Los Angeles (CA 135) - Naval Cruise Book

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BOXERS RETURN FROM YOKO AS COMNAVFOR JAPAN CHAMPIONS Pictured above after taking all team honors in Vokosuka ' s Boxing Tournament sponsered by Commander Naval Forces Japan is the team who set a new record for the LOS ANGELES. The members of team from left to right on the front row are: J.J. Tavros. E.D. Quitazol, R.D. Williams. L.L L• huiki. L.L. Greenman: back row A.L. Lacey. F.S. Freeman. R.A. Orf. T.A. Ramsev and R.K.K. Lee. Captain Coward and the manager-trainer-agents, Ensign T.M. Webster lef 1 1 and Ensign K.W. Visser right i are pictured with the champs and their trophies. 151

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L. A. ATHLETES OFFER 7TH FLEET CHALLENGES Athktii- actixitics llouiishcd vhik ' vc were with 7th Fleet and in e eiythins; from Judo to Soccer there was a lot of £;ood fun and ' onie rewarding achievements. Not everyone could participate on the ships teams and there was an active inter- division competition set up in order for all hands to have a chance to participate. Athletics included Judo, Bowline;, Soccer, Football, Baseball, Boxing, and Basketball. The ships teams competed with men from over fifty different other Naval activities and against a good number of teams in the ports we visited. Ji ' M2JS [ Mlfinwj m JUDO Judo, the gentle way translated literally from the Japanese, on the L.A. was lead by one Black Belt. Bean. MRl and thirteen other with Brown and White Belt status. The big highlight of the Judo team ' s effort was in a competition in .Sasebo where they chalked up five wins for our newest sports endeaver. BOWLING From the beginning of the cruise, at Yoko- suka. up to the time when this book was printed the members of the Bowling team had laised the teams average from 800 to 880. It xvasn ' t alwavs possible to schedule matches but seven have been completed to date and the record stands at 5 — 2 against fleet units. In Fukuoka pictuied left! the team didn ' t schedule any regular matches but the practice against Japanese teams was good fun and preparation for challenges that will come later in the cruise.

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STRIKE ONE ' A STRIKE . TWO STR IKE THREE SOFTBALL The L. A. Softball team has fared quite well in estPac Clompetition, and for i ood reason since they were 19(52 C hanipionship team of the Kle enth Naval District, Long Beach area. The baseball season was drawins; to a close as we started our cruise but the softball team continued a winning streak of practice games in anti- cipation of the challenges to be met in the last two months of the cruise. The hurler-coach LTJG R.R. Roberts expects this spring in WcstPac and back in Long Beach that the team will go on to win more honors. His pitching and that of R.A. Hunter, SMC are a pretty good indication that history will repeat itself, for these L.A. sportsmen. BASKETBALL The ships Basketball team with a 10 — record in fleet games represented us in yet another sport as top-notch competitiors. A eraging 74 points a game the members o f the B-Ball team, to date, have 17 wins and only 3 losses to their credit. The games they lost were to the highly re- garded ()kosuka Sea-Hawks, the Hong Kong Meteors, a semi-pro team, and the Air Force team from Itazuki. High points of the season to date were the games with L ' SS AJAX, the station ship team in Sasebo, and L ' SS CASTOR, played in Subic Bay. We can ' t say at this point whether the round ball team is the undisputed cham- pionship team in WestPac, but the impres- sive record to date tends to indicate that games scheduled on our return to Voko- suka should settle any questions.