In 1923, the San Mateo Baseball team was known as the San Mateo Merchants. It was Opening Day in 1923 that the Merchants took to the field at their new ballpark at Central Park. Gene Camozzi was the starting pitcher and the winner of the day’s contest.
In 1924, Gene Camozzi was again the Opening Day pitcher for San Mateo. The San Mateo team wore blue uniforms with white pinstripes. Soon they became known as the San Mateo Blues. Gene Camozzi was San Mateo’s mainstay at pitcher for years. He was an active player till 1934.
In 1937, Gene returned to manage the Blues till 1943.
In 1945, a team named The Bay Meadows Blues played in San Mateo. In 1946, the team playing at San Mateo’s Central Park was the Moffit-Manteca Meat Packers. The local fans wanted their team to be called the Blues, and in 1947, a team named the Blues returned.
Then, in 1948, the city decided to name the team the San Mateo Merchants. That didn’t go over well. The once-proud San Mateo Blues fans were without a team until 1955, when Paul Thiebaut brought his Guadalupe Blues to San Mateo. It was only a matter of time till the team became the San Mateo Blues again. And the Thiebaut era of the Blues would live on into the 1970s.