Tom Hoffarth's The Drill: More Farther Off the Wall

No. 35: Petros Papadakis

August 27, 2025July 22, 2026 fartheroffthewall

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. 35:

Sidney Wicks, UCLA basketball
Bob Welch, Los Angeles Dodgers
Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers
Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
Christian Okoye, Azusa Pacific College football

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 35:

Tank Younger, Los Angeles Rams
Loy Vaught, Los Angeles Clippers
Rudy LaRusso, Los Angeles Lakers
Ron Settles, Long Beach State football
Mark Eaton, UCLA basketball

The most interesting story for No. 35:
Petros Papadakis, USC football tailback (1996 to 2000) via San Pedro High and Peninsula High of Palos Verdes
Southern California map pinpoints:
San Pedro, Palos Verdes, Hollywood, Los Angeles (Coliseum, Sports Arena)

Oct. 15, 1998: On USC’s third play from scrimmage in the first quarter, Trojans junior tailback Petros Papadakis finishes off a 65-yard touchdown run against Cal at the Coliseum (top, and below). Papadakis had 13 carries for 158 yards in his greatest statistical performance of his USC career in a 32-31 Week 6 loss. (Photos by Jon Soohoo/USC)

Any sort of perfunctory profile of Petros Papadakis becomes the proverbial Sisyphean pursuit. Hopefully we don’t have to Greek-splain too much here.

Sisyphus, the first king of Ephyra, found his eternal fate in Hades rolling a huge boulder endlessly up a hill, only to see it come back down at him. Every time he made progress and got on a roll, it reversed on him like a Looney Tunes cartoon. The whole thing seemed so Kafkaesque that French philosopher Albert Camus, writing “The Myth of Sisyphus” in 1942, elevated him to some absurd hero status in Greek mythology.

Something that Papadakis might find relatable.

When Papadakis gets on his own a roll, cutting it up on KLAC-AM (570)’s afternoon sports-talk drive-time “Petros and Money Show,” there is far less sports and much more drive to just being a voice for “la raza.” It’s a focus on a feeling of being in “la ciudad” with Papadakis, as familiar as he is bombastic, just the person in the passenger seat making observational conversation to it real.

He is part of USC football legacy, a linage of Cardinal and Gold athletes whose performance has been documented in Los Angeles’ grand Coliseum. Papadakis’ work ethic formed at his family’s famously iconic San Pedro Taverna, as he went from dishwasher to waiter to spending all his earnings for the night back on his guests to make sure they went home happy.

Maybe Papadakis became an accidental broadcaster, but it’s a career that likely defines him as much if not more than anything else. Once a Trojan workhorse in the USC backfield, he is the sometimes-hoarse former Trojan on the dashboard radio. A Red Bull in a china shop of hot topics. The connoisseurs of SoCal sports who enjoy conquering as much as consuming any kind of history lesson are better for it.

Fox Sports’ Petros Papadakis, left, with USC head football coach Lane Kiffin in 2011.

Back to the profile: Papadakis has provided quips along the way to make his story even more cohesive:

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No. 46: Juan Marichal (and John Roseboro)

August 22, 2025August 27, 2026 fartheroffthewall

The most obvious choices for No. 46:

Burt Hooten: Los Angeles Dodgers
Todd Christensen: Los Angeles Raiders

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 46:

Don Aase: California Angels
Dan Petry: California Angels

The most interesting story for No. 46:
Juan Marichal, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher (1975)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Dodger Stadium

Reference books on the subject:
“The Fight of Their Lives: How Juan Marichal And John Roseboro Turned Baseball’s Ugliest Brawl Into A Story Of Forgiveness And Redemption,” by John Rosengren, 2014
“Glory Days with the Dodgers, and Other Days with Others,” by John Roseboro with Bill Libby, 1978

Juan Marichal’s matriarchal Hall of Fame plaque in Cooperstown seems to have one dandy of a typo.

After all he accomplished for the San Francisco Giants in a 16-year MLB life, the last line of his career ledger reads: “Los Angeles N.L., 1975”

It’s because that actually happened.

What a kicker to a spiteful spit take.

When The Associated Press posted a story prior to the 1975 season, explaining how the nastiest of the rival Giants had accepted a one-year, $60,000 contract with the intent of actually trying to help the Dodgers win games, the lede read: “Baseball, like politics, apparently makes strange bedfellows.”

The Los Angeles Times’ Jim Murray launched into his own interpretation a week later: “There’s a new game in town today. It begins, ‘Juan Marichal, playing for the Dodgers, is like …’ And you supply your own punch line.” Murray’s suggestions included: “Like King Faisal at a bar mitzvah … like Brezhnev at a White House prayer meeting … In the view of most Dodger fans, Juan Marichal belongs in the Nuremberg trials, not in Dodger Blue.”

Long Beach Press-Telegram columnist Bud Tucker added his lamentation: “It wouldn’t matter if the guy could win 25 games. Adolph Hitler is Adolph Hitler and Juan Marichal is Juan Marichal.”

Marichal’s decades-long existence as L.A.’s Public Enemy No. 1 is chapter and verse part of the Dodgers-Giants historic and on-going rivalry.

Herald-Examiner columnist Melvin Durslag once wrote: “If all the Dodger hitters that Marichal has put in the dirt were laid end-to-end, they would stretch from Chavez Ravine to Santo Domingo.”

Consider a book published in 1964 about the history of this rivalry by Lee Allen called “The Giants & The Dodgers: The Fabulous Story of Baseball’s Fiercest Feud.” A cover illustration shows a Brooklyn Bum going after a Giant with a baseball bat.

Marichal flipped the script during a game at Candlestick Park in 1965. He would be forever linked with Dodgers catcher John Roseboro.

Somehow, they came out of it better. A story of forgiveness, friendship and the foundation of what sports can do to heal all wounds. Even those generated by swinging a bat at an another man’s head.

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No. 37: Tom Seaver (and Bill Bordley)

August 20, 2025September 1, 2026 fartheroffthewall

The most obvious choices for No. 37:

Donnie Moore: California Angels
Lester Hayes: Los Angeles Raiders
Ron Artest/Metta World Peace: Los Angeles Lakers
Kermit Johnson: UCLA football, Southern California Sun, out of Blair High of Pasadena

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 37:

Bobby Castillo: Los Angeles Dodgers
Ron Washington: Los Angeles Angels manager
Tom Seaver: USC baseball
Ken McBride: Los Angeles Angels

The most interesting story for No. 37:
Tom Seaver: USC baseball pitcher (1965)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Twentynine Palms, Los Angeles (USC), Manhattan Beach

Reference books on the subject:
“Tom Seaver: A Terrific Live,” by Bill Madden, 2020
“Tom Seaver and Me,” by Pat Jordan, 2020
“Baseball Is My Life,” by Tom Seaver with Steve Jacobson, 1973
“Pitching With Tom Seaver,” by Tom Seaver with Steve Jacobson, 1973

Tom Seaver was a stellar bridge player. And bridge can be a tricky card game.

The trick is to gather the fewest the number of tricks bid by those playing together as partners at a four-person table. The rules seem simple, but mastering the strategy and complexity takes time. Intelligence and patience are rewarded.

That’s Tom Seaver, USC student.

As pre-denistry major — he sensed he might need a fallback career — Seaver often found himself with a group of friends at the popular 901 Club on Jefferson Blvd., famous for its hamburgers and beer. It’s been called the “9-0” since the late 1940s.

This gave Seaver a place to bridge build a career as a deep thinker.

In the abridged version of how Seaver slithered his way out of USC, could have build a bridge to becoming a Los Angeles Dodger, but crafted a Hall of Fame career as a player elsewhere speaks more to his way of playing cards close to the uniform.

A fantastic 2020 book by acclaimed author and former minor leaguer Pat Jordan reveals how Seaver knew and believed in himself enough to where he didn’t bluff when it came to his own contract demands. His poker face worked.

Because of that, both USC and the Dodgers lost.

Tom Seaver was already concerned about where he future would take him when the Vietnam War came onto his radar in 1962.

He wasn’t keen on being drafted for the military out of Fresno High, where he just finished his senior baseball season with a modest 6-5 record, making the Fresno Bee All-City team. There were no pro offers to field. No college interest.

Seaver’s idea to instead enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves in 1962 and ’63 led to bootcamp at Twentynine Palms, in the heart of Mojave Desert. He had to gain extra weight and strength. As it turned out, that would help him throw a more effective fastball and slider.

“The best thing that happened to me was a strenuous summer job in which I had to lift heavy crates that brought raisins in from the fields,” he explained in his 1973 book, “Pitching with Tom Seaver.” “A machine emptied the raisins but somebody had to get the empty boxes off and they were heavy. They were called ‘sweat boxes,’ which was exactly right. I was actually smaller than almost everybody in high school but that job and the six months I spent in the Marine Corps build up my whole body.”

Seaver pitched one freshman season at Fresno City College and sported an 11-2 record. USC, the perennial NCAA title team under Rod Dedeaux (see SoCal Sports History 101 bio for No. 1), led to the coach calling Seaver the “phee-nom from San Joaquin.”

The Dodgers’ interests might have got in the way, too. Reports vary, but they were said to be ready to give Seaver a $2,000 deal — maybe $3,000 — in 1964. This would be the final year before the MLB Draft and teams were free to negotiate at will.

Seaver declined. He went panning for gold elsewhere.

Dedeaux’s deal was to give him one of his USC baseball full scholarships if he first pitched in Alaska Summer League of ’64. Dedeaux worked out a deal for Seaver to join the Alaska Goldpanners. Seaver, then 19, experienced his first Midnight Sun Game in Anchorage — the 10:30 p.m. start on June 21 for the summer solstice that has become part of baseball lore.

In 19 games, with five starts, Seaver struck out 70 in 58 2/3 innings, posting a 6-2 mark with one save and 4.70 ERA. Later that summer, he played for the Wichita Glassmen in the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas. That’s when he hit a grand slam in a game where he had been called in as a relief pitcher. Seaver called it one of his baseball career highlights.

USC had Seaver slotted as its No. 3 starter on a staff that included junior Bob Selleck, the 6-foot-6 older brother of eventual USC basketball, baseball and volleyball player (and actor) Tom Selleck (see Selleck’s bio for No. 42).

When USC started practices in March of ’65, it was said that some of Seaver’s teammates suggested he start lifting weights to increase his upper body strength, which matched up to his already impressive leg mechanics. That was said to be the starting point of Seaver’s ultra-effective drop-and-drive delivery. His fastball went up from 85 mph to the mid-90s in that time.

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No. 66: Yasiel Puig

August 6, 2025July 22, 2026 fartheroffthewall

The most obvious choices for No. 66:

Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers
Bruce Matthews, USC football

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 66:

Andrew Bogut, Los Angeles Lakers
Myron Pottios, Los Angeles Rams
Tanner Scott, Los Angeles Dodgers
Carl Weathers, Long Beach City College football

The most interesting story for No. 66:
Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder (2013 to 2018)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Los Angeles (Dodger Stadium), Rancho Cucamonga

In Yasiel Puig’s 2013 rookie season, a recreation of an iconic illustration in the children’s book, “Charlotte’s Web” made its way onto social media. In the book, Charlotte the spider was trying to raise attention for her barnyard friend, Wilbur the pig, and spins a message into her web that says “SOME PIG.” Barry Goldberg, whose “Barry’s World” online store sold “wacky, surreal and wholly unique gifts,” saw that the illustration on his site was altered. “It looks like somebody took original and altered it to add an extra letter,” the New Jersey businessman told us in an email. “To be honest, I’ve never even hear of Mr. Puig.”

An immigrant’s journey, seeking a place in the United States, seeking politically motivated asylum or otherwise, can be a harrowing tale.

Yasiel Puig has his own disturbing version. All in the name of baseball.

It reads as bizarre, in some ways, as the way he arrived with the Los Angeles Dodgers in June of 2013, just one year after he survived a journey from Cuba to Mexico to the U.S. to finally arrive in Southern California.

June of 2012 was said to be the fifth time Puig tried to escape from his native land, navigate the Caribbean waters, pay off coyotes, and head go north. By some reports, he may have attempted and failed this task more than a dozen times before that.

A Santeria priest was said to have started Puig’s final trip with a blessing that included a splash of rum and a sprinkle of chicken blood. Puig and two others climbed aboard a tiny speed boat, which eventually went adrift when it ran out of gas. It forced them to wade ashore through crocodile-infested waters. They were confused as they were held captive by a Mexican-based trafficking ring on an island off the coast of Cancun. They awaited a $400,000 payment from a small-time crook in Miami so they could proceed by whatever means next.

Weeks later, Puig would sign a seven-year, $42 million deal with the Dodgers. It was based on speculation as much as seeing him once take batting practice session to assess his abilities, let alone try to verify his age.

As the MLB essentially endorses human trafficking, what are the risk-rewards when hearing Puig’s tale. Depends on who you ask. It brought Los Angeles the next big “wow” gate attraction, an enigmatic 22-year-old what elicited comparisons to Bo Jackson by Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.

He had an aura, a smile and child-like personality compared to Magic Johnson.

Dodgers scouting director Logan White believed Puig could be the LeBron James of baseball.

Then something got lost in translation.

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No. 82: Greg Hopkins

July 30, 2025July 22, 2026 fartheroffthewall

The most obvious choices for No. 82:

Mike Sherrard, UCLA football
Greg Hopkins, Los Angeles Avengers

The not-so-obvious choices for No. 82:

Rommie Loudd, UCLA football
Red Phillips, Los Angeles Rams

The most interesting story for No. 82:
Greg Hopkins, Los Angeles Avengers wide receiver/linebacker (2002 to 2006)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Los Angeles (Staples Center)

Before Robert Downey Jr. had a chance to do it, Greg Hopkins stepped into the role of Hollywood’s version of Ironman by way of an indoor football team.

It was marvelous, captive audience.

Versatility was a virtuous trait for anyone involved in the Arena Football League, and, as a offensive and defensive standout with the Los Angeles Avengers, Hopkins was nimble enough to add value to a kid’s meal deal.

A league and team vying for attention in an entertainment-saturated town obsessed with the latest and greatest meant Hopkins could be a marquee action figure in a Southern California area Carl’s Jr. giveaway.

The quote bubble read:

Greg Hopkins — “Hollywood” Grizzled Veteran in his 11^th AFL season is crafty on both sides of the football, comes from the small town of Nineva, Pa. (Population 88) but becomes “Hollywood” during the season … “Movie Star” good looks allow him to do modeling on the side!”

But he still picked No. 82, instead of No. 88. He was that modest.

The Avengers’ Greg Hopkins (82) celebrates with teammate Kevin Ingram (5) after a touchdown against Georgia in a 2005 game at Staples Center. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

It only took one season playing for the Avengers that Hopkins, a mild-mannered graduate of Slippery Rock University from deep in steel-country Pennsylvania, transformed into the 2002 AFL “Ironman of the Year” honor, a super-hero status in the realm of indoor gridiron gladiators.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound receiver on offense, linebacker on defense, was always looking for angles on an green rug field just 50 yards long (with eight-yard end zones), and not even 30 yards wide, wedged into a hockey rink complete with sideboards, netting and extra-loud speakers. The scoreboard, however, produced numbers closer to a college basketball finish.

During that ’02 All-Arena season, Hopkins caught 102 passes for 1,185 yards (11.6 per catch) and scored 29 touchdowns as an offensive threat. He also had 38.5 tackles and five interceptions, three returned for touchdowns, six pass breakups, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.

By the time he finished as an Arena participant in ’06, Hopkins was part of the league’s “20 Greatest Players” list to honor its first 20 years of existence.

He was eventually inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2013.

In his 11 AFL seasons, starting in 1996 with the Albany Firebirds, Hopkins career stats read: 833 receptions for 10,206 receiving yards (only five players in AFL history had gone five digits at that point), 196 touchdown catches, 24 carries for six touchdowns; 312 tackles, 42 pass deflections, 26 interceptions, 10 picks returned for touchdowns (to set an all time league mark), 17 fumble recoveries, 13 forced fumbles and 5.5 quarterback sacks.

And his No. 82 retired by the Avengers in 2007.

Two years later, the franchise quietly folded up operations along with the league, declaring bankruptcy.

The league found its kryptonite: Spreadsheets.

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