By STAN STAPP

YOU MAY NOT have heard of Leo Lassen before, and you may not have heard of Gene Buck (also known as Paul Martin) either. Both were Lincoln High students, who made their living by talking: Leo as a baseball radio announcer, and Buck as a standup comedian. But the two have come together, as you shall see.

First of all, though, you need to know about plans for developing the Lower Woodland Park Playfield. Thanks to a million dollar grant from Major League Baseball some much needed improvements will be made. The gift, to the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, is known as the "2001 Major League Baseball All-Star Legacy," a byproduct of the recent All-Star Game played in Seattle's new Safeco Field.

Extensive renovations will be made to five Lower Woodland ball fields (one hardball field and four softball fields). Improvements to the baseball field include: a new backstop, covered dugouts, all-weather synthetic turf, reconfiguration of the field's drainage and irrigation system, 300-seat capacity bleachers, digital scoreboard, batting cages and bull pens. In addition, a flag plaza with ornamental brick paving and pedestrian lighting will serve as an entrance to the field. The City will proceed with earlier plans to install lights.

The four softball fields will also undergo major improvements including complete reconditioning, new dugout roofs, aluminum bleachers, windscreens, outfield fence improvement, foul poles, and homerun distance signage.

Ah, but what to call the new playfield: Stay with "Lower Woodland"? Let Major League Baseball select a new one? Or ask baseball fans to choose the name? Perhaps we should be guided by the meaning of legacy, as in baseball legacy: "A gift of property, anything handed down from the past as from an ancestor or predecessor."

Why not, then, "Leo Lassen Ball Park?"

Leo who? you may ask.

Leo Lassen I say - Seattle's most famous sports radio announcer EVER - the Voice of Baseball as he was known for some 30 years, 1931 to 1960.

Here's a little history:

Leo was a Wallingford resident, living at 4517 Latona Ave. NE, and sometimes played ball at Lower Woodland. He graduated from Lincoln High School (in the Wallingford District) in 1917, and returned in 1962 for the All-School Reunion where he gave the commentary (from slides of Totem Annuals - Lincoln's yearbooks - and class photos).

In 1920 he became sports editor of the Seattle Star, "Seattle's other daily" newspaper. In 1931, he turned to radio, giving play-by-play broadcasts for the Seattle Indians, a minor league baseball team that played at the old Civic Field, then located at what is now Seattle Center. The Indians were sold in the late 1930s to Emil Sick who renamed the team the Seattle Rainiers and built them a new home: Sick's Stadium in the Rainier Valley. Leo continued to broadcast the team's games until his retirement in 1960.

Leo excelled in recreating the games that were played out-of-town in such a manner that we all thought he was actually there watching the game. He would take a few details over the Teletype machine (the batter's name, ball and strike count, etc.) and convert them into an entire inning, even describing how the pitcher "picks up the rosin bag, tugs at his cap, and delivers a screwball for a strike. (Imagine how easily he could have handled today's Ichiro!) Lassen was also famous for his shout: "BAAACK, BAAACK, BAAACK - AND ITS OVER THE FENCE!," OR "HE BEAT THE BALL! HE BEAT THE BALL!"

It seemed to us that every radio in Seattle was tuned in to Leo during a game. One could walk along a street on a warm summer night when doors and windows were open and hear Leo "spinning his magic". I often heard parts of the game this way walking from my home at N 42nd and Woodlawn Ave. up to N 45th, perhaps to get a quart of ice cream at the Lincoln Pharmacy for dessert. (We had no refrigerators in those days - no way to store it ahead of time.) And if Leo wasn't "on," chances are we could listen to Amos & Andy in the same way: those two black comedians and Leo Lassen being our Big Stars in those days. Leo died in 1975. The suggestion that the Lower Woodland field be named in honor of Leo Lassen originated with Gene Buck, a comedian (who performed under the stage name Paul Martin) and retired graphic artist. Buck has been involved with stand-up comedy, stage, motion pictures, television, radio, community theater, commercial production, and the like in Seattle, the West Coast, and Hawaii. Although he told me he'd retired, I don't think he's entirely given up.

Buck was a local boy living at 6215 Greenwood N, and attending John B. Allen Grade School (now the Phinney Neighborhood Center), Monroe Junior High, and Lincoln High School. It was at Lincoln that he discovered he had a talent for comedy, when as a sophomore he did a takeoff on Spike Jones' "William Tell Overture" that left the students laughing. From then on he had parts in nearly anything on stage, such as the Senior Play, or Starloft Theatre. In addition he contributed cartoons and poetry to the Lincoln Totem. He graduated in 1951.

Buck was a shoeshine boy for awhile with Phillips Shoe Repair, 7315 Greenwood, about to play Santa Claus at the store. But something came up and he didn't. Two girls who knew Buck didn't know his change of plans, and got in line, and sat on Santa's lap, and told him what they wanted for Christmas. When they found out, Buck claims, "they were mighty disappointed when they learned Santa's lap was not mine."

Back to Baseball:

"Leo spent some 30 years behind the mike teaching Seattle audiences the game of baseball," Buck said. "The major reason Seattle remains a Baseball Town to this day is because of this raspy-voiced man we call Mr. Baseball."

Buck has started an organization called the Leo Lassen Legacy Project, and being the only member so far, has appointed himself Campaign Manager. If you agree with Buck just drop him a line: Gene Buck, P.O. Box 4644, Seattle, WA 98104. Or phone him at (206) 725-0873. Or send me an e-mail and I'll forward it to him.

* * *

THE TWIN TEEPEES, a Seattle landmark restaurant at N 72nd and Aurora Ave. N (which was damaged by fire a year ago, June 1, 2000) was demolished this past July 31. Although owner Robert Pierides had hoped to rebuild after the fire, he found that the cost would be more than he and his wife, Eileen, could manage. What they will do with the land has not yet been determined.

The Teepees were built by Walter Clark in 1937, one of a dozen restaurants in his chain, including two in the North End; the Tip-Top in the University District, and Clark's Northgate. My wife Dorothy and I were regular Teepees customers for five years, eating there once a week when we lived nearby. After testing a number of Teepees luncheon items we settled on our favorite: French Dip with barbecue sauce, which we split between us, plus soup of the day, no matter what it was, for all were good. Especially clam chowder. When our favorite waitress, Kim Follett, saw us enter she knew she could safely place our order without asking. And I enjoyed getting to know Pierides, surprised one day when he told me that his first job had been working for me when I was publisher of the Outlook. Pierides was a circulation carrier.

We occasionally ran into friends at the Teepees, such as historian Walt Crowley (currently involved with History Link) who in the '60s had been an active hippy in the U District, and involved with promotions such as the Sky River Rock Festival, the Piano Drop, and various light shows. He and Paul Dorpat (who today writes a weekly column on Seattle history, "Seattle: Now & Then," column for the Seattle Times) were also busy with the Helix underground newspaper. Paul was the Helix's editor and Walt was a staff artist. The Outlook also had a hand in the Helix's production. Later we enjoyed Walt when he became a political commentator on who staged lively debates with conservative John Carlson on KIRO-TV. We also have lunched at the Teepees with Peter and Barbara Schneller, (sometimes after Dorothy and I had walked around Green Lake). Peter formerly was principal at Ballard High School.

Several years ago Pierides opened another restaurant, the 125th St. Grill, which is located at N 125th and Aurora Ave. N. We recently ate lunch there, and were pleased to have been seated in a booth, adjacent to a long table at which a dozen males were having a great time. I immediately recognized seven of them, former Lincoln High students I hadn't seen in quite awhile.

* * *

NICK SCHMITT SR. was a tough competitor of mine, as well as a friend. He published a number of North End papers, most of them circulated in the same area as the Outlook. For many years we had the Wallingford, Fremont, and Greenwood areas to ourselves, Nick had the rest. However, in the '60s, I knew we would need to expand our circulation to survive - for as stores kept getting bigger they needed more coverage.

To test the field I bought a few newsracks and set three of them up on The Ave in the University District, knowing I'd soon be hearing from Nick. Sure enough, the very next day he called and inquired: "What are you doing invading MY territory?" I politely explained how it was going to become OUR territory also from now on - that is if we were to survive.

About a week later, he placed some newsracks around the area and the competition became fierce. We eventually had some 70 racks in the U-District, and a lot of carriers, too. Carriers however, were getting harder to find in the core of the U-District, because kids, 10-12 years old, didn't seem to live there anymore. They were all college age.

The following year we expanded in Ballard. If I had of been smarter, I would have made the move to Ballard first, because we received a better welcome there. I found out, and I think Nick did too, that our competition in the U-District was not so much with each other, as it was with the University of Washington's student newspaper, The UW Daily - as it still is today.

In 1973, Nick sold his operation to the new Today newspapers. And a few months later I sold the Outlook to Today - and worked for the new guys.

However I got out a couple of months later, and about a year and a half later the Today chain folded - mainly because it didn't understand how smaller businesses and community newspapers worked. Nick then tried to find customers for the defunct Today papers, without much success. He suggested that now was my chance, "I can get the University District Herald for you for $20,000. I didn't want it, and at that time neither did anyone else.

During this period I met with Nick several times for lunch, at fancy places like the the Washington Athletic Club, trying to make Today go, or find customers for their dozen editions. Nick, who was born in 1908, died August 13. (