Baker then moved to Hollywood, where he coached Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Temple, Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino in fencing, riding and swimming. Snowy Baker played polo in California, representing the state in a two-game series against a visiting Mexican side on the occasion of the inauguration of the new polo fields at Riviera Country club in December 1931. Snowy’s name first appears in the 1928 U.S.P.A. Yearbook, as a member of Will Rogers’ Uplifters Club; his last listing is in 1950, in the San Francisco Polo Club’s roster. During most of his polo playing career, Baker represented the Riviera Country Club, famous as the site of the 1949 Argentine-America series and home of one of the top golf courses in the United States. Snowy Baker reached a 4-goal handicap, quite an achievement considering that he took up the game when he was in his for-
ties. He took his share of polo trophies, including the high handicap Teddy Miller Memorial and the James W. Colt Memorial, both important tournaments in California. Carlos Alberto Menditeguy (1914-1973) is widely recognized as Argentina’s most versatile sportsman. Born into a family endowed with the world’s goods, both Carlos and his older brother Julio reached the pinnacle of polo: a 10-goal rating. Both their grandfather and father were members of the Jockey Club and owned a stud farm, El Turf. The thoroughbred Chopp, bred at El Turf, took the Argentine Triple Crown in 1903. Carlos attended Colegio Marín in San Isidro, where the football team won the High Schools Championship. Carlos played at center-forward; in today’s day he would have been the prototype of a striker. His eye-hand coordination was superb; Charlie, as he was universally known, was a su-
California Players, before match against Mexico: hal Roach, Snowy Baker, Eric Pedley and C. B. Brunson
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perior squash and pelota a paleta player, a skilled billiards practitioner and a nationally ranked tennis player. With his brother Julio, the team was ranked number five by the tennis association. Menditeguy also excelled at the royal and ancient game of golf. A good player, a casual conversation led to a bet: for a rumored 1.000 dollars, a significant amount in the early 1940s, he wagered that he would be a scratch player one year from that date. When Charlie took up something, he committed himself to the enterprise with heart and soul. In this particular case he hired professional instructor Enrique Bertolini and took daily lessons. He won the bet with time to spare. Then he entered the Campeonato del Sud, at the time one of the top four golf tournaments in South America, held at the Mar del Plata Golf Club, and took the amateur division with a score of two over par for 72 holes. After polo, automobile racing was Men-