THE BOYS FROM WESTSIDE BROWNTOWN COULD PLAY BALL

They were playing championship softball without gloves...
By Rene TorresIn 1941, Brownsville and the entire Valley were consumed with playing softball—the kids from West Brownsville Elementary (today, Russell Elementary) were just as passionate about the game.
With no uniforms, no score board, no fences and with no cries from parents, as none were in sight—the game was a game. There were no white lines marking the infield, but rather old running paths established by the generation of players that came before.
The ward school softball competition was a serious proposition with kids playing for city bragging rights. Because official little baseball in Brownsville did not emerge until the early 1950s—elementary soft-shoe softball and youth playground ball were popular choices for kids of then.
Although football was also part of the elementary curriculum —softball at West Brownsville, was a spring sport that dominated all available space on the playground. According to Jimmy Pace, an old timer today, that made his name playing third for the boys from the Westside said,” softball consumed all the playing area on our playground.”
By the way, Jimmy was a lefty third baseman—but I guess nobody told him that lefties do not play third base, especially without a glove. “We didn’t use gloves, maybe just the catcher and it was not by choice—as these were tough times,” said Jimmy.
Playing fields at West Brownsville were plenty, as then; buildings did not swallow the landscape. From first grade to the fifth grade, each grade level owned their own perfect diamond—a space in the dirt to play each other when time didn’t matter.
As the first graders moved through the seasons and bloomed with every play, their ultimate goal was to make it with the big squad—the major leagues or the fifth grade team that participated in a formal league against other ward schools.
All games were played during school hours so there was always a healthy crowd to support the home team. As kids, teachers and staff lined the foul lines—it was now time for the coach and umpire to take control. Joe Huerta, a former ball player himself, and the school’s custodian would take a break from his regular routine to call balls and strikes—an easier task than usual, since underhand pitching was the standard.
Mrs. Russell was a natural in the classroom and a coach that led her team through a season of brilliant victories and more than justified her boys’ faith in her. No, her college transcript did not show that she had matriculated in baseball 101—but she was a person of strong character and a disciplinarian that got things done, on and off the field.
If you stepped out-of-line, she was a master at using the “board of education.” A piece of an old water hose, recalled one of her students that measured precisely 3 feet. A tool she did not have to use that often, but when she did, it was with much compassion, to deliver a good old fashion spanking.
Under her tutelage—the boys finished the elementary softball competition undefeated and untied, trouncing their arch rivals from Victoria Heights twice and doing the same to the boys from First Ward School (now, Skinner Elementary).
Every team has a big stick, that kid that could hit the ball consistently, for the Westside boys; it was John Clough, who also had a big chest at shortstop. He had the sure-hands like Phil Rizzuto of the Yankees, but unlike Phil, he did it barefooted and without a glove.
Marshall Alford, without a doubt, was the best all around athlete on the team. He could throw the softball; just as he did a football, with accuracy and for long distances. Marshall went on to establish himself as a star football player with the Brownsville Eagles and Baylor Bears.
Every season has to come to an end, for the softball boys of then, it meant graduating to the sixth grade and closing the curtain to a competitive league.
As then, most Brownsville kids would have to transfer to Clearwater Elementary to attend sixth grade—where the crack of the bat and the sounds and sights of baseball were but memories—as the school did not field a formal team.
See you at the park!
Photo: (Front row, l to R: John B. White, outfielder; Billy Dorris, catcher; Wayne Cooper, outfielder; Russell Harwood, outfielder; Malcolm Graham, second base and John Clough, shortstop.
Back Row, l to r: Marshall Alford, outfielder; Junior Dumal, pitcher; Melvin Stovall, outfielder; Walter Fortune, outfielder; Freddie Schmidt, first base; and Jimmy Pace, third base. Not shown Mrs. Russell, principal, and the coach of the team.)