Southern California Gems

Western Division

1168 E. Highland Ave., San Bernardino, California 92404

714.882.2561

Director: Steve Halpern

General Manager: Steve Halpern

Field Manager: Royal Beaird

Home Field: Perris Hill Park, San Bernardino, California

Starting Time: 7:00 p.m.

Team colors: red, gold

The Gems played only the first year the league was in existence. The Gems made headlines by signing Rosie Black and her two sisters (Karen Beaird and Eileen Francanbandera). Their Dad, Royal Beaird was also signed to manage the Gems. After a 3-17 start, Dennis Murphy Jr., son of the league commissioner, was put in charge of the team. This change apparently disturbed Royal Beaird and he resigned taking his three daughers with him. At the end of the season, the Gems were sold. However, at a meeting in St. Louis in February 1977, the Gems package presentation was turned down by the league.

The following are excerpts from the 1976 San Jose Sunbirds (Reprint 1) and 1976 Santa Ana Lionettes (Reprint 2) programs.

Reprint 1 – Pitcher Rosie Black is the Gems’ crown jewel. She became famous touring as “The Queen and her Maids” and undoubtedly adds color and flash to the league. No one doubts Rosie’s pitching ability. The question is whether she can sustain her undeniable talent under competitive pressures night after night.

Black’s supporting case with the Gems also is an unknown quantity. Her sisters – catcher Eileen Beaird Francabandera and second baseman Karen Beaird – are talented and experienced. First-baseman Debby Bevers, another of the “Maids,” enjoys the reputation of an outstanding hitter. Royal Beaird, Rosie’s flamboyant father and mentor, will cause plenty of controversy throughout the league from his spot on the first-base coaching box. Beaird manages the Gems.

Reprint 2 – The Gems have signed some outstanding softball talent from various parts of the country. Three established players from Portland will give stability to the team. Sue Peterson, catcher, and DeeDee Moulder and Teri Mariani, infielders, have performed for the last several years with the Northwest amateur power. Rosie Black, famed pitcher for the “Queen and Her Maids” has been signed as well as the 3 others who were with her act including sisters Karen Beaird and Eileen Francabandera and 1^st base, Debby Bevers. High schooler Rhonda Ebersole will be sharing pitching duties and Pat Schnell, formerly with Orange, will hold down the 3^rd base spot.

1976 Highlights

A team with a 17-year-old high school senior as the ace of its pitching staff and a 24-year-old home-run hitting all-star outfielder as its star has its best years ahead. That's the 1976 story of the Southern California Gems, who got off to a dismal 3-17 start before general manager Dennis Murphy, Jr. and Karen Peterson took over the field responsibilities to bring the Gems into respectibility over the final month and a half of the season.

The Gems, too, proved entertaining to its San Bernardino-based frans, ranking fourth in IWPSA attendance despite the poor start and providing quality softball players in 17-year old Rhonda Ebersole and 24-year old Debbie Bevers.

Ebersole, who won't graduate from Ganesha High in Pomona, Ca. until next year, showed promise as one of the league's top young pitchers as she neared 20 wins in her first season in major league competition.

Bevers, simply, is an untouchable that franchises are built around. A tall, lanky athlete, she finished second to Buffalo's Maryann Cardillo in the home run derby and led the Gems in nearly every batting statistic average, home runs, runs batted in, doubles and triples. In the field, she has turned in plays that have prompted San Jose manager Laura Malesh rated as "some of the best I've ever seen."

To view the 1976 Gems Souvenir Program and the Gems Revised Souvenir Program, see below.