[Mick]

Other than annual conference games at St. Francis, Bellarmine, Serra and Riordan, we rarely ventured outside Alameda County for games.  The three big leaguers I played against in HS were Steve Byre, Bernie Williams, and Chris Speier (and a darn good baseball player who chose football, Dan Pastorini).  Williams is the only hitter I ever saw who hit a homer over the right field fence at Washington Park (a very long poke).  When the Giants drafted him, I thought he was going to be a star.  I guess that shows you why I would have made a terrible scout.

Bernie Williams was a strong AAA player that didn't rise to the MLB occasion.  He played in Japan for six years, somewhat successfully.

I know you were talking about Washington Park in Alameda.  For a moment, I thought you were referring to the Washington Park in Santa Clara, a very large park (varsity baseball field for Buchser High School, back when there was a Buchser.).  Santa Clara used it for their junior varsity, and in early season tryouts for the SCU team, one of our players hit my best cut fastball about 375 feet on a line, hitting the center field fence on the fly.  So much for my budding pitching career.

[Mick]

Other than annual conference games at St. Francis, Bellarmine, Serra and Riordan, we rarely ventured outside Alameda County for games.  The three big leaguers I played against in HS were Steve Byre, Bernie Williams, and Chris Speier (and a darn good baseball player who chose football, Dan Pastorini).  Williams is the only hitter I ever saw who hit a homer over the right field fence at Washington Park (a very long poke).  When the Giants drafted him, I thought he was going to be a star.  I guess that shows you why I would have made a terrible scout.

Bernie Williams was a strong AAA player that didn't rise to the MLB occasion.  He played in Japan for six years, somewhat successfully.

I know you were talking about Washington Park in Alameda.  For a moment, I thought you were referring to the Washington Park in Santa Clara, a very large park (varsity baseball field for Buchser High School, back when there was a Buchser.).  Santa Clara used it for their junior varsity, and in early season tryouts for the SCU team, one of our players hit my best cut fastball about 375 feet on a line, hitting the center field fence on the fly.  So much for my budding pitching career.