The Journal of San Diego History
Winter 1995, Volume 41, Number 1
Contents of This Issue
Pacific Coast League Padres ~ Index to Players ~ Hall of Famers
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Born: 6-16-13 Padres: 1946-49
The Coscarart boys of Escondido were baseball players. Joe, the
eldest, and Pete, the youngest, both played in the major leagues.
Yet, Pete maintains that it was middle brother, Steve, who was the
best hitter in the family. They played together in Portland, but
Steve got beaned before they could realize their dream of all three
making the big leagues. From 1938 to 1946, Pete had a distinguished
career with Brooklyn and Pittsburgh, twice being selected to the
All-Star team. Joining the Padres when his playing days were
winding down was the perfect ending to his diamond story.
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[Pete Coscarart, interviews by Bill Swank, 21, 23 January 1995, transcript notes.]
My family lived in what is now Rancho Bernardo. There were just three families: two Indian families and ours. We didn't play ball. We just worked. I was riding a horse when I was seven, rounding up horses and sheep. My father was Basque and we had sheep and goats. It wasn't until we moved to town, when I was ten years old, that I played ball. When we got older, Escondido had a good town team. Joe was playing for San Francisco and, after the season, he returned with his friend, Babe Dahlgren. Babe, you know he took Lou Gehrig's place, was on first and we had a Coscarart infield. Joe was at shortstop, Steve was on third and I was at second. It was quite a good team.
The Pacific Coast League . . . This was paradise! It was an old man's league. They requested that older players should come to the PCL, because they knew they'd last longer in the good climate. The older guys kind of took it easy and tried to make it last. San Diego always had good crowds. It wasn't a big park, but it drew well. It sure was nice to drive home to Escondido after the games.
