SMSBL Hall of Fame

Raised in Sunnyvale, California, Gary’s youthful interest in baseball probably began while attending SF Giants games at Seal Stadium in San Francisco where he has fond memories of heading to Candlestick Park, collecting shoe boxes full of baseball cards, and listening to Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons broadcast Giants games on a transistor radio that he listened to through his pillow when he was supposed to be asleep at night. His formal baseball career started at 8 and for Sunnyvale American Little League. Gary had great fundamental coaching when he was young, and Little League seemed like summertime “right-of-passage” for he and his friends. Even though he was small in size, he was an All Star catcher when at 11 and 12 and played most positions, much like he does now. He followed LL with 3 years in Sunnyvale Babe Ruth where he mostly played middle infield as his smallish size and the 90 foot base paths restricted his catching/pitching. In high school he skipped baseball and played tennis, later playing intercollegiate tennis at Chico State. Summers during college found him playing fast-pitch softball in Sunnyvale on A/B level teams -- but it wasn’t until 1991 while teaching in EGUSD that softball teammate Steve Croockewit invited him to join a startup hardball team – the Dodgers --in the fledgling SMSBL -- then playing at Renfree field. Since then, Gary has played SMSBL on a number of different teams including the Cubs, the RiverCats, the Patriots, the Capital Dawgs, the Solons, the Giants and the Tribe. Gary still enjoys the team camaraderie, the strategy, the post-game re-hash of game situations and the many friendships he has cultivated, along with the challenges of playing competitive age-level baseball. He was drawn to post season World Series tournaments in the early 2000’s and has played on some very good national level teams – including the USA Patriots, the Sacramento Solons and the Tribe. To this date, he has 11 World Series rings from MSBL and other organizations including a Father/Son championship ring with his son Dan -- and probably twice that many 2nd place / runner-up finishes. Gary coached freshman baseball at Valley High school in the late 1970’s and finds himself now playing against many of my former high school players now in the SMSBL.

“I’d like to give shout-outs to my wife Sharon and my family who have allowed baseball to be “my thing” and to all in the SMSBL who have supported my contributions to their teams. Thanks to Jerry Karnow for placing my name in nomination for the HOF – I am truly honored and grateful to all in the SMSBL who make this possible and who have provided my life with continued enjoyment.”