1982 COMMUNITY LEADER INDUCTEE TED C. WILLS This native Fresnan was the cheerleader for his talented son Ted Wills Jr., who became a major league pitcher, but Wills, who played a little baseball and basketball at Central High School from 1925 to 1928, became a sports booster of all Fresno sports in his role as…
1982 BASEBALL INDUCTEE JUSTIN E. SIMONS Fresno native, Justin Simons was referred to by his teammates as “Judge” because of his quiet demeanor. He signed as a catcher with the Fresno Tigers following graduation from Fresno State in 1923. His professional career included seasons in Salt Lake, Utah, Little Rock, Arkansas, Muskogee, Oklahoma, and then…
1982 SOFTBALL INDUCTEE GLORIA MAY Gloria May, one of the finest fielders in women’s fast-pitch softball, played for the Fresno Rockets from 1949 to 1958, winning three national championships. Originally from Glendale, May had an eighteen-year career in softball, making her mark as a first baseman. She was inducted into the Amateur Softball Association Hall…
1982 AUTO RACING INDUCTEE ERNEST LAUCK Born in Oklahoma in 1898, Ermest Lauck moved to Fresno at two and said he can’t remember a time in his life that he wasn’t interested in anything with wheels. That early spark became a passion when Lauck was involved in building race cars and race tracks. Because of…
1982 BASKETBALL INDUCTEE Gary Alcorn Gary Alcorn laughed when he reminisced about parking behind the old Fresno State gym an hour and a half before basketball practice and shooting a limit of pheasant or quail on the outskirts of the campus. This is a snapshot of Alcorn’s life: basketball and in the outdoors. Alcorn was…
1981 AUTO RACING INDUCTEE BILLY VUKOVICH, JR. Perhaps the greatest quote by Bill Vukovich Sr. was “There is no secret. You just press the accelerator to the floor and steer left.” To many of his multitude of fans around the world in the 1950s, it was an understatement; however, it seemed logical to his nine…
1981 SOFTBALL INDUCTEE VERA MILLER Vera “Granny” Miller is one of the most remarkable athletes to ever be inducted into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame. Miller began pitching softball at age ten and was still playing at age seventy-four when poor health made her quit the game. Only a few golfers and tennis players…
1981 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE MICKEY MASINI Leonard “Mickey” Masini was the “dean” of the North Yosemite League coaches when he retired in 1966 after eleven years at Edison High School at the age of forty-four. Masini stayed at Edison as the athletic director until 1980. Masini was a fullback in the fabled Fresno State back field…
1981 COMMUNITY LEADER INDUCTEE NORMAN MACDONALD MacDonald spanned the entire gamut during his forty-five year association with high school athletics. His career began as a coach at Fowler High School in 1933. He moved into the Fresno school system in 1934. He was the line coach for Erwin Ginsburg at Fresno High School for several…
1981 MANAGER ML BASEBALL INDUCTEE BOBBY COX Bobby Cox, the winningest manager in Atlanta Braves history, reminisced in the Braves dugout, “Selma and Fresno were as good a place to grow up as a kid could ever want. It was a sports-orientated farming area. You could play a high school football game on Friday night…