Ed Arnold Remembered

A Letter to the Editor of the Burlingame Daily News remembers Ed Arnold on his passing:

We lost a great one

Dear Editor: Along with many Burlingame "old-timers," I was saddened to read of the recent passing of the legendary Ed Arnold of Burlingame at the age of 97. Mr. Arnold was a true representative of The Greatest Generation and will be remembered fondly and respectfully by all of us who were lucky enough to know him. Many of us recall his innumerable Letters to the Editor to area publications, which he wrote regularly up until a few short years ago. Knowledgeable, witty, urbane, honest and fair - with a clear touch of faith and hope - his many letters defined him perfectly. May he rest in eternal peace and may his goodness, decency and extraordinary personal charm live on.

Michael Traynor,
Burlingame

- Written by Joe

Comments

[resident]

Ed was a great guy. Thank you, Mr. Traynor for noting his death.

[Ed Larios]

Ed was a great resource for Burlingame history. I had the opportunity to interview Ed on the Burlingame Channel, channel 27, about 10 years ago. Ed talked about growing up in Burlingame and we talked mainly about baseball. He mentioned that there was so much open space that baseball could be played almost anywhere without worrying about cars or breaking windows. He told me about a baseball stadium that was located near Peninsula and El Camino and that Burlingame had a semi-pro team with some former major leaguers.
Ed showed me a ball, autographed by Babe Ruth, that he got at the old Fox Theatre on Burlingame Avenue. The Babe had appeared at the Fox in 1930's.
He also mentioned that Burlingame High was called San Mateo North when it first opened and that he received his letter from both San Mateo and Burlingame high schools.
I also had the opportunity to be on the committee that selected Ed to be inducted into the Burlingame High school Athletic Hall of Fame.

Ed,

This is great stuff about Ed. The fine ladies at the historical society have found a very cool letter to the editor of the Burlingame Advance-Star from June 5, 1958. The writer, Ivan Peterson, who lived at 4 Winchester Pl. writes about the 50th anniversary of the city including old time Blingum baseball.

Back in 1908 above Walnut Avenue and bounded by a creek on the north and Floribunda Avenue on the south was the place where the Burlingame baseball team played ball on Sundays and holidays. All the Burlingame players were local men.

The next baseball field I can remember where Burlingame played baseball was the area between Peninsula and Bayswater Avenue bounded by Arundel and Anita Roads. The late Fire Chief Wilkie Dessin played first base and hit the longest home run ever seen in the entire history of Burlingame. By estimates the ball traveled about 450 feet and there was no rabbit? in the ball those days.

Burlingame years back, about 1910, had much going on for youngsters. It boasted of two athletic clubs Corinthians and Zephyrs. The Corinthians were made up of youngsters west of the railroad tracks and had for a clubhouse a barn over the creek located at Ralston and Occidental Avenues. The Zephyrs were made up of boys east of the railroad tracks. We had track meets, baseball and football games and this kept us out of mischief during vacation periods.

Then in 1912 Burlingame had another baseball diamond located on the west side of the El Camino Real bounded on the north by Cypress Avenue and on the south by a lot of hothouses owned by McLellan which extended to where Peninsula Avenue meets the El Camino Real. Semi-pro baseball was of big interest those days and Burlingame had one of the finest clubs in California. Players such as Dutch Reuther, Al Walters and Babe Cunningham were members. Reuther starred as a left-handed pitcher for many years with Cincinnati, Brooklyn, Yankees and Washington. Al Walters caught for the Yankees for many years, and Babe Cunningham starred as a centerfielder under John McGraw of the Giants for many years. He can be remembered for making that marvelous catch of Babe Ruth's blast in the World Series of 1921 robbing Ruth of a certain homer.

[ed larios]

Joe:

Great stuff!!! Maybe a Mini Cooperstown for "Blingum" baseball history?

If you want to learn more about Burlingame history there are two great ways.
1.) log onto www.burlingamehistorical.org and check out the memories section.
2.) Become a sponsor of the upcoming coffee table style book due out in December. You can find a sponsor form on the same website.

I too interviewed Ed and found him to be a wealth of knowledge. He had contributed to the Burlingame Historical Society archives on several occassions. Nope, he didn't give us the Babe Ruth autographed ball.

Ed,

I'm sure we can cull out a corner of the train station museum for Blingumball. I've picked up some interesting Blingum golf memorabilia on eBay as well. Anyone else got any persimmon, hickory or feather treasures to go with the diamond gems?