Blog

No. 36: Roy Gleason

fartheroffthewall

This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage.  Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.

The most obvious choices for No. 36:
= Bo Belinsky: Los Angeles Angels
= Don Newcombe: Los Angeles Dodgers
= Jered Weaver: Long Beach State and Los Angeles Angels
= Jeff Weaver: Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angels Angels
= Steve Bilko: Los Angeles Dodgers

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 36:
= Frank Robinson: Los Angeles Dodgers
= Jerome Bettis: Los Angeles Rams
= Fernando Valenzuela: California Angels
= Greg Maddux: Los Angeles Dodgers

The most interesting story for No. 36:
Roy Gleason: Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder (1963)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Garden Grove, Los Angeles (Dodger Stadium)

Roy Gleason looks at a replacement of the 1963 World Champion ring he was given by the Los Angeles Dodgers during a ceremony at Dodger Stadium, with manager Jim Tracy, before a game on Sept. 20, 2003. Gleason’s career was cut short by the Vietnam War, where Gleason received a Purple Heart and other decorations but never returned to baseball. The original ring was lost in Vietnam. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Roy Gleason made into eight games with the Los Angeles Dodgers during a September, 1963 callup, but the first seven were just for pinch-running duties. His one at bat, an eighth-inning stand-up double against Philadelphia against left-hander Dennis Bennett at Dodger Stadium, is documented in a box score. The 20-year-old hit a low inside fastball down the left field line.

That was it for the 6-foot-4, switch hitting Garden Grove High product who signed a $55,000 bonus baby contract in 1961. He had turned down a contract with the Boston Red Sox even after Ted Williams personally recruited him. But the Dodgers were concerned he was too much into the L.A. nightlife and wasn’t dedicated enough at that point.

The team was preparing for another trip to the World Series, eventually sweeping the New York Yankees in four straight. Gleason would be given a ’63 World Series ring for his contribution.

But he’d never play in the big league again. Especially after a trip to Vietnam.

He may have been a Dodger. But he wasn’t a draft dodger, even if it made no sense to him why the Army would come looking for him in 1967.

Continue reading “No. 36: Roy Gleason” →

No. 13: Kenny Washington

fartheroffthewall

This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage.  Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.

The most obvious choices for No. 13:
= Wilt Chamberlain: Los Angeles Lakers
= Paul George: Los Angeles Clippers
= Cobi Jones: Los Angeles Galaxy

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 13:
= Kenny Washington: UCLA football, Los Angeles Rams
= Keenan Allen: Los Angeles Chargers
= Max Muncy: Los Angeles Dodgers
= Tank Younger: Los Angeles Rams
= Cotton Warburton: USC football
= Caleb Williams: USC football
= Todd Marinovich: USC football

The most interesting story for No. 13:
Kenny Washington: UCLA football halfback (1937 to 1939); Hollywood Bears halfback (1940 to 1942); Los Angeles Rams running back (1946 to 1948), Los Angeles Angels infielder (1950).
Southern California map pinpoints:
East Los Angeles; Hollywood; Westwood (UCLA); Los Angeles (Gilmore Stadium, Coliseum, Wrigley Field)

On Sept. 29, 1946, Kenny Stanley Washington strapped on a modest, leather football helmet without a facemask. There were the white horns of the Los Angeles Rams hand-painted on the side. He was called into the second half of the team’s season opener at the Los Angeles Coliseum against Philadelphia to sub in injured star quarterback Bob Waterfield and ineffective backup Jim Hardy.

It had been six months since Washington signed a contract with this newly-transplanted NFL franchise, so the team’s season opener became even more historic.

“Kingfish” Washington, also known as the “Sepia Cyclone,” was on the same turf where he was the first All-American in UCLA football history, eventually the school’s first College Football Hall of Fame inductee.

The now 28-year-old out of nearby Lincoln High in East L.A. became the first Black player to reintegrate the NFL, and the first professional Black athlete on the progressive West Coast.

Los Angeles Times’ sports editor Paul Zimmerman noted that, as 30,553 perspiring fans saw the world champion Rams make their first title defense in a 25-14 loss, Washington’s contribution to the final score was mentioned in the fifth paragraph, under the subhead “Gift Pair”:

A story in the Los Angeles Valley Times also barely noted Washington’s existence, again in the fifth paragraph:

Washington completed just one pass in seven attempts for 19 yards. He had no rushing totals.

It may not have blotted out more than a decade of an exclusionary, unwritten policy about franchises signing anyone of that particular race. This was still 6 1/2 months before Washington’s former UCLA football teammate, Jackie Robinson, made much bigger headlines by breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

These days, they erect statues, rebrand stadiums and build museums to remember Robinson. In Lincoln Heights, at the intersection of North Broadway and Lincoln Park Avenue near at Lincoln High football field, there is a square named after Washington that wasn’t put up until 2014.

Maybe comparing Robinson to Washington isn’t fair. But the truth is that Washington, had he not died far too young at age 52 in the summer of 1971 from a rare blood disorder, might have had more to say about it. His friend Robinson died about a year later at age 53. All that’s left now are changing narratives.

And yet it was Robinson who was once quoted: “Kenny Washington was the greatest football player I have ever seen. He had everything needed for greatness – size, speed and tremendous strength. … It would be a shame if he were to be forgotten.”

Continue reading “No. 13: Kenny Washington” →

No. 28: Jack Robinson

fartheroffthewall

This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage.  Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.

The most obvious choices for No. 28:

= Anthony Davis: USC football, Southern California Sun, Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Express
= Bert Blyleven: California Angels
= Albie Pearson: Los Angeles/California Angels
= Wes Parker: Los Angeles Dodgers
= Pedro Guerrero: Los Angeles Dodgers

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 28:

= Mike Marshall: Los Angeles Dodgers
= Rui Hachimura: Los Angeles Lakers

The most interesting story for No. 28:
Jack Robinson: UCLA football running back/defensive back (1939 to 1941)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Pasadena, L.A. Coliseum, Westwood

If the only number you associate with Jack Robinson is the No. 42 — the one he was randomly given by the Brooklyn Dodgers when he made his Major League Baseball debut in 1947 — that’s understandable and relatable.

The Pasadena native wore No. 42 for 10 MLB seasons, none of them as a Dodger in Los Angeles, retiring just before their move, playing long enough actually to qualify for entrance into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Forty-two has been codified in many ways to represent him as well as anyone who believes in social justice reform and restitution on behalf of the African American race.

The thing is, Robinson wouldn’t have been in that position had he not made a name for himself as an athlete — with his given first name of Jack — wearing No. 28 and starring as a football player at UCLA.

A multi-sided plaque sits on the curb at the property where 121 Pepper Street in Pasadena would have been Jack and Mack Robinson’s home growing up, from 1922 to 1946.

A four-sport athlete at John Muir High in Pasadena, Robinson first made his way to Pasadena City College. His time at UCLA in Westwood was brief, but impactful.

What number did he wear for the UCLA baseball team during his only season of 1940? No one has evidence to show that it was 42. Or any other number. This appears to be the only photo of him in a Bruins baseball jersey, in the team photo, far left.

At Pasadena City College, according to the California Community Colleges website, Robinson batted .417 with 43 runs scored in 24 games in 1938. UCLA records say Robinson posted a .097 batting average in 1940, which included getting four hits and stealing home twice among four bases stolen in one game. He also reportedly stole home 19 times.

A Robinson UCLA replica football jersey sells at Ebbets Field Flannels (of all company names) for $350.

He wore No. 18 as a UCLA All-Conference basketball player.

As a football player, he made some extraordinary headlines.

First, at PCC, Robinson wore No. 55 in football — that’s what he’s wearing on a statue outside the Rose Bowl honoring that part of his life. Robinson still owns a school record for the longest run from scrimmage, 99 yards.

But for the two years he played football at UCLA, No. 28 became quite magical.

Here’s a summary of Andy Wittry of NCAA.com pieced it together in 2024 through newspaper clippings:

Jackie Robinson is given his No. 28 jersey prior to the 1939 season. (Photo: UCLA Faculty Association Blogspot).
Continue reading “No. 28: Jack Robinson” →

No. 25: Tommy John (and Dr. Frank Jobe)

fartheroffthewall

This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage.  Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.

The most obvious choices for No. 25:

= Gail Goodrich: UCLA basketball and Los Angeles Lakers
= Tommy John: Los Angeles Dodgers
= Jim Abbott: California Angels
= Troy Glaus: UCLA baseball and Anaheim Angels
= Norm Van Brocklin: Los Angeles Rams

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 25:

= Rafer Johnson: UCLA basketball
= Paul Westphal: USC basketball
= JK McKay: USC football
= Frank Howard: Los Angeles Dodgers

The most interesting story for No. 25:
Tommy John: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher (1972-74, 1976-78), California Angels pitcher (1982 to 1985)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Inglewood (The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic at Centinela Hospital, known today as the Cedars Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Santa Monica); Downey (Rancho Los Amigos Hospital); Los Angeles (Dodger Stadium), Anaheim (Angels Stadium)

Tommy John is interviewed by NBC’s Tony Kubek as the Dodgers compete against Oakland the 1974 World Series — without their ace, who shows off the long cast that had been put onto his left arm by Dr. Frank Jobe just weeks earlier.

The statistical snapshot of Tommy John’s career on the Baseball Reference website shows 26 years as a Major League Baseball pitcher. It starts at age 20 in Cleveland in 1963. It goes to age 46 in New York in 1989.

The data is somewhat neatly split into two distinct hemispheres.

The first 12 seasons include his first three years in Los Angeles with the Dodgers. The last 14 start with three more LAD seasons as well as turning as a California Angel. The highlighted notation that divides the two parts in 1975 reads: “Did not play in major or minor leagues (Eponymous Surgical Procedure).”

If something is eponymous, it means that a person, place or thing is named after someone. Tommy John Surgery, when compared to the Donner Pass or the Washington Monument, may be far more ubiquitous to anyone who really focuses on how it is eponymous.

There is an official entry (along with the phonetics) in the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

The integrity of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament — aka, UCL — is often defined in MLB history as before or after Tommy John was connected to it. Someone had to be first, trusting a doctor creative and brave enough to try something. What did Tommy John have to lose?

Continue reading “No. 25: Tommy John (and Dr. Frank Jobe)” →

No. 71: John Ferraro

fartheroffthewall

This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage.  Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.

The most obvious choices for No. 71:

= Brad Budde: USC football
= Tony Boselli: USC football
= Kris Farris: UCLA football
= Joe Schibelli: Los Angeles Rams

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 71:
= John Ferraro: USC football
= Randy Meadows: Downey High football

The most interesting story for No. 71:
John Ferraro: USC football offensive lineman (1943-1944, 1946-1947)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Cudahy, L.A. Coliseum, Los Angeles City Hall

The cover of the 1946 Street & Smith’s Football Pictorial Yearbook asks readers to spend a quarter of a dollar for its preview the upcoming college football season. On this “national gridiron review,” John Ferraro offers a million-dollar glare.

The only hint on the cover that it’s him comes from a small caption off his right shoulder that reads “FERRARO U.S.C.” In the table of contents, his full name appears along with the photographer who took the special Kodachrome shot.

Ferraro had earned attention as a USC All-American tackle in ’43 and ’44. Now he was coming back to play after military duty during World War II in 1945. There were others to consider for the preview cover — Army’s Glenn Davis, “Mr. Outside” out of Bonita High in La Verne who had finished second in the Heisman Trophy in ’44 and ’45 would finally win it outright in ’46. Teammate Doc Blanchard, “Mr. Inside,” who won the Heisman award in ’45, and would finish fourth in ’46.

But the publishers picked Ferraro. Kodachome had that affect, apparently. And maybe the regional interest.

“If any tackle in this land of ours has ever played better ball, he must be Superman and Hercules rolled into one,” Braven Dyer bravely wrote for Los Angeles Times in 1944 after Ferraro pushed the Trojans to a 28-21 victory at the Coliseum over the San Diego Naval Training Station Bluejackets. “When Big John goes to work, he’s dynamite.”

That was part of the journalism superlative use in that time, and at the Times.

But the part that holds true today: If any Los Angeles civic leader is tenacious enough to accomplish something for the good of the town, he or she could be measured up to John Ferraro, a Rose Bowl legend and U.S. Navy vet rolled into one, and the one who started the heritage of USC standout linemen sporting the No. 71.

Continue reading “No. 71: John Ferraro” →