2005 COMMUNITY LEADER INDUCTEE LARRY SHEHADEY Larry Shehadey moved from selling soap to purchasing a major interest in Producers Dairy in 1949 and realized the American dream. Although Shehadey played baseball and football well enough to be inducted into the San Francisco Polytechnical High School Hall of Fame, the Great Depression made college not an…
2005 VOLLEYBALL-TENNIS-BASKETBALL INDUCTEE GEORGE SARANTOS Born and raised in Fresno, George Sarantos has stated that Dickey Playground was his second home. He spent every spare hour of his childhood at Dickey and learned to play everything from basketball to ping pong. What he didn’t learn there were volleyball and tennis-the two sports in which he…
2005 COACHING-WATER POLO & SWIMMING INDUCTEE ARA HAIRABEDIAN Few people have had such an impact on the so-called secondary sports programs at Fresno State than Dr. Ara Hairabedian, whom everyone called “Coach.” He also could have been named “Mr. Olympian” due to his trips to six Olympiads starting with Mexico in 1968. He traveled to…
2005 BASEBALL TEAM INDUCTEE 1958 FRESNO HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL Were they the best? Most experts will tell you that they were certainly the best in California and many claim they were the finest ever fielded by a high school. The latter probably would be up for debate and difficult to measure, but not many teams…
2005 SOFTBALL TEAM INDUCTEE 1950-54 SELMA-HOAKS PACKERS SOFTBALL It was the heyday of softball and several of the best teams in the nation were based in California, three in the Central Valley alone. The Hoak Packers were actually an offshoot of the Kingsburg Merchants, who had been organized by Fresnan Hal Britton, who became the…
2004 BASKETBALL INDUCTEE MAURICE TALBOT Maurice “Mighty Mo” Talbot was born and raised on a 28,000-acre cattle ranch between Porterville and Springville in Tulare County, and didn’t play his first basketball game until high school. He was a star at Porterville High and Porterville Junior College before launching a record-breaking three-year career at Fresno State.…
2004 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE TRACY ROGERS With success as both a linebacker and fullback at Taft Union High School Tracy Rogers had to decide which side of the line of scrimmage to pursue after high school. He chose defense, a decision that would clear a path for a seven-year career with the Kansas City Chiefs. “My…
2004 BASEBALL INDUCTEE BOBBY JONES Bobby Jones never anticipated playing ten seasons of professional baseball. After all, he had loved ice hockey above all sports as a youngster and was so laid back about being drafted, he went golfing the day the big selections were made. Jones had an eight-year career with the New York…
2004 AUTO SPORTS INDUCTEE “BLACKIE” GEJEIAN Mike “Blackie” Gejeian made a name for himself as the king of vintage hot rods and exceptionalcustomized cars. Known for his head-turning street rods and customized coupes, Gejeian is the originator of the Fresno Autorama, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in March 2009. Gejeian’s array of out-of-the-ordinary machines is…
2004 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE MIKE FREEMAN Many of our Hall of Fame athletes played more than one sport. McLane High School’s Mike Freeman was no exception. Besides excelling on the football field, Mike was also a wrestler for the Highlanders and a sprinter in the 100- and 220-yard dashes for the track team. Make no mistake…