PLACER-NEVADA LEAGUE

In 1964, Roseville Merchant pitcher Vernon Kemp struck out 20 Twin Cities Giant batters, most in the PNL that season. The left-handed pitcher had spent three seasons in the minor leagues (1961 to 1963) where he combined to post a 21-21 record with a 3.78 ERA in 67 career games. Kemp advanced as high as level-A while with Miami Marlins of the Florida State League in 1963 at age 22. One of the few mistakes Kemp made in the game vs Twin Cities was a booming home run to Giant's playing-manager Ray Webster. Webster, from Grass Valley, California had spent nine years as a professional including the 1959 season with the Cleveland Indians and three at-bats with the Boston Red Sox in 1960. He combined to hit .246 with 54 home runs during his pro career which included four seasons at the "AAA" level. He hit .244 with 10 homers for the Sacramento Solons in 1958. Also on the 1964 Twin Cities team was shortstop Clyde "Brud" Perry who spent eight seasons in the minor leagues (five at the "AA" level) with a career .245 average.

The Placer-Nevada Baseball League ended it's 42-year run when pitcher Freddie George led his Cubs to the 1968 championship, Auburn's 9th PNL title. The town of Roseville with several different sponsors (Order of the Redmen, Pacific Fruit Express Club (PFE), Happy Hour Club, and the Roseville Merchants) have won the most league titles with 10. Lincoln won eight championships while Placerville has won seven.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BASEBALL HISTORY

KEN BARNES played for several PNL teams during the 1950s and 1960s. He was the league's Rookie of the Year in 1955 while with the Colfax Fireballs.

PLACER-NEVADA LEAGUE

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BASEBALL CALIFORNIA BASEBALL HISTORY

YEAR PNL CHAMPION

1923 AUBURN-NEWCASTLE

1924 ROSEVILLE TIGERS

1925 LOOMIS

1926 LINCOLN CUBS

1927 GRASS VALLEY MINERS

1928 AUBURN CUBS

1929 AUBURN CUBS

1930 ROSEVILLE REDMEN

1931 ROSEVILLE PFE

1932 AUBURN CUBS

1933 ROSEVILLE REDMEN

1934 ROSEVILLE REDMEN

1935 PLACERVILLE OUTLAWS

1936 FOLSOM

1937 AUBURN CUBS

1938 FOLSOM

1939 AUBURN CUBS

1940 AUBURN CUBS

1941 LINCOLN POTTERS

'42-'45 No league during WWll

1946 ROSEVILLE WOLF & ROYER

1947 ROSEVILLE WOLF & ROYER

1948 PLACERVILLE BARTLETTS

1949 ROSEVILLE WOLF & ROYER

1950 LINCOLN POTTERS

1951 LINCOLN POTTERS

1952 LINCOLN POTTERS

1953 ROSEVILLE HAPPY HOUR

1954 LINCOLN POTTERS

1955 ROSEVILLE HAPPY HOUR

1956 LINCOLN POTERS

1957 LINCOLN POTTERS

1958 CHICO COLTS

1959 TWIN CITIES GIANTS

1960 AUBURN CUBS

1961 PLACERVILLE OUTLAWS

1962 PLACERVILLE OUTLAWS

1963 PLACERVILLE OUTLAWS

1964 PLACERVILLE OUTLAWS

1965 TWIN CITIES GIANTS

1966 PLACERVILLE OUTLAWS

1967 YUBA-SUTTER TWINS

1968 AUBURN CUBS

HOME BASE

TOMMY GLAVIANO

CEDO BESANA

FRED BESANA SR.

JIM WESTLAKE

Sacramento Valley League

MUZIO BAKERY

1960

The Placerville Outlaws dominated the first half of the 1960s by winning 5 of 6 PNL championships (1961 to '64, '66). The 1961 and '62 Outlaw teams were led by the pitching of lefty Leroy Stevens and the hitting of first baseman Jim Westlake. In 1953, Stevens pitched 53 consecutive scoreless innings while with the Lincoln Potters. He had previously spent four years in the minor leagues winning 16 games while losing 23 including a 1-1 record while with the "AA" Sacramento Solons in 1945 at age 17. Westlake had a nine-year professional career including one at-bat (0-1) in the majors for the Philadelphia Phillies. He averaged .280 over the course of his minor league career which included parts of six seasons at the "AAA" level and three at the "Open" level.

The Placer-Nevada Baseball League was founded in 1923 by newspaperman Allen "Scoop" Thurman, editor of the Colfax Record. Auburn-Newcastle was a charter member and won the league's initial championship. Other charter members of the six-team semi-pro league included Roseville, Colfax, Lincoln, Grass Valley North Star Mine and Grass Valley Empire Mine. Most PNL teams were based in Placer and Nevada counties including the Truckee Mountaineers, however other teams as far away as Marysville, Chico, Oroville, Orland (defunct Sacramento Valley League teams) and Lodi would later join the circuit. From 1951 to 1957, JACL (Japanese American Citizens League), an all-Japanese team from Penryn/Loomis, competed in the league. The team was led by catcher Bob Hayashida. Hayashida and Fred Besana formed the battery for the 1949 Placer Junior College championship team.

PNL games were mostly played on Sundays, generally before crowds of 500 to 1,200 onlookers. In 1926, the Lincoln Potters won the PCL title and were led by seventeen-year-old pitcher Cedo Besana, father of Baltimore Oriole pitcher Fred Besana, and grandfather of Bay Area Invader quarterback Fred Besana Jr. The Potters were a PNL powerhouse during the 1950s, winning titles in 1950, '51, '52, '54, '56, and '57. They also won championships in 1926 and 1941. The Potters were sponsored by Gladding McBean, a terra cotta and clay manufacturing company located in Lincoln that replaced much of the friezes and other ornamental decorative pieces that were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The sewer pipe and roofing tile manufacturer was founded in 1875 and still operates today as one of California's oldest companies.

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Like other semi-pro leagues in Northern California, the PCL had its a smattering of professional ballplayers. In 1950, while in the midst of his 13-year pro career, Tommy Glaviano suited up for the Lincoln Potters and blasted three home runs against Jack Carpender and his Placerville Bartletts. Carpender would spend 15 years in the PNL and once pitched a no-hitter against Colfax. His 21 strikeouts versus Grass Valley in 1954 was a PNL record until Hal Perry struck out 24 in 1962. Glaviano, a Sacramento native who attended Sacramento High School, became a professional ballplayer at age 17 when he hit .253 for the Fresno Cardinals. In 1946, Glaviano led the Class-C California League in slugging % (. 616). He also led his Fresno Cardinals in batting (.338), Home Runs (22, 3rd best in the CL), Triples (13, 2nd in the CL), Doubles (29, 4th in the CL), Hits (147, 6th in the CL), and Total Bases (268, the CL's 2nd most). He made his major league debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1949 and hit .267 with six homers in 87 games. He spent five seasons with the Cards and Phillies (1949 to 1953) with a career .257 average with 24 home runs. He spent the 1954 and '55 seasons with the Sacramento Solons where he hit .213 and .228 respectively. He ended his pro career at age 33 in 1957 after batting .176 for the San Antonio Missions of the AA Texas League.

"BRUD" PERRY

RAY WEBSTER

Northern Calif. League

PLACER-NEVADA BASEBALL LEAGUE

Marysville Baseball

Northern California Baseball

BOB HAYASHIDA

Left-handed pitcher Fred Besana pitched for his hometown Potters (1948 and 1953) and Roseville as a teenager during the late 1940s before signing a professional contract in 1950 with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League. Besana spent eight seasons in the minor leagues including four at the "Open" level (higher than "AAA" but lower than major league) and three years at the "AAA" level. He won 58 games while losing 67 with a career 4.33 earned run average. His best season at a high level was 1959 when he went 9-8 with a stellar 2.77 ERA for the Vancouver Mounties of the "AAA" Pacific Coast League. He made his major league debut in 1956 with the Baltimore Orioles getting into seven games and posting a 1-0 record with a 5.60 ERA.

Besana spent the 1953 season with the independent Marysville Giants (see Yuba-Sutter baseball, 1953) while he was stationed at Travis Air Force Base during the Korean Conflict. He led the Yuba-Sutter team to the area's best record of all-time (32-5) while competing against some of Northern California's best semi-pro teams. He set Yuba-Sutter semi-pro records that still stand today for most wins in a season (23), Winning % (.920 [23-2]), and shutouts (6). He averaged more than 13 K's/game. During the National Baseball Congress Northern California semi-pro tournament, Besana set a tournament record by striking out 17 Atwater Plumber batters in the opening round. Marysville finished as runners-up to the Ford Ord Warriors who went on to win the California state title.