Rich Archbold: Fred Claire, Los Angeles Dodgers icon, reminisces in Long Beach

Fred Claire, an icon of Los Angeles Dodgers history, was in Long Beach recently for a nostalgic visit to the city which helped propel him to his Illustrious career in baseball.

I had a special interest in Claire’s speech at the Long Beach Rotary Club lunch on the Queen Mary because he worked as a sportswriter for the Press-Telegram in 1968-1969 before joining the Dodgers publicity department.

Claire, 88, eventually became general manager of the Dodgers and built the team that shocked the baseball world by winning the World Series in 1988.

That series included the stunning home run by Kirk Gibson in the last inning of the first game to beat the heavily favored Oakland Athletics.

Claire also created the Dodger Blue marketing campaign and was with the Dodgers when they passed the three-million attendance mark.

In his Rotary Club talk, Claire said he was thrilled to be invited by Steve Hockett, longtime friend and former general manager of the Oakmont Country Club, Glendale, who was serving at his first meeting as Rotary Club president.

“When I was invited by Steve, I thought about the many friends I have been blessed to have with a connection to Long Beach,” he said.

He singled out former Press-Telegram sportswriters, Ross Newhan and Doug Krikorian, who were in the audience.

Claire had started his professional journalism career at the Whittier Daily News and the Pomona Progress-Bulletin before joining the Press-Telegram in 1968. He replaced Newhan when Newhan went to the Los Angeles Times.

“And Ross, of course, would go on to a Hall of Fame writing career and, as fate would have it, covered my first and last days as the Dodger GM,” Claire said.

“The Long Beach connection also was strong with my great friend, Doug Krikorian,” he said.

“We were friends, but I also respected the way he would write and be critical at times but in an objective manner.”

Claire also asked for a moment of silence for Al Larson, a longtime Press-Telegram sportswriter, who died last month. “His friendship was wonderful,” Claire said. “After my Dodger days, he would call me every time he saw my name in the paper.”

Claire said his time with the P-T, although relatively short, “was a key part of my career because it provided me with a day-to-day look at Major League baseball and helped me get to know the ownership and leadership of the Dodgers.”

Claire said he respected then P-T Sports Editor John Dixon who congratulated him on his job with the Dodgers. “Then he asked me who had replaced me at the Pomona Progress-Bulletin when I left to come to the Press-Telegram because he wanted to interview him,” Claire said. That person turned out to be Gordie Verrell who Dixon hired as the Dodgers beat reporter to replace Claire. Verrell became an outstanding, longtime Dodgers reporter for the Press-Telegram before retiring.

Claire said the day he started with the Dodgers–July 20, 1969–was notable, not because of his starting with the Dodgers but because it was the day that man walked first on the moon.

Claire also singled out four other persons with Long Beach connections to him:

• “Jeff Fellenzer. We started the class, Sports, Business and the Media, together at the USC Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism 25 years ago, and it is still going strong.”
• “Bill Shumard who we hired at the Dodgers and he then went on to a great careers as athletics director at Long Beach State University and president of the Southern California Special Olympics.”
• ”Julie Filkoff who I met when I became a patient at City of Hope. Julie led the way in two charity golf tournaments that raised a half-million dollars for City of Hope.”
• “Ed Ratleff, greatest basketball player in Long Beach history who I have bonded with. We are two guys born 55 miles apart, both in small towns in Ohio and both with a love of both baseball and basketball.”

Claire also talked about the book, “Extra Innings,” written by Tim Madigan. The book chronicles Claire’s baseball career and his miraculous story of his fight against cancer at City of Hope.

In the book and in his Rotary speech, Claire talked about people who have made an impact on his life.

One of the most influential for him was Jackie Robinson of the Dodgers.

Claire spoke of the first time he met in Robinson. “It was in 1972 when the Dodgers retired the uniforms of Sandy Koufax, Roy Campanella and Robinson,” Claire said. “A guy in the stands threw a ball at Jackie, but Jackie couldn’t see it because of his diabetes. The ball hit him on the shoulder and glanced off his head. People started yelling, ‘Throw the guy out.’ But Jackie said to calm down and get him the ball. He signed the ball and gave it back to the gentleman who threw it.”

Claire said that moment was one of the most memorable in his life. “With all the obstacles Jackie had faced in his life and with his diabetes, he still retained his calmness,” Claire said. “That has made such a strong impression on my life and has stayed with me forever.”

After he beat cancer, Claire wanted to raise money for City of Hope. In addition to the golf tournaments, he created a Celebration of Life award with a quote from Jackie Robinson inscribed on the trophy, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”

This is a quote that perfectly mirrors the life and career of Fred Claire.