I had lunch with Gene Kaneshiro last week. He showed me a photo of the Columbia Inn Roundtable All-Star baseball team from the early 1970s. I recognized most of the players — Joe Moore, Bob Sevey, Jim Leahey, Larry Price, Danny Kaleikini, Jimmy Borges — but who was the young kid at the end?
Kaneshiro said it was Bo Belinsky, one of the most colorful players in Hawaii Islander baseball history.
Belinsky threw two no- hitters in his career and was linked to many actresses, including Connie Stevens, Tina Louise and Ann-Margret.
Today I thought we take a look at his career and relationship with one particular starlet, Mamie Van Doren.
Born in Manhattan
Robert “Bo” Belinsky was born in New York on Dec. 7, 1936. The Los Angeles Angels gave him a shot in the major leagues in 1962 as a left-handed pitcher.
Belinsky showed up in L.A. wearing $1,500 (in 2023 dollars) custom wool suits, a gold watch, a diamond ring, expensive sunglasses and sharp suede shoes. Nearly every garment, including his boxer shorts, had a “BB” monogram.
Belinsky was paid about $85,000 for a six-month season. A year later it was raised to $150,000. He bought a candy-apple red Cadillac convertible.
The Angels played at Dodger Stadium at the time — calling it Chavez Ravine Stadium — until their stadium opened in 1966.
Belinsky won his first three games and then, on May 5, 1962, he arose at the crack of noon after a night drinking at a Sunset Strip bar with a woman he had just met.
He took to the mound and pitched a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles. It was the first major league no- hitter ever pitched on the West Coast. Two nights later he met Mamie Van Doren.
Mamie Van Doren
Mamie Van Doren was born Joan Lucille Olander in South Dakota on Feb. 6, 1931. Her family moved to Los Angeles in 1942. Producer Howard Hughes discovered her in a Palm Springs beauty contest and put her in several films. First lady Mamie Eisenhower inspired her stage name.
Belinsky and Van Doren began dating. In September they were photographed together at an L.A. nightclub. Seven months later Bo announced their engagement. “There a good chance we will be married before the end of the year,” Belinsky told reporters.
1963 season
Belinsky began his second season with the Angels, but by the end of May, his pitching record had fallen to an abysmal single win against eight losses.
The Angels demoted him to their farm club, the Hawaii Islanders. Columnist Eddie Sherman suggested the “blonde bombshell” should be the Islanders’ new mascot.
A gala welcome was planned for him at Honolulu Airport on June 11, but he failed to show up. One sportswriter said Belinsky had to decide whether he was more interested in pitching woo or baseball.
The Honolulu Advertiser’s Red McQueen wondered whether Bo wasn’t prepared for the publicity and exaltation that followed his no- hitter in 1962. Since then, he noted, Belinsky had lost 18 of his 25 pitching starts.
Belinsky spoke with reporters as he lounged around the pool at his lavish L.A. penthouse. “I can’t report to Hawaii because I have too many commitments in Hollywood.”
“There’s a chance I’ll be able to appear in half a dozen pictures before spring training next year.”
By July 1963, Van Doren and film land appeared to lose interest in him at the same time. He packed his bags.
The beachboys
Belinsky arrived in Hawaii, and to his surprise, he loved it here. “It’s a fabulous place,” he said. ”I just wish I’d come two months ago. The people are great.”
Belinsky stayed in Waikiki and took surfing lessons from the beachboys. He predicted he’d be back with the Angels soon and added, “If I don’t, I’ve got it all set up to stay in Honolulu and be a beachboy.”
Belinsky focused on baseball. Van Doren reconsidered her feelings for him as well. He invited her to come to Tacoma, Wash., for a series of Islander away games. Nearly every major paper in the country covered it.
The Associated Press reported, “Blonde Mamie Van Doren, clad in white slacks and a tight-fitting white shirt, arrived yesterday to see Bo Belinsky, her erstwhile fiance, who is here with the Hawaii Islanders.
“So many terrible things were said about us when we broke up,” Van Doren said. She felt awful. “Bo asked me to come and talk to him.” She planned to attend Sunday and sit in the section reserved for wives of Hawaii players.
Would they marry? “Anything can happen,” Belinsky said. “She’s a wonderful girl.”
The Islanders brought Belinsky in as a relief pitcher, trailing by seven runs. Tacoma tagged him for five more runs in the two innings he pitched.
The press was merciless, saying that Van Doren’s curves were better than Belinsky’s. She said hers were 39 DD. He was AAA.
Back in Hawaii, Belinsky settled down. The Islanders won the next 30 of 47 games. Large crowds came out to Honolulu Stadium to see the playboy pitcher.
The Islanders drew 269,355 fans in 77 home games to lead all minor league clubs in attendance. It was their first financially successful season.
The Islanders had their biggest crowd — 16,954 — when Belinsky pitched the final home game of the 1963 season. He held Spokane to four hits. The Islanders won 6-0.
“Right now I’m happy to be able to help this ball club.” Bo said flashing a big smile. “I’m pitching as good as ever.”
His statistics were impressive, particularly a 1.85 earned run average. He pitched 34 innings, gave up seven runs, walked only 13 and struck out 27 in compiling a 3-0 record in five starts.
He was focusing on baseball and it was showing results. His relationship with Van Doren was going in the opposite direction, however. They were through, Van Doren said.
“Our life was a circus. We were engaged on April Fools’ Day and broke the engagement on Halloween. It just broke my heart and his, too. It was a wild ride but a lot of fun.”
Moving on
Belinsky said he wasn’t surprised when Van Doren married a young ballplayer, minor leaguer Lee Meyer. “But I was surprised she married a kid. He’s only 19 and she’s about 33.”
It lasted just two years. She was married five times, and at 92 is still with husband No. 5. She also dated Frank Sinatra, Burt Reynolds, Steve McQueen, Tony Curtis and football great Joe Namath.
Second no-hitter
On Aug. 18, 1968, Belinsky added a second no-hitter to his record. The Hawaii Islanders beat Tacoma 1-0 at Honolulu Stadium.
Belinsky kept the fans hanging until the ninth inning. Tacoma loaded the bases on two walks and an error.
John Boccabella stepped up to the plate for Tacoma. He hit a long fly ball to right field, but it was caught at the fence by right fielder Joe Gaines for the final out.
Belinsky was the first Islander to pitch a no-hitter. In the broadcast booth, Al Michaels was stunned. He had been in the stands in L.A. six years earlier when Belinsky pitched his first no-hitter.
Million-dollar arm …
Belinsky played for four major league teams before his career came to a close in 1970. In eight years he had a 28-51 record and a 4.10 ERA.
Dodgers General Manager Buzzie Bavasi assessed his talent. “He had a million- dollar arm and a 10-cent head. If Bo could’ve gotten his head where his arm was, he’d be in the Hall of Fame. He just never really worked at being a great pitcher.”
Former Angel press agent Irv Kaze said, “Bo was the only major leaguer I ever met who, it seemed to me, didn’t really care if he pitched in the major or minor leagues.”
After his baseball career ended, Belinsky married and divorced 1965 Playboy Playmate of the Year Jo Collins. He also married and divorced paper heiress Janie Weyerhaeuser, with whom he had twin daughters.
Columbia Inn All-Stars
Kaneshiro said: “I first met him when he pitched for the Hawaii Islanders and was married to Jo. They frequented the Columbia Inn.
“Years later, around 1974, he and Janie came to our daughter’s first birthday and gave her a beautiful teddy bear, which she loved so much that she carried it with her everywhere for years.
“When Bo was living on the North Shore, we invited him to play with us on the Columbia Inn Roundtable All-Stars, not so much for his softball prowess but because he was a fun guy to hang out with.
“I lost track of him when he left the islands for Las Vegas.” Belinsky died of bladder cancer in 2001 at age 64.
“Sports history will remember him as a very talented baseball pitcher who threw two no-hitters, played for many teams and lived life to the fullest,” Kaneshiro concluded.
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Bob Sigall is the author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books. Contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com or sign up for his free email newsletter at RearviewMirrorInsider.com.
