Hold your breath. Nominations for induction into the El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame are now closed. A total of nine El Pasoans are on the list. They are:
Players category – Gerardo Cuevas, Daniel Perez, Lauro Felix, George Hodge, James Sanders and Arturo Villa.
Umpires category – Enrique Munoz and Randy Weinglass.
Youth coaches category – Raul Diaz.
Voting for induction by the board of directors will be held this coming Wednesday.
YOU WILL READ more about them as time goes on but let me tell you about one of the first nominees. It’s Gerardo (Jerry) Cuevas. I followed his career since he was in high school and it’s a whopper.
He started out in Boys Baseball. His first coach was Joe Gomez, well known El Pasoan and UTEP super fan. Then Cuevas helped Coronado High School reach the area playoffs twice as a pitcher and outfielder. Then he played for Northwood University and helped the school win its conference all four years he was there.
His outstanding play caught the eye of a Mexico City baseball scout and he was invited to try out for Mexico’s Olympic team. There were more than 3000 baseball players at the tryouts but Cuevas was one of only 30 players chosen.
AND OH, WHAT a journey it turned out to be. Cuevas played shortstop for the team and traveled throughout the world, including countries in South America, Europe and, of course, the United States.
Mexico didn’t make it to the Olympics. It lost to Canada in the qualifying game. “But it was a beautiful experience,” says Cuevas, now 42 years old and back living in El Paso with his wife, Carmela, and their son, Gerardo Jr.
The El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame induction banquet will be held October 26 at Lancers Club East. I plan to be there. Will you?
TRIVIA QUESTION: Can you name two Major Leaguers who hit homeruns both as teenagers and when they were in their 40s? Answer at end,
RAY ADAUTO, you may have noticed, is not the public address announcer at UTEP home football games anymore. He was let go this year. It hurt. He says, “I had been such a loyal volunteer for so many years and had become so synonymous with UTEP that this comes as a real blow to me and my friends. Some have emailed me with some unflattering words for UTEP.”
Then he added, “Still, I wish UTEP well, and hope that Coach Mike Price can find some wins.”
ANYTIME ONE plays a round of golf and finishes even par, that’s special. When you’re 76 years old, it’s even more so. But that’s what El Pasoan Matt Sloan did on the Spanish Dagger Course at Santa Teresa Country Club recently. He toured the tricky 18-hole layout in 37-35-72, which is four strokes under his age. How do I know? I was playing with him at the time. It was beautiful to watch good shot after good shot after good shot.
AND I MARVEL at the innovative talents of Wayne Thornton of the El Paso Parks and Recreation Department. He comes up with games I never even knew existed. One I learned about this year is “Cachibol.” It’s a form of volleyball for folks 50 years old and up. I tried to figure out what the game is like just by its name and all I can think of is it must mean you can catch the ball instead of just hitting it. Get it? “Cach-i-bol.” If I’m wrong I’m sure Wayne will let me know.
ANSWER to trivia question: Ty Cobb and Rusty Staub.
Veteran sports journalist and author Ray Sanchez welcomes suggestions for his column.
13 Sep