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This post is part of a media project called 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 consider the list of athletes attached to it. Who wore it best? Or, what’s the most compelling story linked to it? Any person, place or thing is in play with Southern California connections. Star power, transformational achievement, longevity, notoriety and quirkiness all factor in. Whatever leads to a lively discussion and interpretation.

The most obvious choices for No. 40:

Elroy Hirsch: Los Angeles Rams
Frank Tanana: California Angels
Troy Percival: California/Anaheim Angels
Bartolo Colon: Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 40:

Karl Morgan: UCLA football
Manu Tuiasosopo: UCLA football
John Vallely: UCLA basketball

The most interesting story for No. 40:
Billy Bean, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder (1989), Loyola Marymount outfielder (1983 to 1986) via Santa Ana High
Southern California map pinpoints:
Santa Ana, Westchester, Dodger Stadium

Reference books on the subject:
“Going The Other Way: Lessons From A Life In and Out of Major-League Baseball,” by Billy Bean, 2003.

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When the Los Angeles Dodgers fumbled their way through a regrettably controversial Pride Night event at Dodger Stadium in June of 2023, Billy Bean wasn’t going to shy away from any of it.

Bean pulled on his Dodgers’ No. 40 jersey — the number he wore during his one and only season with the team in 1989 as a reserve outfielder — because however convoluted the meaning of this night had become, misunderstood by those who had to have their own opinions, intentions be damned from the previous dozen times this has been celebrated, Bean was going to give it all his positive energy no matter if misguided protestors marched outside the park.

That was likely the last time many in the organization saw him.

Just two months later, he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. He revealed the diagnosis during the MLB’s Winter Meetings in December and vowed to help with a “Stand Up To Cancer” fundraiser.

He had been awaiting a bone marrow transplant when, after a year-long battle, Bean died at his New York home on August 6, 2024. He was 60.

The photo of Bean wearing No. 40 was atop his New York Times/Athletic obituary, which explained how he “played a groundbreaking role in pushing MLB to reshape its relationship with the LGBTQ community.” He had been actively serving as the MLB’s Senior Vice President for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Special Assistant to the Commissioner as a way to amp up “visibility of LGBTQ issues in the sport and deliver education initiatives to players and front offices throughout the game.”

Bean never asked for this job. He just sort of evolved into it.

As the sport did around him.

Continue reading “No. 40: Billy Bean” →

This post is part of a media project called 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 consider the list of athletes attached to it. Who wore it best? Or, what’s the most compelling story linked to it? Any person, place or thing is in play with Southern California connections. Star power, transformational achievement, longevity, notoriety and quirkiness all factor in. Whatever leads to a lively discussion and interpretation.

The most obvious choices for No. 13:

Wilt Chamberlain: Los Angeles Lakers
Kenny Washington: UCLA football, Los Angeles Rams
Paul George: Los Angeles Clippers
Cobi Jones: Los Angeles Galaxy

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 13:

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) via Los Angeles Lincoln High
Southern California map pinpoints:
East Los Angeles; Hollywood; Westwood (UCLA); Los Angeles (Gilmore Stadium, Coliseum, Wrigley Field)

Reference books on the subject:
“Walking Alone: The Untold Journey of Football Pioneer Kenny Washington,” by Don Taylor, 2022
“The Black Bruins: The Remarkable Lives of UCLA’s Jackie Robinson, Woody Strode, Tom Bradley, Kenny Washington, and Ray Bartlett,” by James W. Johnson, 2018

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On Sept. 29, 1946, Kenny Stanley Washington strapped on a modest, leather football helmet without a facemask — the one with the curved white horns of the Los Angeles Rams hand-painted on the side — and started the second half of the team’s season opener at the Coliseum against Philadelphia at quarterback.

Head coach Adam Walsh didn’t feel as if he had much of a choice. Starting quarterback Bob Waterfield was injured and backup Jim Hardy was ineffective.

The move made Washington the first Black player to reintegrate the NFL — seven months before his former UCLA teammate, Jack Robinson, made headlines integrating Major League Baseball across the way in Brooklyn.

It seemed as if Washington’s real time with history came six months earlier, when he signed a contract with the Rams after the franchise moved West from Cleveland.

“Kingfish” Washington, aka “Sepia Cyclone,” had already appeared at the Coliseum as the first All-American in UCLA football history, eventually becoming the school’s first College Football Hall of Fame inductee.

But now, at 28, the former star out of Lincoln High in East L.A., far from the athlete he used to be, was also the first professional Black athlete to appear on the progressive West Coast.

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

A story in the Los Angeles Valley Times barely noted Washington’s participation. It waited until the fifth paragraph to mention the “Rams’ Negro quarterback” — and then focused on a mistake he made:

Washington completed just one pass in seven attempts, netting 19 yards. He had no rushing totals. None of it blotted out more than a decade of an exclusionary, unwritten policy surrounding any NFL franchise signing anyone of a particular race.

These days, statues are still erected, stadiums are rebranded and museums are crated in Robinson’s name. In Lincoln Heights, at the intersection of North Broadway and Lincoln Park Avenue, not far from the Lincoln High football field, they’ve decided its worth having a square named after Washington. It wasn’t marked as such until 2014.

Considering the progression of each league and the sports’ national popularity, maybe Washington’s achievement didn’t match Robinson’s. 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.

Tragically, his friend Robinson died about a year later at age 53. All that’s left now are changing narratives.

Yet it was Robinson who was once said: “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” →