Former pro baseball players call Canyon Lake their home

Bobby Kielty won the World Series as a member of the Red Sox in his final MLB season. Photo by Donna Ritchie

It is said that baseball is our national pastime because it resonates so deeply in the soul of the American people. Canyon Lake resonates deeply in the soul of so many of its residents, yet it is still somewhat of a surprise that The Friday Flyer discovered at least nine former professional baseball players that call home to our little bit of paradise.

As we just passed the Major League All-Star break, The Friday Flyer salutes a few of these extraordinary athletes, their achievements and what the game meant to them. Each player distinguished himself from his peers at an early age and repeatedly faced numerous challenges at the highest levels of athletic competition.

The former professional baseball players featured in this week’s issue are Paul Pettit, Jim Merritt, Jerry Wood, Jerry Johnson and Bobby Kielty. Next week, The Friday Flyer will feature Greg Harris, Edgar Carroll, Rick Greene and Brett Tomko. This two-part series will present selected highlights from their careers and unique perspectives on the sport.

Baseball is a game, a perfect blend of art, science, chess and ballet. Or as Yogi Berra once said, “Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too!”

Paul Pettit

Recently, the Los Angeles Times ran a story on the 70th anniversary of a high school baseball game. Left-handed phenom Paul Pettit had struck out 27 batters in a single game (12 innings). Through this and similar astounding achievements, the then 18-year-old became the most sought after pitcher in America.

Paul was courted by a Hollywood movie producer for his life story and rubbed elbows with Bing Crosby, Jayne Mansfield and Lawrence Welk.

Not to disappoint his large crowds, Paul threw six no-hitters and struck out 390 batters in 140 innings, earning him the nickname “The Wizard of Whiff.” Then, in 1951, the lefty made news again. Paul Pettit signed a contract as the very first $100,000 “Bonus Baby” in Major League Baseball history.

Fellow Canyon Lake resident Robert “Tink” Hultz said, “As a kid, I rode my bike to see Paul Pettit sign his contract. Now we are Canyon Lake neighbors!”

But, the Pittsburgh Pirates were mostly interested in having their new superstar play ball.

After a few outstanding starts with their minor league New Orleans Pelicans, Paul was warming up when he felt an unusual pain. He told his trainer, “There’s something wrong with my arm.” He was treated and worked through it, but his velocity was never the same.

Paul made his major league debut as a reliever against the New York Giants; he retired the side. He didn’t start his first major league game until two years later. In that game, he went 6 1/3 innings to get the win. But, for the very first time in his life, Paul had been removed in a game for a relief pitcher. Not knowing at the time, but this would be his only major league victory.

Playing for the minor league Hollywood Stars, Paul was 15-8 and batted .320, so he still drew big crowds from his hometown fans. When convinced his arm was not going to recover, Paul moved to the outfield. In 1954, he hit .324 with 20 home runs and 102 RBIs. When his arm wouldn’t make the throws from the outfield anymore, he moved to first base and then eventually retired.

In the off-seasons, Paul attended college. He earned his degree and then enjoyed a fulfilling 30-year career in teaching. Paul and Shirley were married 65 years. After her passing in 2016, he married Sally Mitten. Together, they are active members of the Canyon Lake Fine Arts Guild. As Paul reads his weekly stream of fan mail, the 87-year-old admits to himself, “I still miss the game.”

Jim Merritt

Jim signed with Dodgers in 1961 out of Edgewood High School in West Covina. But, before playing a single game with his home club, he was drafted by the Minnesota Twins. In his first minor league season, Jim’s 40-year-old roommate, George Bamburger “forced” Jim to play golf with him. Jim fell in love with that game and has been playing ever since. Jim is currently a marshal at the Canyon Lake Country Club.

Known as a control pitcher, Jim was named minor league pitcher of the year in 1964. In 1965, he joined the first place Twins in the major leagues.

Rooming with superstar Jim Kaat, he learned how to pitch smart and has remained friends with “Kitty” ever since. Also playing alongside Hall of Famers Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew, Jim learned the best superstars could be class acts off the field as much as on.

In the 1965 World Series, the Twins beat Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale in the first two games. Jim was scheduled to start game three but was replaced by veteran Camilo Pascual, returning from an injury. Although Jim pitched well in relief, the Twins lost that game and the series.

A highlight of Jim’s career was pitching a three-hitter against the Washington Senators in 1966, striking out 12 and matching an AL record with seven strikeouts in a row. In 1967, he struck out 161 batters, walked only 30 and posted an ERA of just 2.53.

Playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Jim started the 1970 season 9-1, was selected to the All-Star team, finished the season 20-12 and clubbed three home runs.

Over the years, Jim became golf and drinking pals with Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Billy Martin. However, Jim is quick to point out he is now 39 years sober. Because the pay then was not like current ballplayers, in the off season Jim worked at Sears, sold cars, sold business forms and golf apparel, where he met Canyon Lake Country Club Golf Director Pat Kemball.

Jim’s biggest thrill was facing Hammering Hank Aaron the day he was expected to collect his 3,000th hit. In front of a national press, the curveball specialist struck out Aaron three times on nine fastballs.

In Aaron’s fourth time up, Jim threw a wicked curve ball and Aaron hit it a mile, but straight in the air for an out. The next day, Aaron crossed the field to meet Jim, “Hey Lefty, nice pitching!” The unsolicited comment from the superstar was as rewarding to Jim as the achievement itself.

These experiences helped define Jim Merritt as the control pitcher he was and the class act he is to this day.

Jerry Wood

Jerry was the star pitcher at his high school in Beloit, Wisconsin. In fact, he was their only pitcher, so Jerry pitched every inning of every game, all season long, even when they won the 1955 Wisconsin State Championships. He signed with his hometown Milwaukee Braves, spent a semester at college and reported to spring training the following year.

There, in Waycross, Georgia, Jerry met fellow rookies, Lee May, Juan Pizarro and none other than now-famous television personality Bob Ueker. The two became lifelong friends and are now “sitting in the front row!”

Long before Jerry became a baseball star, he was a champion marble player. At 12 years old, he once played the national marbles champion, who beat Jerry, two out of three games. This multi-talented athlete was also a basketball star and is a lifelong golfer.

Many readers will remember Jerry appearing in The Friday Flyer two years ago for his 70 plus years of tournament bowling, which includes two perfect games and a list of numerous bowling awards and achievements.

Jerry’s wife of 50 years, Judee, is also an avid bowler, so the couple regularly bowls together twice a week. Judee has no problem keeping up as she is one of the few who can proudly boast of bowling an astonishing 290 game. Interesting that Jerry had not met his Wisconsin-born wife until after they had both moved to California.

It turns out their Wisconsin high schools were in the same conference, small world. The two regularly attend their class reunions, where the 82-year-old Jerry notes that the handicapped parking at those events is always full. This is a moot point as it seems Jerry or Judee will be yielding those spaces to others for a very long time to come.

Jerry Johnson

Jerry grew up as a cowboy and horseman in Odessa, Texas. JJ was signed by the New York Mets in 1962 as a third baseman, but the strength of his arm attracted the attention of his coaches who converted him to a pitcher. He pitched in the Mets minor league system through 1967 but soon was obtained by the Phillies.

Arriving at Shea Stadium to play against his former organization, he felt chills when he stepped on the field and heard his name announced for the very first time. The gravity of the moment hit him like a ton of bricks, Jerry Johnson had arrived in the big leagues! He spent two years with the Phillies, but in 1969, was involved in one the most infamous trade in all of baseball.

Other players were involved, but Jerry was being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Curt Flood, who began to challenge baseball’s Reserve Clause. Taking the case all the way to the Supreme Court, Flood lost the case, but it opened the doors to widespread free agency that forever changed the game.

Pitching for the Cardinals, Jerry was undefeated with an ERA of 3.18 when he was traded mid-season to the Giants. In San Francisco, Jerry helped carry his team to the pennant with 12 wins, 18 saves and a 2.97 ERA. He finished sixth in the Cy Young Award balloting and even received votes for MVP.

JJ once pitched nine days in a row (seven innings in one of the games), which is unheard of in today’s world. Once, manager Charlie Fox walked to the mound to replace Jerry, who refused to leave, “I got myself into this mess and I’m going to get myself out!”

The next two years, Jerry played for the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros, then joined the San Diego Padres in 1975 for a couple of years. In 1977, Toronto Blue Jays were formed and Jerry was asked to play for them. In the Blue Jays inaugural regular-season game, Jerry was the winning pitcher. He remembers a game in Toronto where it was 32 degrees. The five inches of snow on the ground had to be removed by Zamboni.

After that 1977 season, his 16th year of professional ball, Jerry retired. He has fond memories of striking out Reggie Jackson, Johnny Bench and Hank Aaron (he also gave up Aaron’s 506th, 604th and 632nd HRs). With his rugged good looks and Texas drawl, JJ was a guest on TV shows, an apparel model, Harlequin novel model and selected to be the “New Marlborough Man.”

On the field, Jerry was extremely demanding of himself. As a member of this elite group, he felt a responsibility to his fans. Always the last player to leave an autograph session, he hoped that saying hello and signing his name might somehow bring some joy in their lives.

Jerry and his lovely wife Susan now open mail almost every single day from fans who never forgot his kindness and now they will see that JJ is never forgotten.

Bobby Kielty 

Bobby was not drafted out of high school, so the switch-hitting outfielder had to make it the hard way. Bobby never knew if or when “it” would happen, until it finally did. Even after making it to the big leagues, Bobby still cannot recall whom he faced or how he did during that first week, it is all still just a blur.

However, Bobby clearly remembers that when he faced his hero, the fireball throwing Roger “Rocket” Clemens for the first time, he knew he was definitely in the major leagues. When he hit a home run off “The Big Unit,” Randy Johnson in Yankee Stadium, he knew then that he belonged to this elite club of athletes.

A 1994 graduate of Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley, Bobby attended USC, Riverside CC and the University of Mississippi. In 1998, he led the Cape Cod League in hitting and RBIs, so he was named League MVP and Summer Player of the Year by Baseball America. It was then Bobby signed with the Minnesota Twins.

In the Twins farm system, Bobby played for the Quad Cities River Cats, New Britain Rock Cats, Salt Lake City Stingers and the Edmonton Trappers. He fought off an eye problem and a strained right hamstring but still batted almost .300, homered in three consecutive games, hit two grand slams and made the Eastern League All-Star team.

In 2001, Bobby was promoted to the major league Twins. He was sent down to Edmonton three times but brought back up each time.

The next year, he finished the season by playing in the ALDS against the A’s and the ALCS against the Angels. Bobby batted almost .300 and finished fourth for the American League Rookie of the Year.

Bobby started the 2003 season with a 12-game hitting streak with the Twins, including two home runs in one game. He was “rewarded” with a trade to Toronto. In his first game with the Blue Jays, he went 3 for 4 with a HR. As no good deed goes unpunished, Bobby was traded to the Oakland Athletics.

In 2004, Bobby suffered an oblique muscle injury. Then in 2007, he ran into more injury problems. He was released by the A’s but picked up by the Red Sox.

The Sox sent Bobby to Triple-A Pawtucket, but he came back to Boston to help his team advance to the 2007 World Series by batting .400 in the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians.

Hoping to play in the fall classic, Bobby was called to pinch hit in game four with only a moment’s notice. He was able to take only two practice swings, went up to the plate and hit the first pitch into the left field stands for a home run. It turned out to be the series-clinching game winner in the 4–3 final over the Colorado Rockies.

That at-bat would turn out to be Bobby’s final appearance in a major league game. He owns Kielty Realty in Canyon Lake and is the president of the Canyon Lake Tennis Club. Bobby is also eager to help local youngsters with baseball clinics in his community.

When asked who had the most impact on his baseball career, Bobby was quick to say, “That’s simple, my dad.”