When I was 11 years old, for me, Saturdays were either soccer or baseball followed by a trip for burger and fries for lunch or dinner. 37 years later, little has changed.
I picked up my Beer Baseball Blog Field Correspondent Kevin Lyon at Union Station in Los Angeles and we made our way to Chatsworth, California to go to a place we had talked about for quite some time. The Valley Relics Museum located at 21630 Marilla St., Chatsworth, CA 91311.
But before that, we got a tip to go for lunch at a California historic landmark. The Munch Box (21532 Devonshire St, Chatsworth, CA 91311) was built in 1956 and declared a Los Angeles landmark in 2003. For reference, it is Historic-Cultural Monument No. 450.
The Munch Box boasts a menu that any 11-year-old in the 1970’s would love. Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, French Fries and a Coke. For extra goodness, they add chili, cheese, and onions to it all. Yeah, it’s unhealthy, but if we went and got salads it just wouldn’t be the same right?
See, we are eating like Morris Buttermaker or Mike Engleberg would. Because everything is about the Bad News Bears today. After all, it’s Bad News Bears that brought us out to the Valley in the first place. The Valley Relics Museum was rumored to have the scoreboard from the original movie on display.
Let me explain what the museum is more in depth.
The Valley Relics Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and the mission is to collect, preserve, interpret, and present the history of The San Fernando Valley and surrounding areas. But to me, it is a celebration of pop culture and everything great about growing up in the 60’s-90’s
From their website, the museum boasts its vast collection of historical artifacts pertaining to the Valley abroad. The collection includes rare documents, photographs, vintage neon signs, postcards, yearbooks, negatives, clothing, books, art, automobiles, and bicycles from the Valley’s past.
From the picture gallery above you can tell it’s a cornucopia of amazingness. I joked that it was literally my childhood under one roof. It’s literally too much to see in one pass through. You have to go through a few times to process all the history you are witnessing. And there wasn’t a wasted second.
I was fortunate to meet Founder & Creator Tommy Gelinas walking around and greeting the many visitors. I had seen him most recently in a Facebook video promoting the San Fernando Valley Film Tour (link) which in itself should be a blog post. But, we’re here because the Bad News Bears movie was filmed in Chatsworth (video link) and it didn’t disappoint one bit.
So much to be seen with scattered relics from the 1976 hit movie including Lupus’ uniform, many photos, scripts, hats, uniforms, and props. And alas, we were united with the top portion of the original scoreboard. Our trip was complete and much more. Soooo satisfied.
And for those who want to know some local(-ish) Craft Beer spots to round out the tour, you should seek out:
Ladyface Ale Companie – Alehouse & Brasserie – 29281 Agoura Rd, Agoura Hills, CA 91301
Five Threads Brewing Company – 31133 Via Colinas #109, Westlake Village, CA 91362
MacLeod Ale Brewing Co. – 14741 Calvert St, Van Nuys, CA 91411
Thank you for taking the time to read and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Michael Mondragon – Beer Baseball Blog
PS – After this excursion, we went to Angels Stadium and watched the Angels beat the Giants 4-3. Oh and this happened up above us (video link). It’s April guys, pace yourselves.
This Post Has 6 Comments
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Nice job, Mike. I feel like I could read more, though. More details about your memories of the past, more details about the specific items you were drawn to more closely and why. Love the photos, links and brewery recommendations too. Again, nice job! Looking forward to the next one. -E
Much appreciated on your feedback. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Lupus was number 4, not 8. And the hat is wrong. In fact, the jersey is all wrong too. I love seeing things that were used in movies too, but hate it when they use something that really wasn’t used in place to pull the wool over our eyes.
I’ve been looking for a BNB jersey for years, but everywhere you look – they lack in the detail that follows the way it was in the movie. You don’t have to compare but for a second to see that the lettering is not right both in font and placement, the Chico’s logo is too low from the back collar stitching, the white line through the bell on the back, the placement of the player number is too close to the “Bears” on the front where it should be lower and more to the side, AND – some sites have the bear on the right sleeve and not the left. It’s detail. They claim to have it but it’s just wrong. This jersey (and hat) is sadly just wrong.
PLEASE disregard my last comment. I COMPLETELY FORGOT that there was a TV series and was thinking movie only! Sorry about that!
How did the TV series not make it? This show if done correctly should have had a 5 year run. They should have gotten Donny Most from Happy Days as the coach, his humor and timing would have been perfect, he could have easily pulled double duty while acting on Happy Days. By that time anyway, Ralph and Potzie were hanging out at Al’s with high school kids when they looked old enough to be their parents.
This TV show had kid powerhouse actor Corey Feldman, this series could have launched him into Brady Bunch like status. But I think it was asking too much to have the Felddog carry the whole cast, the rest of the kids couldn’t act at all. The late Kristoff St. John was also one of the kids on the team, but he didn’t do much, he was better as Booker Brown on Happy Days. This series should have ended as the Bears were now high school all stars and some like Felman would be leaving to play big time college baseball the last season of the series. I also would have written in cameos from original bad News Bears cast members for the TV series. Maybe have Englebert now owning a Chicken and Waffles restaurant where the Bears hang out when not playing ball. The series ad no creativity, there were so many missed opportunities to make this show a Home Run. Instead, Hollywood struck out with the Bad News Bears TV series.
Great thoughts here. I agree with you, there was so much to be gained and a lot to work with. It’s a shame that it didn’t become more. Thanks for reading and commenting.