Interview #2: Charley Clouse's baseball life
And witnessing the most famous brawl in baseball history live as a 10-year-old
Background: Charley Clouse has been a friend of my dad’s since they were in college. So he’s known me my entire life. Most of my memories with him revolve around either baseball or golf. He was born in 1955 in the Bay Area, spent a lot of years in the Bay and Central California and also had an awesome apartment in downtown Denver about a 5 minute walk from Coors Field. He’s now mostly retired and lives in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Earliest Baseball Memories
“I grew up in Stockton, California. Yep they were Stockton Ports then, too. They played in Billy Hebert field, which was built after WWII. By the time I got there it was probably 20-25 years old.
I got into baseball with Little League and just playing catch with my dad. I think it was a great learning experience where you learn to be part of a team, how to win and lose… Also did the baseball card thing, you know trading them with friends, keeping the good ones, sticking the bad ones in the wheels of your bike.”
His first MLB game was the Juan Marichal Bat Incident
“My dad was in the Kiwanis Club in Stockton, and every year we’d get tickets to a game. We were down the first base side near the dugout at Candlestick. I remember the sun, I was with my mom and my dad and getting to see the stadium for the first time for myself. And I remember there’s John Roseboro lying on the ground after, and Willie Mays comes running out of the dugout with a bunch of towels to try to stop the bleeding. I think, I can’t remember, if they took him out on a gurney or not. But I was a catcher in Little League at the time. I remember asking my dad, ‘is that normal in baseball for catchers?’ He said, no this has never happened before.
And then I read about how later in life, when Roseboro was sick towards the end of his life, Marichal came to visit him, they had long put that incident to bed.
My first visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame, I did a private tour. And the tour guide asked me what my first baseball memory was. I told him about Juan Marichal. And he goes into this cabinet and they had a complete file of just that game. Photos, press clippings, etc.”
A little background: On August 22, 1965 during the Giants-Dodgers game at Candlestick Park, while Juan Marichal was batting in the third inning, Dodgers catcher John Roseboro purposely buzzed Marichal with the ball when he threw it back to Sandy Koufax. Things quickly got out of hand and Marichal wound up hitting Roseboro with his bat. The details are laid out well in this article: ESPN: Juan Marichal clubbed John Roseboro 50 years ago in ugly, iconic incident.
Just as Charley remembered, Willie Mays was the hero of the day and kept things from getting even uglier. Man, your first ever Major League Baseball game. Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax the pitching matchup, two lineups that included Hall of Famers like Maury Wills, Willie McCovey and Willie Mays. Willie Mays hitting his 38th homer off Koufax. AND you see the wildest, most unbelievable incident in baseball history? All as a 10-year old at his first ball game.
Staying a fan into adulthood
“I think through the years, life gives you time and takes time away, so I sometimes didn’t pay as much attention as I would normally, but it’s (baseball) always been there.
I always tried to travel to as many stadiums as possible. I tried to do a lot of the old, old stadiums. The Old Tiger Stadium, the Old Comiskey Park before they tore it down (in 1991). I actually went with my wife to Tiger Stadium.”
Me: You dragged her to Detroit?
“Well she had family in the area so I didn’t have to pull teeth to make it happen at least.”
When he lived in the Central Valley in California, he was a season ticket holder with the Fresno Grizzlies and Visalia Oaks minor league teams through the years.
“I eventually wanted to get a second home to go to on weekends and to get away from work.”
Originally he went to Pismo Beach but needed somewhere further away.
“I thought about Chicago, with the baseball and city life there. But it was two flights to get from where I lived to Chicago, and Denver had direct flights.”
Coors Field and Denver
“It’s a really relaxed, family friendly experience. Everyone there is laid back, I first moved there in 2006 and they won the pennant in ‘07. I love walking up without a ticket, buying one at the window for a dollar, grab a beer and hot dog and have a nice summer night.”
Why Denver over other cities?
“I don’t really enjoy edgy people or aggressive atmospheres. I think if I had gone somewhere like New York or Philadelphia I would’ve gone to games there for a time, but I’m not sure if I would’ve gone to as many as I have at Coors.” (over 200)
“I went to the 2nd game of the 2022 season at Coors Field. In the fifth inning, it snowed. I believe if you have a team in your city you should always try to go to opening day.”
I believe if you have a team in your city you should always try to go to opening day.
Playing Baseball (…and softball)
“I played one year in high school. I was also in football and basketball, so by spring my sophomore year I was burnt out and stopped playing. I got hurt as a senior so I switched to softball in college. I was in a frat in college so we had year round sports leagues against the other frats. Basketball, football and softball.
That’s where I met your dad. He was looking for a team, and he was offering to sponsor it. So Bank of America sponsored our SLO city team and we had the nicest uniforms in the league, and your dad joined. That was the late 70’s, and we’ve been friends ever since. I was thinking about that at his 60th birthday about how long we’ve been friends. (and it all started with my dad as a free agent pickup in city softball)
“Retirement”
I’m happy now, we just got news they’re building a new minor league stadium here in Spartanburg, so in 2025 I’ll be able to go to games again. I love the Minor League atmosphere and being able to go to a game and enjoy a summer night whenever I feel like it.”
My Takeaways
Charley was my first interview, so he rode it out while I figured out what I was doing. We did a call over Facetime, and I set my phone to record the call, but it didn’t record audio. So I frantically wrote down what I could from memory and bought a tape recorded the next day.
As far as the interview, I learned some cool things. First, if you were to create a story about a baseball fan, you would hit all the topics Charley has been through. Played the game as much as he could, went to games (including some memorable ones), traveled to stadiums, loves to be at the ballpark, still enjoys the game to this day.
I enjoyed learning more about how he and my dad met at a softball league and then their shared love of baseball is part of the reason they’ve been close friends to this day. Also, I love hearing about Coors Field. Whenever you look at the standings, the Rockies are always near the bottom, but you look at the attendance rankings and they still always draw in the top 10. I was always curious what made it such a draw to fans, when other teams who don’t do well struggle to fill seats.
His story is a great example of how the game can teach you so many life skills early on, as well as friendships and connections, and just a place to go to be happy and enjoy life for a while.