flowing for Lara since his death, including this comment from Vicki Matthews on the Prep2Prep site: "Our prayers and heartfelt condolences to Tom's family at this time of loss. We shall miss this gentle man but he has left a tremendous legacy that will forever remain a part of San Bruno history."
And from Pacific Joe DiMaggio coach Bobbi "Baseball" Rodriguez:
"When I was trying to take over this team, the guys who ran it took the money in the account and all the uniforms with them. We were basically left with nothing. Tom understood that and let me join the league knowing that we couldn't pay him the fees that year. We still had to pay for uniforms and without any funds coming in besides what we charged our players, we were flat broke.
"He told me not to worry about a thing and that he was glad I was doing this and keeping Pacifica Joe DiMaggio in the league. We eventually had some fundraisers, got some sponsors and paid this fine man back. He did not know me and did not have to go out of his way to help us at all, but he did and I am forever grateful."
Stories like that regarding Lara are not an aberration. Yes, a living legend has been lost in the Airport City, but his legacy lives on at Tom Lara Field, so aptly named in 1988.
LARA SERVICES SET: Visitation will be Thursday, July 24 from 6 to 7 p.m. at St. Robert’s Catholic Church in San Bruno (1380 Crystal Springs Ave.) A rosary will follow.
The funeral Mass is at noon July 25, also at St. Robert’s. The cemetery service follows the funeral at 3 p.m. at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma (1500 Mission Road).
Chapel of the Highlands in Millbrae is handling the services. Flowers will be accepted at St. Robert’s until 4 p.m. July 24. Donations may be made to San Bruno Joe DiMaggio Baseball, Junior Giants and the San Bruno Lions Foundation.
MELEE AVERTED: Having grown up in San Bruno I saw a lot of DiMaggio League games, including the first one, attended by Joe DiMaggio himself. Possibly the wildest game ever was in the mid-1970s at San Bruno Park between Millbrae and Lara's San Bruno squad.
It was the second game of a doubleheader and all was well until a local rugby team made up of Pacific Islanders snaked through the right-field area, lateraling the ball back and forth. This upset a Millbrae outfielder who got into it with the rugby dudes. Next thing you know, the rugby guys are pulling the stakes out of the ground that were supporting recently planted trees to arm themselves and Millbrae players were sprinting toward the outfield for what promised to be a monumental dust-up.
I still remember excitable Millbrae catcher Mike Giusti flipping his face mask off and yanking off his shin guards as he bee-lined it for the outfield. Fortunately, a cooler head prevailed. Lara's assistant, the imposing John Quintell, somehow got between the fired up Millbrae players and rugby lads and he promised the rugby team a case or two of beer afterward if they'd take their practice elsewhere. They did, and the game continued. Can't remember who won.
NEW PIRATE A.D.: Matt Meachen is the new Harbor High athletic director, said Geri Simmons, the administrative assistant for human resources for the Santa Cruz City Schools.
Meachen has been a history teacher at Mount Madonna School for the past nine years. He has also been an assistant baseball coach at Harbor High for several years, according to Soquel athletic director Stu Walters. Meachen played baseball for coach Mitch Meyer at Soquel.
"He did do a lot of work for us in P.E.," said Eric Forbes, the business manager at Mount Madonna. "I actually spent some time co-teaching with him and that's a fond memory. I like him. It's something different he'll be doing now, but I think he'll do fine."
GUEVARA NEW ANDREW HILL COACH: Javier Guevara has been chosen as the new football coach at Andrew Hill, Guevara said on Tuesday evening under partly cloudy skies at Jack Germaine Field.
“I’m looking forward to it,” the big, ex-player said. “We’re starting from scratch but the administration is behind us 100 percent.”
Guevara replaces Jake Redmond who resigned after last season to spend more time with his family. The Falcons went 8-3 overall in 2013 and won the BVAL-West Valley with a 7-0 mark.
Guevara, a San Jose High grad, has been an assistant for 35 years — most recently serving as the offensive coordinator at Yerba Buena. He’s also been an assistant at San Jose, Saratoga and Valley Christian.
MASOLI UPDATE: Former Riordan star quarterback Zach Masoli will play at City College of San Francisco in the fall, said Riordan coach John Lee.
There he'll be tutored by quarterback coach Danny Hayes, another former Riordan QB. George Rush is the Rams' longtime head coach.
"No one offered (Masoli), Lee said. "But Zach's brother (Jeremiah) played there and it's one of the best JC programs around. The coaching staff is phenomenal. I think it's a good decision."
Meantime, older brother Jeremiah -- who played high school ball at Serra and for St. Louis High in Hawaii -- will get his first start at quarterback today for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats when they play at Calgary in a Canadian Football League game.
Masoli replaced the Tiger-Cats' starting QB last week when the latter was injured, and completed 5-of-15 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown, but also threw an interception and fumbled twice.
Briefly: Watsonville pitcher Chris Rivera has committed to Cal State Fullerton, reports Jim Seimas of the Santa Cruz Sentinel ... Pinewood girls basketball star Gabi Bade has committed to the University of Buffalo. ... Woodside is seeking varsity and frosh-soph boys water polo coaches. More info: A.D.Chuck Velschow 650-367-9750 Ext. 43710 or cvelscho@seq.org.
John Murphy is the Web Content Manager of Prep2Prep. He may be reached at jmurphy@prep2prep.com.
