SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Explain Our Greater Los Angeles Athletic Heritage

Updated 12.10.25: Scroll to the end of this post and see the running list of people, places and things so far assigned to numbers 00 to 99.

What if we told you the history of Southern California sports in the Greater Los Angeles area can be explained in unique bios, stories and essays that are attached to the 101 different numbers worn on the front, back, or elsewhere on an athlete’s uniform?

Let’s say this covers, perhaps, the last 101 years.

Take a jersey number like 32. So many who have worn it represent all the different aspects of SoCal history. Look here: Koufax, O.J., Magic, Walton, Marcus, Quickie.

Quick — who might generate the most compelling story for anyone who has worn No. 32?

It’s probably not anyone you might think, even if given 32 guesses.

This isn’t so much about who “owns” the number, or who wore it best. Those discussions over a few beers have their own amusement element and entertainment value. Ultimately, they come up to personal preference, nostalgic entrancement, and the first one of these athletes you may have encountered between the age of 6 and 11.

We will start by defining SoCal territory as what starts below the 35°45′ latitude line, stops short of our friends in San Diego, and unites the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara as kissing cousins. All are freeway adjacent, used to traverse the landscape fluidly. Otherwise, this becomes unremittingly sized up as a misunderstood gaggle of scattershot suburbs, all in search of a cohesive landmass.

Sports helps shape its boundaries, and its communities and neighborhoods.

Los Angeles, by itself, one of the most mythologized cities in the world, blurring a public idea of the city that blends fact, fiction and Hollywood; desert, beach and snow-capped mountains; landslides, earthquakes and floods. We all have some identify from it, via the prism of a traffic jam, a yoga session or plastic surgery. From high-priced villas to a beleaguered homeless population that can’t be blamed for just wanting to enjoy a warm day on the sidewalk tent not far from a local outreach facility.

We weather this storm as we can.

Modified over the years and attributed most notably to Dorothy Park, Aldous Huxley, H.L. Menken or Alexander Woollcott — maybe even Snoop Dogg — SoCal is far more fascinating than 88 surburbs in search of city. Plant that idea in its fertile desert soil, often in sorely need of watering, and it takes root.

But it’s not all that watered down.

“Los Angeles is a city built upon amnesia and denial,” Tom Curren wrote for the Los Angeles Times in 2025, helping to introduce a multi-faceted project trying to predict the future success, or failure, of the region.

“Graded and paved, bought and sold, it bears little likeness to Tovaangar, the home for the first people who, for thousands of years, walked its valleys and chaparral-clad basins and paddled its broad shorelines.

“Eventually, they were overtaken, falling silent to the noisy ambitions of foreigners and settlers who set about transforming this vast floodplain with imported water and orchards and homes. Branding their creation paradise, they never questioned their improbable aspirations.

“Instead, they mythologized their works, borrowing from the past what was convenient and discarding the rest, so the picture of the Golden State in the early 20th century was romantic enough to persuade more and more Easterners to board the trains that crossed the deserts to arrive in this transformed pueblo.”

Sports fits mightily into this ambiguous narrative that has blossomed into folklore as a geographical punchline for those outside the civic dysfunction of it all and dispassionate for clarification.

Sports shaped the region’s history — from the 1932 Summer Olympics, to the 1984 Summer Olympics, to the 2028 Summer Olympics. To baseball’s World Series championship teams jammed into the football arena that would host the first Super Bowl, Coliseums and Forums and do-it-yourself home repair-sponsored mini stadiums.

“In an area larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined, there are 88 municipalities, countless unincorporated areas, and almost 10 million residents, many of whom aren’t entirely sure what jurisdiction they’re in at any given moment,” Conor Friedersdorf once wrote for The Atlantic in 2011.

You be the judge.

Expand your idea of the boundaries we want to cover here. And figure in all its numerology.

As fruitful as Los Angeles proper presents with area codes such as 310, 818, 323, 626 and 562, there’s the equally colorfully bold Orange County, which by nearly all population data gets combined with L.A. measuring this region as a TV market. The O.C. adds 34 cities in its nearly 1,000 square miles, from Seal Beach to San Clemente, up to Yorba Linda and all surrounding the pulse of Disneyland — not a real city, but a place of mind in Anaheim. It has a variety of area codes as well, aside from the notable 714.

The Inland Empire: Riverside County of the 909/951 takes up more than 7,000 square miles — roughly the size of New Jersey — and is responsible for 28 more cities. Most notably, Riverside, along with Palm Springs and the rest of the High Desert. They’re conjoined with San Bernardino County, another 24 cities stretching to Big Bear and Loma Linda.

In general, they are the major territories that constitute Southern California’s 805, adding in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo to the map.

In theory and typography, SoCal can stretch as far south to San Diego, Imperial, and Kern — about 24 million more residents over 56,000 square miles when you draw a map of California and nearly slice the bottom part off at the designated latitude.

We pick attitude over latitude in this offering.

Think of Southern California as something much more than disposable entertainment or superficial sunshine. Sports has become a large stitching post of that entertainment’s fabric, as well as an important entry point. There are charted courses that connect sports and culture, sports and fashion, sports and social justice, sports and monumental moments of the nation’s history.

Southern California is so much a default to sports royalty it has been a default to three Summer Olympiads, all at pivotal times in the area’s historical evolution. This is a creative town where forces of nature come together to talk numbers — whether that is contracts, episodes, statistical data, gross revenues or measuring the temperature in Fahrenheit vs. Celsius.

If the numbers don’t add up, things don’t happen. And at the heart of sports that’s all about numbers attached to jerseys, tanktops, uniforms, socks and blazers.

As we are society apt to communicate and share with a system where letters usually outrank numbers. The alphabet provides some integrity and order amidst the zigging and zaggings of hyperbole and analogy.

Numerals are often used only to assist and augment, mostly use in measuring, quantifying and amplifying. Numbers provide a language all their own.

When you see how the world is arranged by numbers, they define time and space, paramount in organizational thought since the Greeks began to create symbols to try to create an evolving vocabulary.

Numbers feed mythology, heroics, imagination. They explain the magic seared into our psyche. Numbers can be a romantic partner in life.

As the human heart beats 60 to 100 times a minute, it pounds for what numbers bring — devotion, connection and meaning. They uncover secrets and open windows to self discovery.

Heck, the Bible even has a Book of Numbers to encourage historical context as much as hope that lineage matters. Who begat whom matters.

So what does this matter about Los Angeles and its relationship to digital dialogue?

Casey Wasserman, the point person for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, said during a press conference in Paris during the ’24 Games: “I think we are the place in the world where culture is made and culture is started and so where that’s our incredible history in the film industry or the music business. L.A. has become so much more about fashion and film and food and all of those things and all of the star power and the opportunity to showcase that to the world, that’s authentically L.A.”

In jersey and uniform numbers, we can find that authentic, if not messy, common denominator.

Starting at 00 and hitting every note up to 99, our challenge is finding another number that unlocks the combinations of telling the story about us. We have a few entry points into this exercise we are constantly workshopping:

At one end of the spectrum, there’s No. 00 Benoit Benjamin presents a fitting amalgamation of abject failure — of a franchise, and an athlete. And somehow, the Lakers once took him off the Clippers’ hands.

At the other end, No. 99 can be a reflection of living the Hollywood dream.

As much as 99 pays homage to the legends Wayne Gretzky or Aaron Donald or Manny Ramirez, consider Carlos Esteves/Charlie Sheen, a kid who pitched at Santa Monica High under his birth name, then sported No. 99 in a a wildly popular baseball movie that may been the solidification if not his own Hollywood identity, then gave permission for other MLB players to co-opt it as a perceived psychological advantage.

When Russell Carlton wrote “The New Ballgame: The Not-So-Hidden Forces Shaping Modern Baseball,” he observed: “Baseball has always been a game played in two languages … two other tongues that we rarely acknowledge: a narrative language and a numerical one. For the most part they run alongside each other, intersecting where they need to.”

The point there is: You can say someone is a great hitter. You can also say someone is a .340 lifetime hitter. Both convey pretty much the same.

The seeds were planted for this project with an exercise I did for the Los Angeles Daily News in 2007. It is in need of a facelift, and a new purpose.

Southern California’s teams of note, some going back to the 1940s,  include the NFL’s Rams and Chargers, MLB’s Dodgers and Angels, NBA’s Lakers and Clippers, NHL’s Kings and Ducks, WNBA’s Sparks, MLS’ Galaxy and LAFC and NWSL’s Angel City FC.

Colleges go back further: UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, UC Riverside …

From on extreme to another, teams that have come and gone can return here: The NFL’s Los Angeles Raiders (1982-94), the USFL Los Angeles Express (1982 to 1985), the Continental Football League’s Los Angeles Mustangs and Orange County Ramblers (1965 to 1969); the All-American Football Conference’s Los Angeles Dons (1946 to 1949), the ABA’s Anaheim Amigos/Los Angeles Stars (1967-68 to 1969-70); the NASL’s Los Angeles Aztecs (1974-81), MLS’ Chivas (2005-14), WHL’s Los Angeles Blades, Pacific Coast League baseball’s Los Angeles Angels and Hollywood Stars, Arena Football League’s L.A. Avengers and L.A. Kiss, and the XFL’s Los Angeles Xtreme. And, why not, Roller Derby.

Humans and beasts qualify the same. As do mascots.

There are also unexplained stories: Pasadena’s Jackie Robinson wore No. 42 with the Brooklyn Dodgers — retiring before the team moved to L.A. At UCLA, he wore No. 28 for football and No. 18 playing basketball. What did he wear during his one and only year on the Bruins’ baseball team? The school doesn’t know.

History never gets old even if we do, an old history teacher once told me. History is also not a study of the past, but an explanation of the present.

Sports history always seems like current events because we need context when something happens. And it’s kind of getting old to see people try to make fun of Los Angeles for its lack of culture, context and community.

“Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles,” Frank Lloyd Wright rightly or wrongly is believed to have said.

We’re tipping the scales, we hope, in a right way here. Here is the running list as this project evolves:

00 to 9:

No. 00: Benoit Benjamin (Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers):
Sports and abject failure

No. 0: Russell Westbrook (Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, via UCLA and Leuzinger High)
Sports and fast fashion
Includes: Nick Young, Orlando Woolridge, Jack Flaherty

No. 1: Rod Dedeaux (USC baseball)
Sports and the Hollywood High halo
Includes: Pee Wee Reese, James Harden, Jordan Farmar, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Dot Richardson

No. 2: Tommy Lasorda (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Sports and managing a belief system
Includes: Kawhi Leonard, Morley Drury, Gianna Bryant

No. 3: Scott Weiland (Edison High of Huntington Beach football)
Sports and future rock fame
Includes: Glenn Burke, Carson Palmer, Willie Davis, Anthony Davis, Candice Parker, Keyshawn Johnson

No. 4: Zenyatta (Santa Anita Park)
Sports and the fancy fillie thoroughbred
Includes: Rob Blake, Byron Scott, Duke Snider

No. 5: Hunter Greene (Notre Dame High of Sherman Oaks baseball)
Sports and expectations
Includes: Reggie Bush, Albert Pujols, Robert Horry, Freddie Freeman, Kenny Easley

No. 6: Steve Garvey (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Sports and the All-American politico
Includes: Mark Sanchez, Joe Torre, Ron Fairly, Bronny James

No. 7: Todd Marinovich (Mater Dei High and Capistrano Valley High, heading to USC, Los Angeles Raiders, Los Angeles Avengers)
Sports and the “Cautionary Tale” trope
Includes: Bob Waterfield, Mark Harmon, Matt Barkley, Steve Yeager, Flo Hyman

No. 8: Ralphie Valladares (Los Angeles Thunderbirds)
Sports and Roller Derby
Includes: Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Drew Doughty

No. 9: Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks via USC women’s basketball and Morningside High)
Sports and Title IX
Includes: Paul Kariya, Matthew Stafford, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wally Moon

10 to 19:

No. 10: Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy via Redlands High)
Sports and soccer’s sacred digits
Includes: Carlos Vela, Ron Cey, Norm Nixon, Justin Turner, Justin Herbert, Willie O’Rea, Don Klosterman

No. 11: John Elway (Granada Hills High football and baseball)
Sports and the ultra prep jock
Includes: Anze Kopitar, Matt Leinart, Pat Haden, Jim Fregosi, Manny Mota, George Best, Bill Sharman, Norm Van Brocklin, Don Barksdale

No. 12: Richard Nixon (Whittier College football and basketball via Fullerton High and Whittier High)
Sports and a Presidential pathway
Includes: Vlade Divac, Charles White, Dusty Baker, Tommy Davis, Juju Watkins, Dwight Howard, Joe Namath

No. 13: Kenny Washington (Los Angeles Rams via UCLA football and Lincoln High in East L.A.):
Sports and the NFL racial barrier
Includes: Wilt Chamberlain, Paul George, Tank Younger, Cotton Warburton, Caleb Williams

No. 14: Ted Tollner (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo football):
Sports and survivors remorse
Includes: Mike Scioscia, Johan Cruyff, Gil Hodges, Tina Thompson, Sam Darnold

No. 15: Ann Meyers Drysdale (UCLA basketball via Sonora High in La Habra)
Sports and the fame of females
Includes: Davey Lopes, Shawn Green, Tim Salmon

No. 16: Rick Monday (Los Angeles Dodgers via Santa Monica High)
Sports and the patriotic gesture
Includes: Marcel Dionne, Gary Beban, Pau Gasol, Frank Gifford, Hideo Nomo, Rodney Peete

No. 17: Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels)
Sports and international currency
Includes: Bill Kilmer, Jari Kurri, Carl Erskine, Phillip Rivers

No. 18: Roman Gabriel (Los Angeles Rams)
Sports and the Filipino-American influencer
Includes: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Bill Russell, Dave Taylor

No. 19: Louis Lappe (El Segundo Little League)
Sports and Little League legends
Includes: Jim Gilliam, Jim Fox, Butch Goring

20 to 29:

No. 20: Darryl Henley (Los Angeles Rams and UCLA football via Damien High)
Sports and incarceration
Includes: Luc Robitaille, Don Sutton, Mike Garrett

No. 21: Eddie Meador (Los Angeles Rams) and Michael Cooper (Los Angeles Lakers)
Sports and fame’s worthiness
Includes: Wally Joyner, LenDale White, Jim Hardy

No. 22: Ila Borders (Whittier Christian High, Whittier College baseball)
Sports and gender gamesmanship
Includes: Clayton Kershaw, Elgin Baylor, Bo Jackson

No. 23: Ryan Elmquist (Caltech basketball)
Sports and Revenge of the Nerds
Includes: Kirk Gibson, LeBron James, Eric Karros, Dustin Brown, David Beckham

No. 24: Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers)
Sports and the mural memorials
Includes: Walter Alston, Marion Morrison, Freeman McNeil

No. 25: Tommy John (Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels)
Sports and modern medicine’s miracles
Includes: Gail Goodrich, Norm Van Brocklin, Rafer Johnson, Jim Abbott

No. 26: Gene Autry (Los Angeles/California Angels)
Sports and Hollywood owner
Includes: Jon Arnett, Willie Brown

No. 27: Willie Crawford (Los Angeles Dodgers via Fremont High)
Sports and the bonus baby
Includes: Mike Trout, Vlad Guerrero, Matt Kemp

No. 28: Jack Robinson (UCLA football via Pasadena High)
Sports the start of a social justice journey
Includes: Anthony Davis, Albie Pearson

No. 29: Eric Dickerson (Los Angeles Rams)
Sports and the business impasse
Includes: Rod Carew, Adrian Beltre

30 to 39:

No. 30: Bo Kimble (USC and Loyola Marymount University basketball, Los Angeles Clippers; with No. 44 Hank Gathers and LMU coach Paul Westhead
Sports and the heartbreak of the fast break
Includes: Nolan Ryan, Maury Wills, Rogie Vachon

No. 31: Cheryl Miller and Reggie Miller (USC and UCLA basketball via Riverside Poly High)
Sports and the sibling rivalry
Includes: Mike Piazza, Ed O’Bannon, Dean Chance

No. 32:
Includes: Magic Johnson, Sandy Koufax, O.J. Simpson, Bill Walton, Marcus Allen, Jonathan Quick, Josh Hamilton, C.R. Roberts, Blake Griffin

No. 33: Lew Alcindor / Kareem Abdul Jabbar (UCLA, Los Angeles Lakers)
Sports and the misunderstood intellect
Includes: Marcus Allen, Willie Naulls, Marty McSorley, Ollie Matson

No. 34: Fernando Valenzuela (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Sports and the Latino cultural icon
Includes: Shaquile O’Neal, Bo Jackson, Paul Cameron, Nick Adenhart

No. 35: Petros Papadakis (USC football/sports-talk host)
Sports and the art of talking about sports
Includes: Sidney Wicks, Jean Sebestian Giguere, Bob Welch, Cody Bellinger, Ron Settles

No. 36: Roy Gleason (Los Angeles Dodges via Garden Grove High)
Sports and Vietnam
Includes: Bo Belinsky, Jered Weaver, Jeff Weaver, Don Newcombe

No. 37: Tom Seaver (USC baseball)
Sports and the Bridge Game too Far
Includes: Donnie Moore, Lester Hayes, Ron Artest/Metta World Peace

No. 38: Leon Burns (Long Beach State football) and Brian Banks (Long Beach Poly High)
Sports and making up for lost time
Includes: Eric Gagne, Clyde Wright, Burr Baldwin

No. 39: Jim Hill (San Diego Chargers)
Sports and keeping the faith
Includes: Sam Cunningham, Willie Strode, Hugh McElhenny

40 to 49:

No. 40: Billy Bean (Los Angeles Dodgers via Loyola Marymount and Santa Ana High)
Sports and understanding LBGTQ
Includes: Elroy Hirsch, Frank Tanana, Bartolo Colon

No. 41: Glenn Davis (Los Angeles Rams via Bonita High)
Sports and Heisman lore
Includes: Eldon Campbell, Jerry Reuss

No. 42: Tom Selleck (USC basketball)
Sports and the stand-in
Includes: James Worthy, Ronnie Lott, Ed Ratelff, Kevin Love

No. 43: Troy Polamalu (USC football via Santa Ana)
Sports and the Polynesian influence
Includes: Raul Mondesi, Mychal Thompson

No. 44: Hank Gathers (USC basketball, Loyola Marymount University basketball; with No. 30 Bo Kimble and LMU coach Paul Westhead)
Sports and the heartbreak of the fast break
Includes: Jerry West, Reggie Jackson, Gaston Green, Cynthia Cooper

No. 45: Tyler Scaggs (Los Angeles Angels via Santa Monica High)
Sports and the opioid epidemic
Includes: A.C. Green, Pedro Martinez

No. 46: Juan Marichal (Los Angeles Dodgers) with John Roseboro
Sports and the act of forgiveness
Includes: Burt Hooten, Todd Christensen

No. 47: Trevor Bauer (UCLA and Los Angeles Dodgers via Hart High School of Newhall)
Sports and the temperamental perfectionist
Includes: Andy Messersmith, LeRoy Irvin

No. 48: Milt Smith (UCLA football via Santa Ana High)
Sports and the World War II vet
Includes: Les Richter, Ramon Martinez

No. 49: Marvcus Patton (UCLA football via Leuzinger High) and his mother, Barbara
Sports and mom’s influence
Includes: Charlie Hough, Tom Candiotti, Bill Bordley, Carson Schwesinger

50 to 59:

No. 50: Jimmie Reese (PCL Los Angeles Angels; California Angels coach via San Pedro High)
Sports and anti-Semitism
Includes: Mookie Betts

No. 51: Randy Johnson (USC baseball)
Sports and the photo finish
Includes: Randy Cross

No. 52: Keith Wilkes/Jamaal Wilkes (Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, UCLA via Santa Barbara High)
Sports and the movie cameo
Includes: Marv Goux, Happy Hairston, Burr Baldwin

No. 53: Don Drysdale (Los Angeles Dodgers via Van Nuys High)
Sports and the Love Bug
Includes: Keith Erickson, Jim Youngblood, Lynn Shackelford, Rod Martin

No. 54: Marques Johnson (UCLA basketball via Crenshaw High)
Sports and the generational legacy
Includes: Horace Grant, Kenny Fields, Larry Farmer

No. 55: Gavin Smith (UCLA basketball)
Sports and the missing person
Includes: Orel Hershiser, Russell Martin, Albert Pujols, Junior Seau, Matt Millen, Kiki Vandeweghe, Tom Fears, Gary Cunningham, Chris Claiborn, Keith Rivers, Willie McGinnest

No. 56: Gary Zimmerman (Los Angeles Express via Walnut High)
Sports and the USFL’s usefulness
Includes: Hong-Chih Kuo, Doug Smith, Jarrod Washburn, Morgan Fox, Dennis Johnson

No. 57: Fr. Tommy Green (Citrus College football via Glendora High)
Sports and witnessing a miracle
Includes: Frankie Rodriguez, Steve Howe, Jerry Robinson

No. 58: Cal State Northridge
Sports and the college experience
Includes: Isiah Robertson, Rey Maualuga

No. 59: Collin Ashton, Lou Ferrigno Jr. (USC football)
Sports and the walk-on
Includes: Evan Phillips, George Kase, Dan Dufour

60 to 69:

No. 60: Andrew Toles (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Sports and mental health security
Includes: Clay Matthews Jr., Dennis Harrah, Hardiman Cureton

No. 61: Jake Olson (USC football via Orange Lutheran High)
Sports and seeing the game with new eyes
Includes: Chan Ho Park, Rich Saul

No. 62: Brent Boyd (UCLA football via Whittier)
Sports and the CTE origin story
Includes: Bill Bain, Al Krueger

No. 63: Jim Brown (UCLA football via Loyola High)
Sports and the ’54 Bruin Band of Brothers
Includes: Booker Brown, Joe Carollo

No. 64: Terry Donahue (UCLA football via Notre Dame High of Sherman Oaks)
Sports and the gutty little overachiever
Includes: Damon Bame, Jack Reynolds, Roy Foster

No. 65:
Includes: Tom Mack, Max Montoya

No. 66: Yasiel Puig (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Sports and asylum seeker
Includes: Bruce Matthews

No. 67: Vin Scully (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Sports and the Voice of SoCal sports
Includes: Les Richter

No. 68: Mike McKeever (USC football via Mt. Carmel High); with twin brother No. 86 Marlin McKeever
Sports and the twin terrors
Includes: Keith Van Horn

No. 69: Chase De Leo (Anaheim Ducks)
Sports and the emerging SoCal pro hockey player
Includes: Sebastian Joseph-Day, Al Barry

70 to 79:

No. 70: Al Cowlings (Los Angeles Rams via USC)
Sports and the uber-Uber driver
Includes: Marv Marinovich, Joe Maddon, Harry Smith

No. 71: John Ferraro (USC football via Bell High)
Sports and the local politician
Includes: Tony Boselli, Brad Budde, Randy Meadows

No. 72: Bailey (Los Angeles Kings)
Sports and the mandatory mascot
Includes: Don Mosebar

No. 73: Dennis Rodman (Los Angeles Lakers)
Sports and the glamorous cry for help
Includes: Charlie Cowan, Tyler Toffoli, Ron Yary, George Stanich

No. 74: Merlin Olsen (Los Angeles Rams); with No. 75 Deacon Jones, No. 76 Rosey Grier and No. 85 Lamar Lundy
Sports and the Fearsome Foursome
Includes: Ron Mix, Kenley Jansen

No. 75: Deacon Jones (Los Angeles Rams); with No. 74 Merlin Olsen, No. 76 Rosey Grier and No. 85 Lamar Lundy
Sports and the Fearsome Foursome
Includes: Howie Long

No. 76: Rosey Grier (Los Angeles Rams); with No. 74 Merlin Olsen, No. 75 Deacon Jones and No. 85 Lamar Lundy
Sports and the Fearsome Foursome

No. 77: Anthony Munoz (USC football via Chaffey High in Ontario)
Sports and the rosy comeback
Includes: Ron Yary, Lyle Alzado, Jeff Carder, Alex Whitworth, John McCarthy

No. 78: Jackie Slater (Los Angeles Rams)
Sports and Ramming It
Includes: George Achica, Art Shell

No. 79: Jonathan Ogden
Sports and the big body
Includes: Gary Jeter, Coy Bacon, Bob Golic

80 to 89:

No. 80: Donn Moomaw (UCLA football)
Sports and the All-American preacher who prayed away the NFL
Includes: Henry Ellard, Johnnie Morton, Bob Klein, Duane Bickett

No. 81: Dick “Night Train” Lane (Los Angeles Rams)
Sports and the NFL walk-on
Includes: Ron Jessie, Don Hardy

No. 82: Greg Hopkins (Los Angeles Avengers)
Sports and the Ironman
Includes: Mike Sherrard, Red Phillips

No. 83: Cormac Carney (UCLA football):
Sports and how to judge jurisprudence
Includes: Willie Anderson, Ted Hendricks, Richard Wood

No. 84: Jack Snow (Los Angeles Rams)
Sports and the weather vein
Includes: Bob Klein, Jerry Robinson, Paul Maguire

No. 85: Lamar Lundy (Los Angeles Rams); with No. 74 Merlin Olsen, No. 75 Deacon Jones and No. 76 Rosey Grier
Sports and the Fearsome Foursome
Includes: Jack Youngblood

No. 86: Marlin McKeever (USC football via Mt. Carmel High); with twin brother No. 68 Mike McKeever
Sports and the twin terrors

No. 87: The LA Bowl, hosted by Gronk
Sports and the cash-crazed minor college football bowl season
Includes: Danny Farmer, Ralph Haywood, Billy Truax

No. 88: Billy Don Jackson (UCLA football)
Sports and the “functional illiterate” narrative
Includes: Tim Rossovich, Phil Nevin, Preston Dennard, Owen Hanson

No. 89: Fred Dryer (Los Angeles Rams via Lawndale High)
Sports and DE turned TV PI
Includes: Charles Young, Jack Bighead, Ron Brown, Bobby Jenks

90 to 99:

No. 90: Andrei Voinea (California School for the Deaf – Riverside)
Sports and the superpower of sign language
Includes: Larry Brooks, Mike Wise

No. 91: Dino Ebel (Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels)
Sports and the Barstow traffic cop
Includes: Kevin Greene, Sergei Fedorov

No. 92: Rich Dimler (USC football)
Sports and the life of the party
Includes: Rick Tocchet, Don Gibson

No. 93: Ndamukong Suh (Los Angeles Rams)
Sports and the down-and-dirty Super Bowl rental
Includes: Greg Townsend

No. 94:
Includes: Mike Lodish, Paul Bergmann, Kenechi Udeze

No. 95:
Includes: Jamir Miller

No. 96:
Includes: Darrell Russell, Neil Hope, Lawrence Jackson

No. 97: Joe Beimel (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Sports and the bamboozling bobblehead
Includes: Jeremy Roenick, Joey Bosa

No. 98: Parnelli Jones and J.C. Agajanian (motor sports via San Pedro)
Sports and the race car
Includes: Tom Harmon

No. 99: Charlie Sheen/Carlos Esteves (Santa Monica High)
Sports and how Wild Thing became a thing
Includes: Wayne Gretzky, Aaron Donald, Manny Ramirez, Hyun Jin Ryu, Denis Bouanga