A DREAM TEAM : El Cajon-LaMesa Stood Tall in ’61 Little League World Series

SAN DIEGO —  Brian Sipe proudly displayed a moth-eaten blue cap from his days as a Little League baseball player 28 years ago.

“At that time,” Sipe said, “the ‘in’ thing was to have a Little League cap with all-star pins on it.”

Note that Sipe, now 39 and a partner in a design and construction business in Encinitas, didn’t haul out a helmet from his days as an outstanding quarterback for San Diego State and the Cleveland Browns.

Certainly Sipe would have had reason to reflect with pleasure on his football career. He was with the Browns from 1974 through 1983, and in 1980 was the highest ranked quarterback in the National Football League, a Pro Bowl selection and The Sporting News player of the year.

Then why did a beat-up baseball cap with a bunch of pins on it have so much significance for a former football star?

Sipe happens to be one of those rare athletes, or ex-athletes, to whom success as a pro isn’t the biggest thing in life. To him, nothing that happened in high school, college or pro football could quite compare with the thrill of being a member of the El Cajon-LaMesa Northern Little League All-Star team that won the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., in 1961.

“When you’re young, you’re full of dreams,” Sipe said. “You fantasize about being in the Little League World Series. That’s what made it stand out in my sports career.

“The sheer joy of sport, with no outside factors, no contracts, no roster to make. Just playing as well as you could and having fun. It’s a real luxury that young athletes have.”

Sipe played a very small role in El Cajon-LaMesa’s drive to the championship. He was the only 11-year-old on the team--all others were the maximum age of 12--and was a backup catcher, pitcher and outfielder. He batted just once in the tournament, reaching base on an error.

Still, just being there was something Sipe will always treasure.

“I was pretty intimidated,” he said. “The one time I batted, I was so shook up that after every pitch, I made the sign of the cross. I was never that nervous as a pro quarterback.”

Sipe told about a guest appearance at Williamsport by Hall of Famer Ted Williams, an alumnus of Hoover High School and a former member of the minor-league Padres.

“He presented all of us with baseball gloves,” Sipe said. “They invited him to hit the opening pitch, and he deliberately missed it. All of us stood in stunned silence when we saw one of the greatest hitters of all time miss a pitch.”

Then could the Little League tournament have been the most rewarding experience of Sipe’s life?

“Oh, yes,” he said. “There’s no question about it.”

If it was that big a deal to a rarely used reserve, think how much it meant to Mike Salvatore.

Salvatore won both the semifinal and final games with last-inning home runs. On top of that, he pitched a three-hitter and struck out 11 in the quarterfinal game and pitched five hitless innings in the final.

“Mike was definitely the most valuable player in the tournament,” said Chico Leonard, the team’s second baseman, who is now a carpenter in Lakeside.

Strangely, the names of the two towns that the champions represented never appeared on their uniforms. In preliminary play, their uniform shirts read “Northern,” for the local Little League from which they were chosen as all-stars. In the Little League World Series, their shirts read “West,” because they had won the West Regional.

El Cajon-LaMesa swept through nine games to get to Williamsport, and needed three more victories there to take home the title.

The luck of the draw didn’t do the San Diegans any favors. They had to make their debut against the defending champions from Levittown, Pa. Neither team could score in the regulation six innings, but in the seventh, Todd Lieber’s home run gave El Cajon-LaMesa a 1-0 victory.

“They were the local team, so everybody there wanted them to win,” Leonard said. “We broke their hearts when we won. Lieber didn’t hit home runs during the season, but he came along when it counted.

“Unfortunately, Todd’s parents arrived just after he hit the home run to win the game. They drove, and they were delayed on the way.”

Next came Hilo, Hawaii, and another extra-inning game. Mickey Alasantro’s home run in the fifth sent El Cajon-LaMesa ahead, 2-1, only to have Hilo tie the score in the sixth. Salvatore finally won it with a home run in the eighth, 3-2. The late Beau Barrett went all the way for the victory and the boys from San Diego were only a step away from glory.

El Campo, Tex., now stood in the way after knocking off the tournament favorites from Monterrey, Mexico, in the semifinals, 1-0. The Texans took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on two unearned runs, but Salvatore’s three-run homer in the sixth gave the Californians a 4-2 victory and the championship.

Salvatore, now a real estate appraiser in Ramona, didn’t remember his game-winning home run in the semifinals. He was surprised to read about it when he dug up a box of musty clippings in his home.

However, Salvatore had no trouble recalling how he ended the game that made his team No. 1.

“We were so intense,” he said. “We were sure we were going to lose. Half the team was crying. I just went up there to make contact, but I really hit the ball well. I didn’t stop to watch it, but people told me it cleared the center-field fence by a big margin.

“I was so excited that I didn’t realize the game was over. I just thought, ‘Here we go. All right. We’re still in the game.’ It was a matter of survival. Then as I rounded third, everybody was waiting for me at home plate, and they carried me off the field. All of a sudden I knew it was the game.”

Almost obscured by the exciting finish was the fact that Salvatore and Alasantro combined for a no-hitter.

Salvatore had to be taken out after five innings, during which he yielded the two unearned runs while striking out five, because of the limit of 12 innings per week. In the sixth, he moved to left field and Alasantro, who had been playing first base, went in to pitch. Alasantro retired the side in order, and Salvatore’s home run made him the winning pitcher.

“I remember making a shoestring catch after going to left field,” Salvatore said. “I was pretty proud of that play, because the game was on ‘Wide World of Sports.’ ”

Alasantro and Lieber began the big final inning with singles off El Campo pitcher Phil Winfield. Leonard was due to bat next, but Lee Townsley batted for him and struck out. Then Salvatore hit Winfield’s 2-0 pitch out of sight.

Don Dolan, 70, of LaMesa, a retired PSA pilot who was co-manager of the team with Jim Pursley, talked about the magic moment.

“It looked pretty dismal, but the kids didn’t give up,” Dolan said. “After we got two runners on base, I put Townsley in to pinch-hit because he had power and to avoid a double play. I told him to swing for the fence, that I didn’t care if he struck out because we had Salvatore coming up next. He did strike out, but Mike came through for us.”

As great a tournament as Salvatore had, El Cajon-LaMesa won largely because it was team-oriented.

“We believed in our managers and they believed in us,” Leonard said. “Our experience proved that a good thing can definitely teach you a lesson.”

Of the other players, none was more instrumental than Alasantro. His home run in the semifinal game and his relief pitching and leadoff hit in the final all were essential to the victory.

“Of course, the home run was a thrill,” said Alasantro, now in the ceramic-tile business in Cardiff. “Then to help win the championship game was the topper. It was the only inning I pitched in the tournament.”

Both managers had sons on the team, Jim Dolan and Rick Pursley. Rounding out the roster were Carl Buffo, Rodger Cargin, John Teischer, Gene Okrusch and Joel Ventre. Steve Jupin, the 15th member, missed the trip because of illness in his family.

When the victorious Little Leaguers returned home, they took a commercial flight to Los Angeles, where they transferred to a PSA charter piloted by the elder Dolan, who had flown back earlier. They landed at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, and a big celebration followed.

“All the parents who hadn’t gone to Williamsport were on the charter,” Dolan said. “There was a big welcoming party in San Diego, dignitaries, quite a program. The players paraded around town on a fire truck.”

Salvatore felt that El Cajon-LaMesa lucked out when El Campo upset the Mexican team in the semifinals.

“We were really shaky at the prospect of playing Mexico,” Salvatore said. “Their guys looked so much older.”

Actually, the biggest break the San Diegans got was that Salvatore wasn’t born one day earlier. Aug. 1 was his 13th birthday, and July 31 was the cutoff date for Little League eligibility. Leonard was another near-miss, turning 13 on Aug. 2.

These days, Salvatore plays in a Senior League in which he has distinguished company. Also in the league are Rollie Fingers and Graig Nettles, longtime major leaguers whose careers included stints with the Padres.

Jim Dolan, an instrument technician in LaMesa, was El Cajon-LaMesa’s shortstop and teamed with Leonard to form a strong double-play combination. He saved the semifinal game against Hilo when he cut off a possible run with a diving backhand stop.

The younger Dolan told about his father’s advice not to try to hit the long ball--except in the case of Townsley in the final.

“It was ironic, because we had a lot of power,” Dolan said. “Dad said, ‘You’ll never win a game with a home run. Just try to make contact.’ Yet of the 14 games we won on the way to the championship, we won four or five on home runs (actually, six of the final eight). Barrett, Alasantro and Lieber hit five home runs apiece, and Cargin hit four.”

Much has been said and written about the negative aspects of Little League; parents pushing their boys too hard or meddling in the managers’ business. The senior Dolan said he hadn’t encountered any major problems of that kind.

“It was the greatest experience I’ve had in my life,” Dolan said. “We did catch some flak from parents, but it was nothing serious, just snide remarks about who should be playing. My only response was that as long as we were winning, we wouldn’t change a thing. We never had a disgruntled boy in the dugout.”

Sipe put in as much bench time as anybody on the team, but said, “My parents were strictly spectators, and our managers taught us to work hard and concentrate. We really had fun.”