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Five to join San Jose Hall of Fame
Righetti tops list of '01 inductees
By Dick Sparrer
There was no San Jose Sports Hall of Fame when Dave Righetti was making a name for himself locally as a top-notch pitcher at Pioneer High School.
And there was no San Jose Arena when he went on to star on the mound for the Jaguars at San Jose City College.
But there's a Hall of Fame now--located on the main concourse of the arena that's now called the Compaq Center at San Jose. And after Nov. 7, that's where we'll find Righetti from now until forever.
Bronze plaques adorn the walls of the arena's concourse level, each one honoring an individual who has brought acclaim to the Santa Clara Valley for his or her efforts.
Righetti will be featured on just such a plaque after his induction into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame next Wednesday. The former Pioneer Mustang, now the pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants, is one of five 2001 inductees. Joining Righetti for induction into the coveted hall will be John Ralston, Carroll Williams, Joe Leonard and the late Ernie Nevers.
The five inductees will share the spotlight Wednesday with five other special award winners: High School Athletes of the Year Antwon Guidry of Leigh and Undine Becker of Mount Pleasant; Amateur Athletes of the Year Andre Carter of Cal and Danielle Slaton of Santa Clara University; and Special Olympian of the Year Kelly Anderson of Los Gatos. The Bay Area CyberRays and the San Jose Earthquakes will also receive "exceptional achievement" awards for their championship seasons.
The seventh annual induction ceremony and dinner is already sold out, and more than 800 guests are expected to turn out to honor the five newest inductees who join an impressive list of Hall of Famers.
Peggy Fleming, Bill Walsh, Jim Plunkett, Tommie Smith--the list of legendary names goes on. And now it will include five more.
2001 inductees
Taking center stage at the induction ceremonies Wednesday will be Righetti, Ralston, Williams, Leonard and Nevers.
Righetti was a sensational baseball player who drafted by the Texas Rangers in 1976 after his senior season at Pioneer. He opted to go on to play at San Jose City College, where he posted a 9-2 record and a low 2.32 earned run average.
The talented southpaw went on to greatness with the New York Yankees. He was Rookie of the Year in 1981 when he posted an 8-4 record and 2.06 ERA and went on to throw a no-hitter for the Yanks on July 4, 1983. A year later he moved to the bullpen and led the majors in saves with 46. He was an All-Star in back-to-back seasons in 1986 and '87. Righetti ended his career with 82 wins, 252 saves and 1,112 strikeouts.
Ralston, a linebacker at UC Berkeley from 1947-51, was an outstanding coach at the collegiate level at Utah State, Stanford and San Jose State. He led the Aggies to bowl victories in 1960 and '61, and took Stanford to Rose Bowl wins in 1970 and '71. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992.
He moved to the professional ranks in 1972 and was named the Coach of the Year in '73 when he led the Denver Broncos to their first-ever winning season. He would later work with the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and in the USFL.
Williams made a name for himself on the hardwood, both as a player at Lincoln High School and San Jose State and as a coach at Blackford High School and Santa Clara University.
Williams won all-conference and All-American honorable mention honors at San Jose State, where he still ranks second in free-throw percentage and 12th in scoring. His teams at Santa Clara won 344 games during his 22-year career as head coach and made five post season appearances.
Leonard put San Jose on the map in terms of motor sports. He is the only man to win national championships on both motorcycles and race cars. He won back-to-back cycle titles in the Daytona 200 in 1956 and '57 and ended up with three national crowns on the two-wheelers. Later, he would drive in the Indy 500 for nine years, finishing third in '67 and '72. He is a member of both the automotive and motorcycle Halls of Fame.
Nevers, who died in 1976 at the age of 72, gained posthumous entry into the Hall of Fame. San Jose Sports Authority officials said that "many consider Ernie Nevers the greatest athlete ever to play in Santa Clara County." He earned 11 letters in football, basketball, baseball and track at Stanford. He later played in the fledgling National Football League, and in 1927 became the only man in sports history to play professional football, basketball and baseball in the same year. He is a member of both the college and professional Football Halls of Fame.
Hall of Famers
Righetti, Ralston, Williams, Leonard and Nevers are the latest the join the ranks of the Hall of Fame, and likeness of each one will be depicted on a bronze relief plaque that will also detail their accomplishments.
Swimmers Donna De Varona, Pablo Morales, Claudia Kolb Thomas and Chris Von Saltza Olmstead (Los Gatos) of the Santa Clara Swim Club are all members of the Hall of Fame, along with their famous coach, George Haines.
Lee Evans, Tommie Smith, Hal Davis, Bud Winter, Millard Hampton and Payton Jordan were inducted for their great contributions in track and field, and Jim Plunkett, John Hanna, Al Ruffo, Buck Shaw, Bill Walsh, Pat Malley and Charlie and Lucy Wedemeyer won induction for their efforts in football. Bob Mathias won a place in the hall for both football and track and field.
Ice skating's Peggy Fleming Jenkins and Debi Thomas, judo's Yosh Uchida, basketball's Angelo "Hank" Luisetti and golf's Patty Sheehan are members of the Hall of Fame along with legendary San Jose State boxing and soccer coach Julius Menendez.
The San Jose Sports Hall of Fame was established at the arena in 1995.
Award winners
Among the other athletes to be honored on Nov. 7 will be high school stars Guidry of Leigh and Becker of Mount Pleasant.
Guidry was a football, basketball and track star for the Longhorns. He amassed 2,817 all-purpose yards and scored 38 touchdowns to lead Leigh to the Central Coast Section football finals last fall. Later in the year, he averaged 20 points a game for the Leigh basketball team, then won CCS titles in the 100 and 200 meters in the track season.
Becker also starred on the track last spring. She won CCS titles in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles and the triple jump for the Cardinals.
Carter and Slaton will pick up awards as the top amateur athletes in 2000-01.
Slaton, a former Presentation High School soccer star, is a senior defender at Santa Clara University, winning all-conference honors last year. She was named to the 2000 Olympic team, the youngest player picked to the squad.
Carter, now a starting defensive end for the 49ers, was all-Pac 10 honors at Cal last fall and was an All-American pick. The former Oak Grove star finished his career at Cal with a school-record 31 sacks, and was selected in the first round of the NFL draft.
Anderson, a 37-year-old from Los Gatos, is the second winner of the Special Olympics awards. She was the gold medal winner at the Special Olympics Northern California golf qualifier at Cinnabar Hills, and she has competed in many other events during her 19 years as a Special Olympics participant.
Past winners
Guidry and Becker join a list of past high school award winners that includes Eric Guerrero (wrestling), Kerri Walsh (basketball/volleyball), Errol Johnson (basketball), Brad Griffith (basketball/volleyball), Allison Andrade (basketball/softball/volleyball), Isaias Bardales (soccer), Nicki Hartley (volleyball), Derek Martinez (basketball/football/track and field) and Marcia Wallis (golf/soccer).
Carter and Slaton are the latest amateur athletes to win awards. Others include Laura Val (masters swimming), Seana Hogan (cycling), Becky Dyroen-Lancer (synchronized swimming), Amy Chow (gymnastics), Rudy Galindo (ice skating), Pat Burrell (baseball), Central Valley Mercury (soccer), Alex Swetka (masters tennis) and Jenny Thompson (swimming).
Anderson is just the second athlete from Special Olympics honored at the event. The first was Vania Rios, a power lifter who won the award last year.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
