Born April 27, 1910 in Bakersfield, California, Frenchy Uhalt was the son of French-Basque immigrants Benita Asnarez and Bernard Uhalt Sr. from the
Pyrenees who settled in Bakersfield opening Uhalt's Blacksmith Shop on East 19th and Kern. Known as "Frenchy" he excelled in athletics
from an early age. He was a tremendous football player at Kern County Union High (now the Bakersfield High "Drillers"). In 1927 he was
the star running back taking the Drillers to the California State Prep Championship, beating Fullerton 38-0. His coach, Dwight "Goldie"
Griffith once said "he was the best back I'd ever coached in over 40 years". Frenchy was offered football scholarships to such schools as
USC, Notre Dame, St. Mary's, Fordham and UCSF, but turned them all down for the life of a baseball player - thinking he'd physically last
longer in baseball than football.
He was given the option by the scout of signing with either the Oakland Oaks or San Francisco Seals. He chose the Oaks (and later said he wished
he had made the other choice), picking baseball because he wanted to earn a living. When he joined the Oaks, the left-handed-hitting Uhalt was
told to hit to left field because he didn't have enough power to hit over the high right-field fence at the Oaks Ball Park in Emeryville. Also in that
park, hitters had to battle winds that came in from the bay through right field.
Uhalt was told to get a base hit and let Ernie Lombardi or Buzz Arlett drive him in. He also was noted for his speed (PCL career totals of 401 stolen
bases, 130 triples and 1,561 runs). He was proud, as center fielder, to be captain of the outfield and, with his range, he made a number of backhand
catches. Uhalt also had a strong enough arm to nail runners trying to advance.
Uhalt later regretted trying to hit to left instead of putting the ball in play to all fields. "If you have confidence, you can hit anybody," he said.
He played with the PCL's Oakland Oaks, Hollywood Stars and San Francisco Seals. In 1934 the
Chicago White Sox purchased him where he wore jersey number 36. After the 1934 season, he was sold back to the Oaks. He was bought and
sold many times - the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers each owned him at one time - but he returned to the PCL and finished off his
career there.
Uhalt played in the first game for the Hollywood Stars when the San Francisco Mission Reds franchise was moved there in 1938. After playing their first season
alternating as home team with the Los Angeles Angels at Wrigley Field, the Stars opened at first Gilmore Stadium, then, after a road trip, Gilmore Field.
It was there that Uhalt won a pair of shoes, a hat and two shirts for getting the first hit, first double, first steal and first run. He won the PCL batting
championship in 1938, beating out longtime Alameda resident Smead Jolley because Jolley didn't have enough at-bats to qualify. Jolley hit .350 in
414 times at bat, Uhalt .332 in 635 at-bats.
He was with the San Francisco Seals in the 1946 season when they were the PCL champs.
Bill Werle, a future major league pitcher (who, like Uhalt and many others cited here, played in the Alameda Semi-Pro Winter League), was with
Uhalt on the 1946 San Francisco Seals. There, observers said, Uhalt "brought experience, speed and was a great outfielder." Werle added that
Uhalt helped him "more than you can imagine."
"In batting practice I would go to the outfield and just talk to him," Werle said. "I hung out in his back pocket. I picked up things from him
I had never (thought of) before."
With the 1946 Seals, Uhalt shared outfield honors with Neill Sheridan, while Ferris Fain, Roy Nicely and Ted Jennings were infield aces.
Seals owner Paul Fagan paid Lefty O'Doul $50,000 to manage the team that year, a fact that led other clubs to develop major league links to
compete with Fagan's ability to pay.
His 20-year career included a batting
average of .332 and 2,798 hits, 2nd all time in the PCL. He was inducted in the Bob Elias hall of Fame in 1973, the Bay Area Hall of Fame
and the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame. After retiring from baseball as a player, he started managing. His first managing job took him to the
Fresno Cardinals where in his first inactive season as a player since 1928 they stayed in first place almost from the opening gun.
One of the memorable Uhalt tales happened as a result of the great Los Angeles Angels-Hollywood Stars rivalry. John Olds, a sportswriter for
the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, had been "on" Uhalt for being too old to do the job. The two met after a game that the Stars had just lost to the
Angels. The story goes that "Frenchy spoke his piece, Olds spoke his," and they were about to go at it when fellow players decided to put the
Stars' big travel trunks together to form a square. Olds, the story goes, was a "big guy," Uhalt much lighter. But, the oft-told tale says, Uhalt
beat the "stuffing" out of him. And Olds didn't have any future derogatory comments.
After leaving baseball, Uhalt returned to settle in Oakland with his wife, Virginia and their only child, Suzanne Karen, and had a bar-restaurant on
Lakeshore Boulevard, a popular haunt for University of California students and athletes as well as his baseball buddies.
But baseball was still in his blood, and he worked faithfully coaching his grandson Mare's Little Teams (who, like his grandfather was a tremendous
baseball player being looked at while still in high school by the pros) and never missed a sporting event whether it was soccer, swimming,
baseball or track of his granddaughter, Paulette. His later years were also filled with pain. His only child, Suzanne Karen died of breast
cancer at the age of 50 in 1989 and his home of 40+ years in Oakland was lost during the fires of 1991. He and Virginia moved to
Rossmoor in Walnut Creek, CA after the fire and spent the remainder of their lives there. Virginia preceded Frenchy in death, dying peacefully at
home in February of 2003 and Frenchy's passing was also peaceful, at home with Paulette holding his hand as he took his last breath.
Large portions of this biography are from Win Currier of the Contra Costa Times, October 1, 2004.
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