| And
playing at first, is...
By
Jack Kintner
In
1957 a baseball team from Deming took the field at Battersby
Park against the semi-pro Bellingham Bells. The visitors
started the big right-hander Lawrence “Red” Zender
on the mound, pitching to his long-time battery mate Dick
Zender, a one-time all-American. Slugger Bernie Zender played
shortstop, between second baseman Dan Zender and Nick Zender
in the hot corner at third. Jake Zender was in right field,
Pete Zender was in center and John Zender was in right.
“I’m
pretty sure our parents were in the stands, along with maybe
a dozen Zender relatives to cheer us on,” laughed
Red Zender, 76.
The all-Zender Brothers team played only a few exhibition
innings against the Bells that day, but the brothers formed
the core of the semi-pro Deming Loggers that dominated
local leagues and finished second at their national tournament
in Wichita, Kansas, in 1956. Aside from all nine Zender
brothers, that squad also included Nooksack grad and former
pro basketball player (with the Philadelphia Warriors)
Gayle Bishop.
“Had
we won that game,” Zender
said, “we’d
have gone on to play in a world tournament in Milwaukee,
but I don’t know how we could have afforded to
do it. They were asking back home when we’d be
getting back because there was work to do.” The
press of business meant the end of the team except for
a brief resurrection in 1962 when they finished third
in the state semi-pro tournament.
No one
really knows how many Zenders there have been since the
original two began what later became known as “Zenderville,” the
area between the state fish hatchery and the Black
Mountain Ranch where the Mt. Baker Highway almost makes
a “Z” of
its own with two right-angle corners in quick succession. “Well,
I was one of 28 cousins, and I have 15 grandchildren
and one great-grandchild myself. I guess I’d
just say lots,” Red
Zender said with an amiable chuckle.
While
the rest of the county and state knew the boys as baseball
players, their 50-man company, Zee Brothers, was well known
in the Deming area as one of the slickest high-lead
logging outfits in the state. They were known for
speed, safety and teamwork in a difficult and often injury-ridden
business. “Working
in the hills really paid off in baseball,” said
Zender, “because
we knew how to work together. No one’s ego
got in the way.”
The
boys all learned baseball playing informal pick-up games
on farms in the area. Red Zender said that it wasn’t
until he got to Mt. Baker high school that he had
the right equipment, “not that it mattered
a whole lot,” he
said.
Four
of the brothers played professional baseball. John was
drafted by the Yankees but a shoulder injury cut short
his career. Dick was drafted by the Cardinals. Nick and
Bernie were both drafted into the Dodger organization in
the early 50’s, “but they had some real tough
competition, people like Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Carl
Furillo and Jackie Robinson,” said Red.
He told
of Bernie’s experience playing in Illinois
on a AA farm team during a spell of hot and
humid weather. “Carl
Erskine put this story in his book, about how
he was looking all over for his roommate and finally
found him in a tub of cool water up to his neck, trying
to be comfortable in those days before air conditioning.”
The
1956 team ran through competition like a buzz saw and
qualified for the 36-team national semi-pro tournament
in Wichita without much trouble. The rosters all included
former major leaguers, and the best team came from Fort
Wayne, Indiana.
“They
were good,” Zender said, “but
we almost beat them the first time we played. The second
time we played it was for the championship, and with
one pitcher out because of a sore tooth we didn’t
have the pitching to continue. We got bombed in the first
inning and never caught up, losing something like 14 to
2. But that’s
baseball, and it was a great memory.”
The
team got to Kansas on an old Greyhound
bus driven by Sven Larson. There were
occasional stops for mechanical problems but nothing really
unusual happened until they headed for home,
motoring along for several hours until team
manager Bud Nessett finally realized that the
sun was on the wrong side and said “coach, I think we’re heading
for Mexico.”
These
days you’re likely to see Red Zender at the
World of Wood festival in August, working in his large yard or
around St. Peter’s parish, a church
that like the schools and baseball teams
has a lot of Zenders involved. |
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