Local baseball: Former Watertown Royals on mission to gather 50 years after last game

Feb. 9—WATERTOWN — It's been 50 years since the Watertown Royals walked off the baseball diamond for the last time.

But in the conversations that Frank Avallone has held with his old teammates, some of whom he hasn't talked to in half a century, that semiprofessional baseball team is as alive as it's been since they donned the blue-and-white jerseys from 1971-73.

"The most fun I've had in a long, long, long time is finding these guys and introducing myself as Frank Avallone, Watertown Royal, 1971, teammate, and listening to the reaction on the other end," said Avallone, who has taken the lead in tracking down his former teammates. "I wish I could capture (it) — Joe Clancy, 81 years old, starts laughing. Guadalupe Chapa, losing his mind, (saying) 'Frankie, Frankie, Frankie!'"

The mission of Avallone and one of the two principal men in founding the Royals, John Morgia, is to hold a reunion for the 40 or so surviving members who competed for the Watertown Royals, to spend an evening recalling an increasingly forgotten moment in Watertown's baseball history while rekindling the bond with their between-the-lines brothers.

The event is scheduled for May 4 at the Italian American Civic Association, and Avallone, who is from Carthage and lives in Ohio, wants anyone who played for the Royals — they are almost all in their 70s, mind you — to bring their glove.

"We're gonna play catch and we're gonna play pepper in the parking lot over by the bocce court," Avallone said he told his former teammates. "Those that can will, those that can't can sit on the bench and cheer us on, and if the ball gets past us you can walk over and pick it up for us. ... There's nothing better in the world than playing catch, whether you catch with your teammate, your son, your grandson, I don't care. We're going to play catch."

Before that happens though, Avallone and Morgia would like to find as many living members as possible to attend. The idea for a reunion first began more than four years ago but hasn't really taken off until the past three months. Avallone, who has helped organize high school reunions with his wife, has made contact with most of the former players. But the organizers are still searching for the last few names and hoping some publicity will make a connection with the final holdouts.

The search committee is down to the last three players, who are Frank Baumgardner, Rick Glover and Steve Heath. Avallone and Morgia are seeking the public's help.

Originally, Morgia had intended to hold a night to honor former Watertown Royal David Trembley, the Carthage native who went on to manage in the major leagues for the Baltimore Orioles. But when Trembley didn't seem to want to be the subject of his own night, Morgia changed directions.

"I said, look it, I'm getting a little bit older, we've got to do something, so let's just get a reunion of just the team that played in that era," he said, "and that's how this thing has really started generating and is getting bigger and bigger all the time."

The Royals were the first organized semipro baseball team in Watertown since the old Border League Athletics of the 1950s, and when the Royals closed shop after the 1973 season, they were the last nonscholastic ball team in the city until the professional Watertown Pirates arrived in 1983. Watertown and surrounding towns were bursting with baseball talent in the late 1960s and early 1970s with no outlet beyond high school and college ball.

Trembley reached his big league aspirations as a coach and manager, but the Royals featured plenty of other standout players on that first 1971 team, which won the division title that season.

"(19)71, '71-72, I'd put that team we formed against any team in New York State," Morgia said. "The talent that came out in this area was unbelievable. Many of the local guys were still here. It was just amazing how this team came together so quick, only because they all knew baseball."

Avallone emphasized the pitching staff from that initial team in 1971, a collection of high-level athletes from various towns in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, many of whom had played baseball in college and a couple who had connections to pro ball.

Adrian Messina, a left-hander from Fort Drum (then Camp Drum), and General Brown's Steve Eisenhauer, who would become the team's MVP in '71, topped the staff. But the depth staggered with Joe Brett, who played at St. Bonaventure, Gouverneur's Joe Clancy, who threw a knuckleball, the imposing Guy Rigabar, and Carthage's Tony Dumaw, who was signed by the Boston Red Sox.

Add Ithaca College's Jerry Gardner and Sandy Overton, St. Lawrence University's Don Rigabar, Avallone at first, Lenny Spaziani at second, Gary Rosentoski at shortstop, Trembley and Guadalupe Chapa catching, and Charlie MacCargar, Dave Ellis and Tommy Ames in the outfield, and the core of the first Watertown Royals team was formed — and fast.

Bill Randall, along with his father, Kelly, formulated the idea of a team, as did John Morgia, who had just helped reform the Watertown Red and Black two years earlier. The two parties' ideas started independently but became a joint venture and then 40 athletes suddenly appeared at the Watertown Fairgrounds for a tryout in the spring of '71, barely a month before the season started. Organizers quickly came up with a team name.

"I pushed the name of the Watertown Royals, the reason, I liked the uniforms at that time," said Morgia, referencing those of MLB's Kansas City Royals, who had been in the majors for only two years. "It was very simple, white uniform with blue stripes and Royals on it. I always liked that uniform."

The Royals joined the semiprofessional New York State League and named Charlie Hunt their manager (later replaced by Jim DeRoshia). They played in a five-team division with the Tiajuana Stars, Split Rock, Liverpool-North Syracuse and the Syracuse Yankees.

Watertown won it season-opener, on the road, 10-1, against the Stars on May 30, 1971, then lost its home-opener at the fairgrounds the following day against Split Rock in front of 300 fans.

The Royals began that first season slowly, sitting at the bottom of the Central Division after the first seven games at 2-5. But then came a win streak and a steady rise in the standings. The crowds grew, too, to around 500 fans. The Royals jumped to second place after seven straight wins. Less than three months after starting, they captured the division at 20-7 and won their first playoff game before closing with a loss in the second round and finishing 21-8. Other season highlights included playing the Indianapolis Clowns, the Negro American League team that conducted exhibitions into the 1980s. The Royals also turned a triple play against Syracuse, and New York Yankees pitcher Steve Kline threw out the first pitch before one game.

Ames, who would step away from the field in June and become the team's scorekeeper, compiled a meticulous scrapbook of Times articles chronicling the Royals' first year from start to finish. He's also been one of the key sources for Avallone in his search for former players.

Avallone has relied on others, too, particularly former player Bobby Morgia, John's nephew. The two have partnered on tracking down the former Royals.

"I've got to dig guys out of the woodwork, this isn't like class reunion type stuff where you've got classmates, these guys could be anywhere," Avallone said. "So the first three weeks I'm digging, I'm pulling everything can. ... I hit a stall, called Bobby Morgia, he said, 'I'll help you.' He's in Pennsylvania, I'm in Ohio and we're chasing guys across the nation. ... We go morning, noon and night, conversing, texting."

The two are also tracking down as much memorabilia from those three seasons that they can find, from programs to balls to a team picture, which has been secured from Eisenhauer. They also searched out an actual Royals uniform.

The team didn't start with the blue-and-white polyester unis, wearing instead old-school wool. John Morgia said George Kissel, the late longtime St. Louis Cardinals coach and north country native, helped obtain the new Royals uniforms, which the team started wearing in mid-season. Avallone and Bobby Morgia recently found one of those uniforms stored in the attic of a family member of former player Gardner.

After an eventful and successful first season, the Royals played for two more years. Talent continued to emerge, so much so that another team was formed in Carthage. But by the end of 1973, players felt the pull of responsibility and the Royals ended.

"The fork in the road showed up, marriage, job, move out of the area," Avallone said.

While Avallone has remained in touch with many of the Royals over the years, there are others who disappeared and still others he never knew, those who played on the team after he had already moved on to the Carthage squad.

Avallone and John Morgia estimate that a mere 50-55 people played for the Royals between 1971-73. As time has moved on, several Royals — including 1971 players Bill Fullmer, Del Leween, Bill Randall, Jeff Wager, Bill Trembley and Gary Stiles — have passed onto "the higher league," in Avallone's words. They will be remembered at the reunion.

He added that only those who played for the Royals know how special that time and that team was and that's why they need to relive it on May 4.

"We've had a ball just bringing up memories that just came out of left field," Avallone said of his phone connections. "Because they knew, but the world kind of forgot them."

Avallone and Morgia are looking for help from the public for connections to the final three missing players or for any Royals memorabilia. Contact Avallone at 614-397-0736 and John Morgia at 315-777-7917.