Former announcer Tom Alexander a link to Lodi's baseball past

A link to Lodi's baseball past is returning to Tony Zupo Field this summer.

Tom Alexander, who served as an announcer and scorekeeper at Zupo Field in the 1970s and '80s when Lodi fielded a professional baseball team, will serve the same roles with the Lodi Baseball Club when the collegiate summer season kicks off next Thursday. Alexander will announce on a part-time basis, with Skip Urias calling most of the games.

Alexander, a former Lodi parks and recreation supervisor who retired at the end of 2007, began keeping the book and announcing for the Lodi Orions, a Japanese-owned team, in 1970. Alexander said the Orions would send four or five players from Japan every season.

After two years the Orions were sold and the franchise became an affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Alexander stayed on until 1975 when he took a four-year hiatus. He returned to his scorekeeping and announcing duties in 1979 and stayed until 1984, the last year Lodi fielded a pro team (the franchise was an affiliate of the Cubs and Dodgers during those years).

Alexander is a lifetime baseball fan who collected baseball cards and rooted for the Dodgers as a kid growing up Alameda in the 1950s. However, when the Giants moved from New York to San Francisco, Alexander changed his allegiances and has been a Giants fan ever since.

Since his retirement, Alexander has kept busy announcing prep playoff games at Zupo Field. He also works at the California State Railroad History Museum in Old Sacramento every Thursday.

Alexander and his wife, Jan, have two grown children, Davis and Lisa.

Lodi summer collegiate baseball returns to Zupo Field

What: The Lodi Baseball Club is a collegiate summer team with a roster including local talent as well as players from around the country.

When: The team will play a 44-game schedule that begins on Thursday, June 4 and ends Tuesday, Aug. 4. Lodi will play 38 home games and six road games.

Where: The Lodi Baseball Club will play all of its home games at historic Tony Zupo Field. The team will play road games at Atwater and Yuba City.

Opponents: The Lodi Baseball Club will play the Sacramento Scorch, Stockton Glory, Atwater Aviators, El Dorado Vipers, Folsom Pioneers, Nevada Bighorns, San Jose Seals, East L.A. Dodgers and the Yuba Gold Sox.

Opening series: The Lodi Baseball Club opens the season against the Sacramento Scorch next Thursday at 7 p.m. The teams will also play on Friday at 7 p.m. Lodi will host the Stockton Glory in a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The teams will also play on Sunday at 6 p.m.

It's free!: Admission to all home games is free.

Charitable pitch: A bucket will be passed around for donations at each game, with 30 percent of the proceeds going to a local non-profit organization. Each fan 18 and older will also receive a raffle ticket, with the winner receiving 10 percent of the bucket proceeds.

Board of directors: Rick Souza (president); Fran Brummett (secretary); Matt Blote (treasurer); Leon Lee (manager); Eddie Cervantes (coach); Wes Youth (coach); Duane Simpfenderfer (marketing); Tom Alexander (historian).

Contact: The Lodi Baseball Club can be contacted by phone at 401-5308. You can check the team out on the Internet at www.lodibaseballclub.org.

Q: Are you excited about getting back in the booth and announcing games?

A: I don't think much of it one way or the other. I enjoy baseball so I'll be around either way. If Skip wanted to do them all I'd let him.

I enjoy the high school games tremendously. I do the scorekeeping, announcing and run the scoreboard.

Q: Do you believe collegiate summer baseball will stick in Lodi?

A: I sure hope so. What Rick (Souza) and the (Lodi Baseball Club) board are trying to do is make it a nice summer entertainment outing.

There's a lot of expenses involved and it will take volunteers to keep it in Lodi.

Q: What are your fondest memories of calling games at Zupo when Lodi fielded a professional franchise?

A: I got to do play-by-play in two games in 1973 when the Orioles were in the playoffs. We did one game from Lawrence Park (now Tony Zupo Field) and another at Sam Lynn Field in Bakersfield. They hadn't used the booth at Sam Lynn Field in so long that the grounds crew had to hose it off to knock down all the spider webs.

Lodi won both games and captured the California League title. That was a lot of fun.

Q: Who was the best player you watched during your days in the booth?

A: That's hard to say because there are so many good ones. Kirby Puckett played here, but on our club the best one was Fernando Valenzuela. In 1979 we kept hearing about this phenom from Mexico and he was finally called up that season. He only pitched three games and went 1-2, one of the few places he had a losing record.

The guys I enjoyed ... Candy Maldonado was a lot of fun and Alan Wiggins, the year he stole 104 bases, that was exciting. Candy ended up doing his best work with the Giants and Alan played with the Padres.

Q: What was your most embarrassing moment?

A: Not really anything embarrassing, but some strange moments. One year I was scorekeeping and we had an announcer named Al Cleveland, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound guy who had played with the Dallas Cowboys. Traditionally, the announcers got the lineups, but one day Al was late and I decided to get the lineup. The Reno team had a call they weren't happy about the night before and the manager asked me who the scorekeeper was. Just then, Al walks up the steps and I point at him and say 'he is.' The guy looked at Al and said 'I don't have anymore questions.'

Q: Did you ever aspire to announce games or do scorekeeping at a higher level?

A: The opportunity was never there. I had so many other things going on, like bringing up kids and working.

Q: Leon Lee, who will manage the Lodi Baseball Club, once played at Zupo Field. Do you remember him playing at Zupo?

A: I remember his name and that his cousin, Rod Lee, played for us. I believe it was in 1974.

Q: Why do you think Lodi eventually lost its pro franchise and do you think the city could ever field another pro team?

A: It became too much a big business, too expensive. When it first came to town it wasn't a big-money item. We don't have the TV to support it and would probably need about 3,000 fans a night to survive.

Q: When you're in the booth what do you do between innings?

A: When I would do the book I had to keep stats, offensive and defensive; assists, putouts, errors. I was constantly doing it and it was a very busy time.

It was fun writing for the Sentinel. I would hustle down after the game and would write the story out in longhand and hand it to Carl (former Sentinel sports editor Carl Underwood) and he would type it up. Some nights he was typing as I was writing.

Q: How do think baseball has changed since you last announced games?

A: The biggest thing is salaries. Baseball itself hasn't changed. It's a good game to watch, relaxing.

Q: These games can run pretty long. What kind of performance enhancers will you be taking?

A: Diet soda. That keeps me going.

Reader Feedback

shannon090682 wrote on May 30, 2009 5:45 PM:

" When did Bill Mitchell announce for the pro teams? He was great. Didn't his wife keep score also? "

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