DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Collection Number
88.4.1 – 88.4.3
Creator
This collection was assembled by unknown individuals associated with the Swiss Dairy Baseball Club. The collection was donated to the Santa Cruz Historical Museum by Joan Stagnaro on June 1, 1988.
Extent
Number of Containers: One (1) Box
Linear Feet: 1 Linear Foot
Repository
Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Archives
705 Front Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Abstract
This collection includes two official score books of the Swiss Dairy Baseball Club maintained by Managers Henry Tamgani and Louis Castagnola, 1936 – 1940, which documents the location, score and players of each Swiss Dairy baseball game. This collection also includes one catchers mask and several newspaper articles about the team.
Location
The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz, CA
Preferred Citation
The Original Score Books for the Swiss Dairy Baseball Club of Santa Cruz, The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz, CA
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the head of Archives at MAH. Researchers may be responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material not produced by museum personnel.
Process By
L. Chavez
Date Completed
2015
The Wilson Official Score Books of the Swiss Dairy Baseball Club of Santa Cruz include locations, scores, players, batting averages and general notes from the Swiss Dairy baseball games that took place in and around Santa Cruz County from April 1936 to September 1940.
The Swiss Dairy was one of the most prominent semi-pro teams in Santa Cruz during the time, along with the Santa Cruz Seahawks. The club features a lot of Italian-American players, including Louie Castagnola, Dick Fassio, Nig Tagamini and brothers Paul Juhl and Johnny Reis.
Santa Cruz County had an affliction for the sport of baseball, Watsonville, Aptos, Soquel, Felton, Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek and Santa Cruz all had semi-pro squads during the late 1800’s and early 1900s. In the late 1890’s Santa Cruz got a professional team called the Santa Cruz Beachcombers, the name was later changed to the Sand Crabs. The Pacific States League that the Beachcombers were apart of was the highest level of organized baseball during the era on the West Coast. “While Santa Cruz County had much representation in professional baseball during baseball’s most popular era, its connection to the sport during the years surrounding World War II was not as strong. This was due to the fact that many young Santa Cruz men went off to fight in Europe and the Pacific during the war
Dunn, Geoffrey. Field of Dreams: Santa Cruz County’s Love Affair with Baseball.
http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/265/http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/265/
http://www.goodoldsandlotdays.com/medley/memories-of-the-game/150-baseball-sentinel-santa-cruz
SERIES 1. WILSON OFFICIAL SCORE BOOKED OF SWISS DAIRY BASEBALL
Two (2) Books
Series Scope and Content Summary
The series contains two official score books of the Swiss Dairy Baseball Club maintained by Manager Henry Tamgani, 1936- 1940, which documents the location, score and players of each Swiss Dairy Baseball game.
The series is divided into two (2) subseries:
Subseries I.A. Score Book Records, April 1936 – May 1940
Subseries I.B. Score Book Records, March 1939 – Sept. 1940
SUBSERIES I.A. Score Book Records, April 1936-May 1940
One (1) Book
Scope and Content Summary
This subseries contains the location, scores and players of Swiss Dairy Baseball’s semi-pro games held in and around Santa Cruz County from April 1936 to May 1940. The score book for this period was managed by Henry Tamagni. The score book records games during this period held against the Kasei Athlete, Navy, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Turner Plumber San Jose, Legion Bells, the Holister Sluggers, Watsonville White Cardinals, Salinas Colts, Santa Cruz Boys Club, Capitola CC Camp and more. Some of the main players listed during this period are Castagnola, Sousa, Ley, Tambellini, West, Tamagni, Sousa, MacFadden, McNeil, Mungai, Holton, and Mazzoni.
SUBSERIES I.B. Score Book Records, March 1939- Sept. 1940
One (1) Book
Scope and Content Summary
This subseries contains the location, scores and players of Swiss Dairy Baseball’s semi-pro games held in and around Santa Cruz County from March 1939 to Sept. 1940. The score book for this period was managed by Louis Castagnola. The score book records games during this season held against the Fairfax Merchants, the Watsonville White Cardinals, Santa Clara, the Santa Cruz Padre’s, the Baldocchi Brothers, the Southern Pacific Company, the Fidelity Hams, Mission San Jose, Salrotti Brothers, the Holister Sluggers, the Campbell Merchants and many more. Players during this season are listed as Pellegrini, Tamagni, Sousa, Dykes, Becknell, Castagnola, Panatonni, Hooper, Davis, McGrath, Mazzonni, Holton, Jessen and Carpenter. J. Javis is listed as the pitcher, while L. Tamagni and P. Sousa are listed as the two most valuable players with the highest batting averages.
