A Long Days Journey Into The Night
Posted: 21 Mar 2019, 19:38
Long Day Journey Into The Night
The way Tony Panza,the day bartender at The Arizona in Ocean Beach,described it was pretty funny to say the least. But after hearing Tony go on about how Irish Bob Murphy wound up driving 120 miles when what he was looking for was just around the corner,you've got to shake your head. First of all, Tony Panza was an institution at the Arizona Café. The Arizona was really a bar,not so much a café. Between the bar and the bowling alley in the back, was a small kitchen where Radovich would put one of those big Serbian ladies to cook lunch.They made homemade hot meals like roast pork with mashed potatoes and gravy that were unequaled anywhere. You see, Radovich was a Serb and everyone who worked in the Arizona was some kind of Serb. There was Tony Panza who was the day bartender.He was a Serb.They all belonged with all the other Serbs in town to the Serbian Defense League i where they talked about going back to Yugoslavia and kick Tito's ass. After Tony's shift he'd work the bowling alley.You could say Tony practically lived in the Arizona. He had a wife and son. I used to coach his son in little League. His mother would come to the games,but I never saw Tony. The bowling alley had only six lanes. It was the last bowling alley in San Diego to use pin boys.Radovich didn't want to spend the money to install automatic pinsetters,but after a few pin boys(me included) got conked on the head and George had to pay the medical bills he relented for the machines to reset the bowling pins.
The hay days of the Arizona were right after the war,the big one against Japan and Germany.Somehow ,Radovich was never in the service,but kept the Arizona running on all cylinders.Radovich had boxed in the amateurs in California before the war. He also played football(he was a lineman)for the semi pro San Diego Bombers. In those days the pro teams would barnstorm around the country playing the local semi pro clubs like the Bombers. So you could say Radovich was no stranger to the athletes in the Southland. The LA Rams would come down to San Diego to go sportfishing and drink 'em up in his bar.There were all the stars of the team:Norm Van Brocklin,Tom Fears,Crazy Legs Hirsch,and the ex San Diego State running back,Skeets Quinlan.After closing the bar,they'd all pile in a car and head down to Tijuana to do some more drinking and f--k all the whores.
After Irish Bob Murphy got his discharge from the Navy,he decided he wanted to continue to fight a war so he hit every bar in town and every night he'd blow his pay on the split tails and get into a fight. Murphy was once quoted as saying that it was no use trying roll him in an alley because after the girls got all his money there wasn't any left for the muggers. But since Murphy was a born street fightet,Radovich convinced him that he might as well get paid for trying to knock the other guy's block off,but told him he needed to learn how to fight the right way in the ring. So Radovich became Murphy's manager in the amateurs.
Travis Hatfield and his brother Carl had pieces of fighters in San Diego at the time. Charley Burley was one of Carl's fighters for a spell. Travis had a liking for what he saw in Murphy so he took over from George when Murphy became pro. But just because Murphy had his hands registered with the authorities,he still didn't shy away from a fight in the back of an alley.
So now to get to one of the many Bob Murphy stories by way of guys like Tony Panza who were witnesses.It was a Friday night. Everyone had got paid and wanted to unburden their hard earned money in the Arizona.Murphy was still fighting at the time professionally. Tony said that Murphy was sitting at the end of the bar with Travis Hatfield and another guy's wife.As custom,Murphy is feeling no pain and has no qualms about getting interested in this guy's wife.Radovich was behind the bar and was friends with the gal's husband. Radovich knew that the husband would try to intercede,but that Murphy would only get upset and start a fight in the bar.. So Radovich takes the gal aside and tells her to tell Murphy to meet him at a house on Santa Monica Street that's the next street over where there's big party going on.She'll lose her husband and then be waiting for Murphy when he gets there. The gal gave her husband the slip and then told Murphy to go to the house and she'd meet him there. In reality she was going to leave with her husband while he still had his teeth and go home for the night.Well,Murphy swallows the bait, hook line and sinker, and goes out the door to his car. Radovich is thinking the ruse worked and goes on serving the happy drunks.Just before closing the phone rang. It's Murphy on the other end.
"Hey,I'm up here in Santa Monica. What's the address again?"
The big dummy had driven up to Santa Monica in LA,a 120 mile drive instead of going around the corner to Santa Monica Street in Ocean Beach. I asked Tony if Murphy got upset.
"I couldn't say. Radovich came back to the bar and told us what Murphy had done. We all never laughed so hard in our whole lives."
Irish Bob Murphy
The way Tony Panza,the day bartender at The Arizona in Ocean Beach,described it was pretty funny to say the least. But after hearing Tony go on about how Irish Bob Murphy wound up driving 120 miles when what he was looking for was just around the corner,you've got to shake your head. First of all, Tony Panza was an institution at the Arizona Café. The Arizona was really a bar,not so much a café. Between the bar and the bowling alley in the back, was a small kitchen where Radovich would put one of those big Serbian ladies to cook lunch.They made homemade hot meals like roast pork with mashed potatoes and gravy that were unequaled anywhere. You see, Radovich was a Serb and everyone who worked in the Arizona was some kind of Serb. There was Tony Panza who was the day bartender.He was a Serb.They all belonged with all the other Serbs in town to the Serbian Defense League i where they talked about going back to Yugoslavia and kick Tito's ass. After Tony's shift he'd work the bowling alley.You could say Tony practically lived in the Arizona. He had a wife and son. I used to coach his son in little League. His mother would come to the games,but I never saw Tony. The bowling alley had only six lanes. It was the last bowling alley in San Diego to use pin boys.Radovich didn't want to spend the money to install automatic pinsetters,but after a few pin boys(me included) got conked on the head and George had to pay the medical bills he relented for the machines to reset the bowling pins.
The hay days of the Arizona were right after the war,the big one against Japan and Germany.Somehow ,Radovich was never in the service,but kept the Arizona running on all cylinders.Radovich had boxed in the amateurs in California before the war. He also played football(he was a lineman)for the semi pro San Diego Bombers. In those days the pro teams would barnstorm around the country playing the local semi pro clubs like the Bombers. So you could say Radovich was no stranger to the athletes in the Southland. The LA Rams would come down to San Diego to go sportfishing and drink 'em up in his bar.There were all the stars of the team:Norm Van Brocklin,Tom Fears,Crazy Legs Hirsch,and the ex San Diego State running back,Skeets Quinlan.After closing the bar,they'd all pile in a car and head down to Tijuana to do some more drinking and f--k all the whores.
After Irish Bob Murphy got his discharge from the Navy,he decided he wanted to continue to fight a war so he hit every bar in town and every night he'd blow his pay on the split tails and get into a fight. Murphy was once quoted as saying that it was no use trying roll him in an alley because after the girls got all his money there wasn't any left for the muggers. But since Murphy was a born street fightet,Radovich convinced him that he might as well get paid for trying to knock the other guy's block off,but told him he needed to learn how to fight the right way in the ring. So Radovich became Murphy's manager in the amateurs.
Travis Hatfield and his brother Carl had pieces of fighters in San Diego at the time. Charley Burley was one of Carl's fighters for a spell. Travis had a liking for what he saw in Murphy so he took over from George when Murphy became pro. But just because Murphy had his hands registered with the authorities,he still didn't shy away from a fight in the back of an alley.
So now to get to one of the many Bob Murphy stories by way of guys like Tony Panza who were witnesses.It was a Friday night. Everyone had got paid and wanted to unburden their hard earned money in the Arizona.Murphy was still fighting at the time professionally. Tony said that Murphy was sitting at the end of the bar with Travis Hatfield and another guy's wife.As custom,Murphy is feeling no pain and has no qualms about getting interested in this guy's wife.Radovich was behind the bar and was friends with the gal's husband. Radovich knew that the husband would try to intercede,but that Murphy would only get upset and start a fight in the bar.. So Radovich takes the gal aside and tells her to tell Murphy to meet him at a house on Santa Monica Street that's the next street over where there's big party going on.She'll lose her husband and then be waiting for Murphy when he gets there. The gal gave her husband the slip and then told Murphy to go to the house and she'd meet him there. In reality she was going to leave with her husband while he still had his teeth and go home for the night.Well,Murphy swallows the bait, hook line and sinker, and goes out the door to his car. Radovich is thinking the ruse worked and goes on serving the happy drunks.Just before closing the phone rang. It's Murphy on the other end.
"Hey,I'm up here in Santa Monica. What's the address again?"
The big dummy had driven up to Santa Monica in LA,a 120 mile drive instead of going around the corner to Santa Monica Street in Ocean Beach. I asked Tony if Murphy got upset.
"I couldn't say. Radovich came back to the bar and told us what Murphy had done. We all never laughed so hard in our whole lives."
Irish Bob Murphy
