© by Ray Sanchez 07.10.16
When I retired as sports editor of the El Paso Herald-Post in 1990 (goodness, that’s 26 years ago), I turned one of the rooms in our home into an office. After all, our four children had flown the coop.
You can imagine how quickly the room got filled up. Even the closets. I’ve got pictures, books, magazines, newspapers, clippings, memorabilia, old columns, record books, trophies, computers, printers, files, even an old typewriter and every kind of paraphernalia in every nook and corner.
It’s so bad, my wife, Helen, bless her heart, seems afraid to enter the room.
BUT THROUGH all the mess, I accidentally stumbled upon a photo I just have to share with you.
Ed Pooley, editor of the El Paso Herald-Post from 1937 through 1963, was a curmudgeon in every sense of the word. He was always for the Average Joe and often referred to him as “Juan Smith” because of El Paso’s large Hispanic population. He loved to tweak the noses of the municipal powers, some of whom were anything but tolerant in those days, and was constantly on their backs.
Mr. Pooley also liked to party –especially with his staff. He would throw lavish parties for us. One night, he took over the entire nightclub called The Lobby in Juarez and invited all staff members. We drank and ate and danced until the wee hours.
Oh, how we loved him.
THE PHOTO shown here is of one of the staff parties. It was taken in 1951 at Mr. Pooley’s home. That’s me on the extreme right and my wife on the extreme left. The fellow sitting on the floor next to me is Walt Finley, our police reporter at the time. But for the life of me, I can’t remember the names of the other folks. Nearly all of them were reporters or copy editors.
The photo is just a moment in time. But oh, what wonderful memories.
Can you help identify some of the staff?
TRIVIA QUESTION: Speaking of 1951, remember Bobby Thomson’s homer “heard round the world” that beat Brooklyn? Larry Jansen was the winning pitcher for the New York Giants but who was their starting pitcher? Answer at end of column
READERS WRITE: This from Laura Ramirez: “I just read your column about the Baseball Hall of Fame inductees and was surprised to see that after all these years of covering El Paso sports you still do not know that it is Irvin High School, not Irving High School.”
I wrote back: “You’re absolutely right. It was a stupid mistake. I’m so sorry and I’ll be more careful in the future.”
This isn’t an excuse, but sometimes when a word ends in “in” the finger (and the brain) slips and automatically adds the “g,” especially if you’re in a hurry. I’ve written millions of words during my career and it’s happened a few times. Mostly, I’ve caught it.
ON A POSITIVE note, Bufe Morrison, who started the El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame, wrote: “Good article on the baseball hall. I knew Pete Leyva when I was very young. Thanks again for being good to the hall.” He signed the message, “Bufe Morrison (the world’s second greatest athlete.”
That piqued my interest. I asked him who he thought was the greatest athlete. He replied, “All the athletes but me tied for first and I got second! Hope you can make the banquet and say hi to Helen.”
EL PASO HIGH School has added a caveat to its attempt to break the world record for high school reunions: You have to register ahead of time. The latest news release states: “Check out more information on Guinness World Record Attempt. Be counted! Register online for the Guinness World Record Attempt or download, print and mail your application.”
ANSWER to trivia question: Sal Maglie.