I knew Vern Piver very well. The Editor mentioned him several times and commented on John DeSilva too. When I moved back to Fort Bragg from Redwood Valley, I got a call from a lady on the Little League board who said "Vern Piver said you wanted to be on the LL board; we have an opening and it's yours! This was in 1977 after Vern's years with the Pirates. I barely knew him, but it was an introduction to his personality.
One previous meeting I was pitching against Fort Bragg and we were playing at the old Green Memorial field where the Starr Center is now. It was a great field. So, on this day Vern was our homeplate umpire. But someone lost the key to the umpire's room, so he had no gear. Well, we didn't come all the way from Laytonville not to play. So Vern, said, OK, I will umpire from behind the pitcher's mound. So, the game commenced and around the 5th inning I ran into trouble with guys on base and Biggie Richards came to bat, their best hitter. I turned around and was looking at second and Vern lowly chuckled, “This guy can't hit a curve ball.” He was right; I was out of the inning.
We coached against each other many times doing Senior League. One time a kid missed a bunt sign and Vern called time and gave the kid a sure tale sign. Again it was missed! Vern coaching third called time again called the kid down the third base line. He took his bat and scribed an X in the dirt and said very loudly, “On the next pitch I want you to bunt the ball right here.”
I loved sitting by Vern at games we would be watching. He had some famous one liners. If someone booted a grounder he would say, “Get a stick and kill it," or "Put on the beans mom, they are curving me,” meaning the game was lost.
We had a tree on our ranch that was almost on our property line with Union Lumber Company, now Lime Redwood. Vern was falling timber for Union Lumber Company. At the time and he said, "Andy, let's cut this tree. We will both make lots from it" — me for falling it, you for selling it to Union Lumber Company. Well, I said no. End of story? No. That tree twas about 10 feet wide on the stump and right next to the County road. It was noticed by a person visiting the area from the Moscone Center in SF. He approached us and we made a deal to give the tree to them. They were building a new addition onto the center and wanted a redwood that had to be big but dead or dying. They would not cut a live tree. This tree, although big, had a dead top; so it was perfect.
They insured the tree before we fell it and it took a special layout where it landed so it would not break up, Then the long process of curing it and hauling it to San Francisco began. It took a special permit to cross the Golden Gate Bridge.
Now the tree stands in the Center ten stories high with a staircase from the entrance to the top floor. On each floor artists from various countries have fastened their artwork on the tree. They are great.
What does all this lead up to? Well, we saved 120 feet of the tree, so we had 10 feet left over. I wanted to save it for something special. When Vern passed, they built a little league field in his honor. Vern’s wife Betty was looking for donations, so I had the 10 remaining feet of the tree milled and had “Vern Piver Little League Field” routed into it. Bottom line: Vern got his tree.
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