1962 DIVING INDUCTEE ALBERT WHITE Albert C. White is probably one of the least-recognized great athletes with Fresno connections. The bull-shouldered White was the first person (man or woman) to win an Olympic Games double in diving. During the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, White took gold medals in the three-meter high springboard and ten-meter…
1962 TRACK & FIELD INDUCTEE ELROY ROBINSON It would take a historian to recall the accomplishments of Elroy Robinson. The shy, 5’10”, 165-pound middle distance runner couldn’t make his Fresno High School team, yet set three world records. Robinson was a hard-working honors biology student at Fresno State College. He began a teaching career at…
1962 BASEBALL INDUCTEE ORVAL OVERALL When Orval Overall was traded to the Chicago Cubs from the Cincinnati Reds midway through the 1906 National League season, it was history in the making. The powerful-throwing right-hander, who was born in Farmersville and raised in Visalia, joined one of the greatestpitching staffs in major league history: Mordecai “Three…
1962 MOTORCYCLE RACING INDUCTEE LLOYD ELDER If you’ve never heard of the “Racing Farmers” of Caruthers, well, pull up a hay bale, sit a spell, and learn somethin’. Ray Elder sat behind the steering wheel, wore a crash helmet, and put the pedal to the metal. His brother, Richard was inconspicuously in the background, carrying…
1962 BASEBALL INDUCTEE “FRENCHIE” BORDAGARAY Frenchy Bordagaray, a former Fresno State football star from Coalinga who ended up playing eleven years in the major leagues, was one of the most colorful performers in an era of free-spirited players. It was the 1935 and 1936 seasons with the Dodgers where most of his zany antics occurred.…
1961 ATHLETIC ADMINISTRATION INDUCTEE DEL E. WEBB Fresno was a small, young town when Del E. Webb was born in 1899. He learned carpentry as a hobby, but like many young boys of the time, he developed a love for the game of baseball. Webb was born into a family of means, but before Del…
1961 FOOTBALL INDUCTEE “CRIP” TOOMEY Nearly 40 years after his graduation, I.F. (Crip) Tooney is still rated one of the top football players ever produced in the San Joaquin Valley. Born in Fresno on Nov. 10, 1895, Toomey won 10 letters in four major sports and was noted for his ability in track as well…
1961 SPORTSWRITER INDUCTEE RUBE SAMUELSON This 1919 Fresno High School graduate became the first sports writer and author to be inducted into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame. Samuelson rightfully earned the title “Mr. Rose Bowl” after covering the game for three decades. His book The Rose Bowl Game recounted the first fifty years of…
1961 BOXING INDUCTEE FRANK MANFREDO The dean of California’s boxing and wrestling referees until his retirement earlier this year, Frank Manfredo estimates he officiated more than 3,500 matches in 35 years as “the third man in the ring.” Born in Tyler, Pennsylvania, January 28, 1893, Manfredo was a top boxer himself. A tough featherweight, he…
1961 COACHING TRACK & FIELD INDUCTEE J.FLINT HANNER For thirty-five years as Fresno State track and field coach, John Flint Hanner produced five NCAA champions and seven world record holders. His crowning achievement was helping to found the West Coast Relays and installing the lightning-fast clay track in Ratcliffe Stadium. Hanner directed the WCR which…