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South Bay sports legend Mickey Colmer passes on
by Bob Brigham
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The South Bay's best athlete of the first half of the 20th Century, Mickey Colmer, shown here in his Redondo Elks softball uniform, played football, basketball and baseball professionally during a 13-year span interrupted by World War II. |
What South Bay athlete played for the Angels, Dodgers and Yankees and taught Jackie Robinson how to surf?
If you answered "Mickey Colmer," you not only pass South Bay Sports 101, you may go to the head of the class. But if you have never heard of Colmer, don't feel too badly. He might be the greatest unknown superstar ever to pull on a pair of cleats.
Colmer, a Redondo Beach native, died July 20 from complications of a stroke. He was 83 years old. A memorial service is planned for Saturday at noon at White and Day Chapel in Manhattan Beach.
"He was a great athlete but [also] a kind person," said Colmer's son Jeff.
"The world can be thankful that Mickey was kind," added Dave Mulgrew, Colmer's boyhood friend, referring to the physical power of the man.
A multi-sport athlete for of Redondo Union High School in the mid-1930's, Colmer became a star in the All American Conference (AAC) when he got out of the army at the end of World War II. The AAC was an upstart professional football league that rivaled the National Football League in the years following the war. From 1945-50, Colmer played for the New York-based Dodgers and Yankees, which borrowed the names of their baseball counterparts and played games in their stadiums in the fall.
Before the war, Colmer was the best player on the L.A. Bulldogs roster from 1938-40. The Bulldogs, the Hollywood Bears and a few other teams on the west coast were what passed for pro football in this part of the country before the NFL's Cleveland Rams came to Los Angeles.
When Colmer wasn't playing football during those years, he played baseball for the Los Angeles Angels, a AAA farm team for the Chicago Cubs in the old Pacific Coast League. His baseball career was short lived because his 90-mile per hour heater tended to be wild.
Colmer also played basketball for the Hank Lusetti All-Stars, a professional barnstorming basketball team headed by the former Stanford All American.
Colmer accomplished all of this despite never playing competitively in college. In 1937, after a year at Mira Monte Prep School on the central coast, he felt he was ready for professional competition and that there was really no need to continue in college.
It was while playing for the Bulldogs that he became acquainted with Robinson. They had faced each other as high school athletes in Southern California, but their association in pro football gave them the opportunity to become friends. Both gifted athletes, Colmer was already an accomplished surfer and was able to teach Robinson the sport without much difficulty.
In 1942, Colmer was assigned to combat duty in Southeast Asia. He earned a Bronze Star for bravery and the respect and admiration of Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. He served as a liaison between the general and his wife and the U.S. government. They were so impressed with Colmer that they requested he stay in China after the war to serve on their personal staff.
Colmer's wife, Melba, would have none of it, however. She asked Colmer to come back to the United States, which he did, resuming his professional football career. When his football days were over, Colmer came home to the South Bay, where he worked for Douglas Aircraft and Rockwell until his retirement in 1982. He also continued playing sports and was a standout for the Redondo Eagles basketball team and the Redondo Elks softball team.
Colmer is survived by his wife of more than 60 years Melba, sons Jeff and Greg, sisters Marie and Betty and younger brother Milton, a great athlete in his own right.
Mickey Colmer, a South Bay sports figure, may have died. But the legend lives on. ER