Three Prairie Baseball Icons Reunite After 72 Years

By ROBYN JENSEN

Special to Alberta Dugout Stories

Seventy-two years after their remarkable season with the Medicine Hat Mohawks in 1951, three California kids —Nat Bates, Willie Reed and John Noce—reunited for a special lunch.

They reminisced about their time as enthusiastic young ball players heading north for an adventure. In their 92nd year, time has not diminished the shared memories and camaraderie that formed the foundation of their friendship. Baseball may have witnessed many changes over the decades, and their varied careers placed them on different paths, but the bond forged during that unforgettable season was never forgotten. After many years, these ageless athletes are back together for a heartfelt reunion.

Setting the Stage – Californians in Western Canada

In the summers of 1949 & ‘50, a group of college kids embarked on a remarkable journey that blended the love of baseball, the spirit of adventure, and the challenges of barnstorming across North America. Spearheaded by resourceful promoter S.L. ‘Brick’ Swegle, the California Mohawks, and under the guidance of coaches Peter (Pete) Beiden and Roy Taylor, set out on their first two barnstorming tours, covering close to 19,000 km from California to Alaska, with numerous stops in between. This would set the stage for an influx of American college stars to play in Alberta/Saskatchewan and, subsequently, the recruitment of Canadians to play in California.

“The party of college students, who present a scintillating brand of ball seldom seen in this neck of the woods…”

Edmonton Journal, 09 Jul 1949 P. 35

This “scintillating” baseball was due to the incredible coaching talents of Beiden and Taylor. Beiden, the Fresno State baseball coach, deeply understood baseball fundamentals. His career spanning over 40 years and mentorship cultivated a lineage of successful coaches and players, including major leaguers Truman Clevenger, Ted Wills, Jr., and Boston Red Sox manager Jimmy Williams.

The College of the Sequoias coach Roy Taylor had a keen eye for talent. Taylor spent nine summers playing and managing on prairie diamonds such as Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, and Kamsack. He brought approximately 80 players from California to play in Canada and, in turn, scouted many Canadians and sent them to the Sequoias on scholarship to develop their skills. Taylor was known for bringing the best out in his players and didn’t judge success by the win column; he felt success by how his ball players did in life. His career also spanned over 50 years, and in 1994, he was inducted into the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Along with Swegle, Beiden and Taylor took charge of a talented team of all-stars and started their trek to Canada with two eight-passenger vehicles, a DeSoto and a Chrysler, playing up to 100 baseball games. In 1950, the grueling schedule called for 65 exhibition games through Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, leaving on June 9^th and returning on August 14^th.

The college kids won games and tournament money during the two summers on the road. In ’49, they had a glorious start to their summer on June 14th:

“The barnstorming California Mohawks kicked off the Canadian leg of their exhibition tour with a thrilling ninth-inning rally to defeat the Kelowna Elks Red Sox 7-5 Tuesday at Elks’ Stadium. Down 5-3 after eight innings, the Mohawks scored four runs in the top of the ninth then blanked the locals in the bottom of the frame for the victory in a wind-swept conditions….” (attheplate.com)

Unfortunately, neither Beiden, Taylor, nor the players saw any profits due to promotor Brick Swegle’s exploitive practices and financial mismanagement:

“‘Brick probably made a lot of money, says Taylor, but we never got a cent.  Swegle took care of expenses and gave the players meal money but pocketed the rest.”  

Lou Pisani, who later became a coach in Las Vegas for 50 years and a baseball scout for the Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, and San Francisco Giants, recalls the players gathering to discuss the money situation and potential revolt if Swegle didn’t start paying them a salary:

“We got just room and board. In those days if they found out we got paid we would have been ineligible back in the states, so it was kept secret, But, we got together in Regina. We were playing a series, set up in a hotel, a big room they had for teams coming in. In fact, I brought this up with coach Beiden, ‘Look you’ve got us on room and board and we’re winning all this money in these tournaments, and the guys were talking that we should get a little money.’  Finally we voted on it, and told Brick Swegle (the promoter) if we don’t get it we’re going home. We got thirty dollars a week. Pay them a little bit that’s what Swegle did in 1950 and in 1951 it was the same way although it then became how important you were on the team, I think the pitchers got a little more.” (attheplate.com)                

Regardless of the behind-the-scenes problems with Swegle, these young players gave it their all on the diamond, becoming a force to be reckoned with during their two years of barnstorming.  Alberta’s biggest summer attraction – the 1950 Lacombe Baseball Tournament – attracted 4,500 fans to the championship game between the California Mohawks and Sceptre.  The sports columnist for the Edmonton Bulletin, Stan Moher, noted that it was “one of the heftiest crowds ever to see an athletic attraction in this part of the province.” The California Mohawks and Sceptre split first prize money of $3,000 due to a rain-out. 

1951 – The Barnstormers find a home in Medicine Hat

By 1951, baseball was kicking into high gear in Western Canada.  Thirteen Saskatchewan communities hosted teams in three semi-pro leagues — the Western Canada League, Northern Saskatchewan Baseball League, and the Manitoba-Saskatchewan circuit.  Swegle saw an opportunity to set up roots and become part of the fever that struck the prairies by establishing a permanent team in Medicine Hat.  Along with Lethbridge, Swegle had been negotiating to join the Alberta Big Four Inter-city League in November 1950.

By April 1951, Don Pilling of the Lethbridge Herald reported that the Alberta Four was disbanded. Swegle, on having an agreement in principle for a five-year contract with the City of Medicine Hat, was looking to join the Western Canada League (WCL) with Regina, Indian Head, Estevan, Swift Current, and Moose Jaw. Baseball in Saskatchewan was becoming big business with the importing of top-notch players from the United States, many from the Negro Leagues.  On May 9^th, the WCL fees of $1,500 were paid, and the Medicine Hat Mohawks became official members.

Back in California, coaches Pete Beiden and Joe Mocha (Roy Taylor moved on to coach the Saskatoon 55s) opened a 40-man training camp to select a group of 20 all-stars representing five California colleges to form the Mohawks for the ’51 season with the first wave set to play on June 1^st.

Nat, John & Willie get on the team. But before that, High School

John Noce recalls his long baseball relationship with Nat Bates and Willie Reed before suiting up with the Mohawks.  Noce, Bates, and Reed played on integrated High School teams—Nat and Willie for El Cerrito and John for Richmond. (Both were in the area’s top three baseball teams, along with Berkeley).  Noce recalls competing against Bates and Reed on many occasions, including through the Richmond Summer Baseball program.  Reed’s high school yearbook records that he “collected 4 hits in 6 times at bat” in the season’s first game against Alhambra. Noce received an all-star award in 1948 for his catching abilities, and in 1950, the April 13th edition of the Oakland Post Enquirer reports the El Cerrito had good hitting and two excellent moundsmen, one of whom was Bates.

Noce recalls living in Richmond, CA, at the right time – “In the 1950s, it was a good loyal community.”  His dad worked at the local refinery, and many African Americans were employed in the shipping yards. As a youngster, he grew up in an environment where he did not see any “bad relations between whites or blacks.”

However, California, like the rest of the United States of the 1950s, was grappling with issues of racial segregation and discrimination. During this time, racial segregation was prevalent in various aspects of American society, including sports. African Americans and white individuals often played on separate teams, reflecting the broader racial segregation that existed in schools, neighborhoods, and public facilities.

In sports, teams were not as strictly segregated. Baseball, for example, began to see the integration of black and white players in the 1940s and 1950s. Jackie Robinson famously broke the colour barrier in Major League Baseball (MLB) when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

In California, where social attitudes were more progressive than in other parts of the U.S., there were instances of integrated teams, especially in urban areas like Richmond.

After high school, all three moved on to college, and it was Bates and Reed’s coach, Gene Corr, who connected them with Beiden and Swegle to try out for the new team forming in Medicine Hat. Nat and Willie were ready to “get away from the area for a while.” Noce’s old teammate from high school, Bud Watkins, recommended him and shortstop Johnny Kane to Swegle.  Watkins had played on the California Mohawks barnstorming team in 1949 and 1950. All three young men saw this as an adventure and an opportunity to see another part of the world while playing baseball.

Medicine Hat Mohawks – Adventure & Drama

In 1951, these young college kids were entering the WCL ring with a mix of talented players from Canada and the U.S. This included Chet Brewer, a Negro Leagues pitcher, who was signed with Sceptre and later moved on to Indian Head (IH).  The IH Rockets were an all-African American team from Jacksonville, Florida, and under the management of Big Jim Williams, who played with greats such as Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard (Homestead Greys), brought major league-level talent to the WCL semi-pro circuit. One of his players, Tom Alston, would later join the ranks of the MLB as a St. Louis Cardinal. Edmonton Eskimo football legend Roland (Rollie) Miles played second base for the Regina Caps before switching gears and becoming an Alberta all-star. Hockey superstar Gordie Howe and the famous Bentley brothers played baseball over the summers to keep in shape. 

Unphased by the roster of pros on the other teams Beiden knew how to find talent, and based on the success of the previous two years with the barnstorming squad, he was ready to unleash his team in Western Canada. Along with Noce, Bates, and Reed, he brought together a powerhouse of players, including a young Pumpsie ‘Elijah’ Green.  Green later joined MLB ranks after he joined the Boston Red Sox and later the New York Mets along with Curt Barclay, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in 44 MLB games for New York and San Francisco Giants. These were just five out of many more great Mohawk team athletes.

The season started with bang beating the Moose Jaw Canucks:

“Bud Ellington’s tenth inning single gave Medicine Hat Mohawks a 5-4 win over Moose Jaw Canucks in the Mohawks’ first start in the newly-formed Western Canada Baseball league. The first sacker’s line drive came with Gene Jacobs on base with a single and Nat Bates who reached on an error. Mohawks had a chance to win in the ninth when they loaded the bases with one out, but reliever Jackie McLeod forced Tony Nunez to hit into a fielder’s choice and then fanned Joe Mocha.  Rudy Garcia went the route for the ‘Hawks allowing seven hits. He fanned six and allowed three bases on balls.  McLeod, who relieved starter Berlyn Hodges in the second inning, was charged with the loss.” (attheplate.com)

Noce recalls that he, Bud Watkins, and Ray Perasso arrived ten days late but just in time to play a doubleheader against the Estevan Maple Leafs in Medicine Hat, which they pounded a total of 26 hits for 23 runs, winning both games 18-6 and 5-0. 

As well as winning the league games, the Mohawks were nabbing the top prizes in the Saskatchewan and Alberta tournaments, including the prestigious Lacombe tourney.  They won four that season, just behind their Sceptre opponents, who won six. It was a grueling schedule, and Noce remembers that most of the player’s time was spent on the road:

“…get in the car 3 or 4 hours, maybe stop for a meal, check into a motel, get up the next morning, travel another 3 or 4 hours, play again, get in the 8-passenger car and drive another 3 or 4 hours.  Put on approx. 10,000 miles, 96 games in 89 days”

By early July, their route had taken them to the Saskatoon tournament, where 9,000 fans gasped as a near riot broke out. The Mohawks questioned a decision by the umpire as the game ended with Medicine Hat losing to Colonsay 6-7. The Colonsay players went to Amby Moran’s defense when Medicine Hat lost their cool.  A mini brawl started, and fans ran onto the field to watch the fights unfold. Swegle later apologized for the team’s behaviour. The game was further cursed when Mohawk Al Endriss was injured breaking a tie at home plate at the bottom of the ninth:

“[H]e was caught by a hair and in his attempt was badly spiked. Brick Swegle, in a telegram to The News, announced that Endriss required five stitches in his ankle and may be out for two weeks.”

(Medicine Hat News, 03 Jul 1951, P. 6)

Brick added to the problems by exploiting the young players, paying them well under the league standards of only $50 and $100 per month.  The going rate was $200 to $300 per month. Noce recalls Brick cutting their already meager meal allowance from $3/day to $2.50/day, causing a revolt, and the team confronted Swegle about it.  At the Indian Head Tournament on July 19th, the young college kids pulled their weight and told Brick:

“We’re not playing unless you give us $3.  If we win Indian Head, you are giving us the $3 back.  Brick said, ‘yeah’”. 

The Medicine Hat Mohawks won, and promoter Swegle was forced to keep his word:

“The college kids did it.  The Medicine Hat Mohawks came from behind to defeat Eston Ramblers 9-6 and take $1,200 first prize money in the Indian Head tournament.  11-thousand fans watched the finale.

Right-hander Curt Barclay was the hero for the Mohawks pitching a seven-hitter in the morning as Medicine Hat eliminated Estevan 3-2 then throwing eight innings in relief as the ‘Hawks won the final.  Eston got an early jump on the Mohawks with three runs in the 1st inning of the final against Bud Francis.  After the Hawks replied with a pair in the top of the 4th, three Mohawk errors contributed to a pair of runs against Barclay in the bottom of the frame.  Medicine Hat pulled to within a run with two in the 7th before their four-run outburst in the 8th. They slapped out five hits, including a two-run triple by Ray White.  Al Endriss and Barclay each had a double and two singles for Medicine Hat.  Rudy Fernandez took the loss.” (attheplate.com)

Despite all the backstage money problems, the Medicine Hat Mohawks proved they could step into the semi-pro arena and win against the more seasoned ball players. Noce says he would have done it all again because he had a great time with his teammates and learned a lot playing in Canada.

The five-year contract with the city of Medicine Hat never materialized due to a lack of fan support at home games and Swegle’s questionable accounting practices. The Mohawks were no more, but Brick continued to promote and infuse California college kids into Western Canadian teams. This included moving Nat Bates, Willie Reed, and Pumpsie Green, along with fellow high school teammates Winters Calvin and Emmett Neal, from El Cerrito to play with the Indian Head Rockets in 1952.

Bates recalls his time in Canada:

“It was a golden opportunity. As a high school athlete, our ambition always was to go as far as we could go, meaning that we would try to get into professional baseball and the major leagues,” said Bates. (Bryan Eneas, Golden Opportunity CBC 22 Aug 2022)

The Passage of Time – Each forge their path forward

After the Medicine Hat Mohawks, Noce, Bates, and Reed moved forward with incredible careers:

John Noce

“Noce had a distinguished coaching career in the USA, Canada and Europe.  In 1992, Noce stepped down after 31 years as coach at the College of San Mateo.  During that time he also pulled coaching duties at Drummondville, Quebec in 1968-69-70 and 74-75.  Noce also returned to Western Canada to coach the Edmonton Tigers in ’75. 

The former catcher is well known in Italy from two decades of experience, 1977 to 1997, including a role as assistant coach with the national team for the 1984-92 and 96 Olympics. 

In 1998, Noce coached the Reno Chukars of the Western Independent League and suited up with an association this season with the Youth Baseball Program in Parma, Italy.” (attheplate.com)

He never forgot his Medicine Hat Mohawk days, and in the 1970s, he retraced some of the stops he made in the 1950s with his San Mateo Bulldogs ball team.  “This time, we were paid better,” Noce laughs.

Nat Bates

Nat’s extraordinary skills in baseball earned scholarships to Contra Costa College and San Francisco State University. Along with his career as a probation officer, he entered politics, becoming mayor and nine-term city councilman of Richmond, California, starting in 1967. He sits on the council as the nation’s oldest elected official at 92. Bates travelled to Canada to receive the Indian Head Rockets induction into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 on behalf of all the players.  In 2023, he returned to Saskatchewan as a keynote speaker and received an additional honourary induction.

Willie Reed

After serving in the Korean War, Reed stayed in Richmond to focus on family and manage a men’s clothing retail store for 33 years. Willie was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022, along with Bates and his fellow Rockets teammates.

Reed and Bates were featured in a CBC Documentary called Golden Opportunities, which received the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA) Canada national award.

The Legacy of the Mohawks

The California and Medicine Hat Mohawks left a lasting impact on the communities they visited. Their dedication to the game triumphs on the field and the sheer joy they brought to baseball enthusiasts set the stage for future California college endeavors. Roy Taylor spent nine summers in Saskatchewan coaching, importing, and exporting young men on baseball scholarship, marking the beginning of an influx of college players on the prairiesuntil 1959.

As for Noce, Bates, and Reed, the bonds forged on the field in their youth playing ball together serve as a reminder of the enduring power of the sport to connect generations and bridge the gaps of time. It’s more than a reunion; it’s a celebration to reflect on the significance of these baseball legends coming together after a remarkable 72 years. Oh, to be a fly on the wall, what stories they must have shared!

Thank You

To Joe McFarland, I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for your and Alberta Dugouts’ infectious enthusiasm and passion for allowing me to share the rich history of 1950s baseball.

I also want to extend my heartfelt thanks to John Noce, Nat Bates, and Willie Reed. Each of you is a living testament to the beauty of a life well-lived, filled with adventure, heart, and a zest for the extraordinary. Your stories and experiences serve as an inspiration, reminding us to embrace every moment, pursue our passions, and cherish the adventures that life has to offer. – Robyn

Robyn Jensen

Robyn Jensen is a storyteller, baseball historian, curator, and artist who has lived in the community of Indian Head, SK, for almost 20 years. Her involvement in the local museum led her to research and create an exhibit for The Indian Head Rockets (All African American and Cuban Baseball Teams 1950-54). Inspired by that work, she has returned to university for a master’s degree in Media and Artistic Research, researching racism in newspapers and writing a thesis using the 1952 Rosetown Baseball Riot as the catalyst. Needing an outlet to share the additional stories she uncovered along the way, she created a blog called Home Runs & Dirt Roads – Stories of Baseball in Saskatchewan (homerunsdirtroads.ca), and you can also follow her on Instagram.