The Sacramento Smokeys, led by their infamous manager Larry Manuian, used to hold workouts on the classic old diamond at Stanford Park on 27th between B and C Streets. One day, a redhaired, slightly built actor wandered over from the nearby B Street Theater and asked Larry if he could throw batting practice. Larry looked him over, sized him up, and said no. But the red head persisted and told Larry that he had played semi-pro baseball since he was 16 years old. Finally, the venerable manager conceded and asked: “Do you have a cup, kid?” “Yeah, I have a cup, Skip”, answered Timothy Busfield and thus began his nine-year career as a starting pitcher for the Sacramento Smokeys.
Often facing batters 10 to 15 years his junior, and with a fast ball in the low 80’s, Timothy was able to change speeds and keep the youngsters off balance. Butch Metzger, the 1976 Rookie of the Year winner with the San Diego Padres, was often called to finish Timothy’s games. Butch could still throw gas and saved many of the 30 career victories that Timothy notched. Renfree Field became his second home in Sacramento. Butch remembers that many of the players were skeptical of their new pitcher, but he was soon accepted as one of the guys. The opposing teams could be rough as well and the bench jockeys had an assortment of catcalls reserved for the actor turned pitcher: “Hey Busfield, what’s your ERA, 30-Something?"Timothy usually had the last laugh and during his 50 career starts, he recorded over 200 strike outs, and at the age of 43 threw a complete game for the title championship in Burlingame. The Smokeys drew national attention. People Magazine came out and did a story on the team which would eventually lead to Timothy being cast in the movie ‘Little Big League.’ His previous baseball-themed movie ‘Field of Dreams’ did not require him to actually play baseball, but in “Little Big League” he had to learn how to hit lefthanded and play first base.
Tonight is dedicated to baseball, but we would be remis to not pay respect to Timothy’s incredible stage and film career, where the roles and the awards are too numerous to list. Here in Sacramento his legacy lives on, not just in baseball lore, but in his co-founding of the B-Street Theater, one of the capital city’s finest artistic institutions.
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