by Ray Sanchez 06.01.14
Rigo Aguilar was such a good hitter as a freshman at Hanks High School it was spooky. He hit well over .400 in average and smacked nine homeruns.
The word got around District 2-4A and pitchers quit pitching to him the next season. He was walked so often he must have thought he was out for a stroll in the park. His average dropped to under .300.
But he caught on and batted a sizzling .500 his junior year. Then, in his senior year. he wound up with a mind-boggling .620 average for all games, including pre-district, district and post season games. His average in district play was .489.
No surprise, then, that now he’s headed for El Paso Community College with a well-earned scholarship.
RIGO IS ONE of several outstanding El Paso athletes who signed a letter of intent to college this spring. His father, who also sports the first name of Rigo, is naturally proud of his son.
The elder Rigo was a football player but he saw the potential for baseball in his son early on and encouraged him to follow his dream. “He’s not only a good hitter, he’s smart (he was named All-Academic),” the elder Rigo says. “He’s learned the game and knows where to be and where to go on every play.”
Which comes in handy for a shortstop, one of the most important positions in baseball.
Young Rigo has been in demand during the non-high school season. He’s played on various teams here and in Mexico.
His future looks bright.
TRIVIA QUESTION: What year was the National Basketball Association founded? Answer at end.
NICE GESTURE. Friends of Paul Barry, one of El Paso’s living sports legends, will be honored by his friends at a get-together Friday, June 5, at the home of Richi and Frank Brandt.
Barry was an outstanding athlete in several sports in high school and Tulsa University. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1949 and was named All-Pro in 1950. After serving in Korea he was traded by the Rams to the Washington Redskins. He wound up playing running back for the Chicago Cardinals in 1956 and 1957.
After retiring, Barry, who will be 88 in August, made El Paso his permanent home and was inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame in 1971.
BILL DAHLBERG, one of my golfing buddies, is a long knocker. I know. I’ve seen him get on par five greens in two. However, I’d never seen him get an eagle until recently. He sank a 15-footer for a 3 on the par five No. 13 hole at Dos Lagos Golf Course. To me, eagles are harder to get than holes-in-one because par threes are usually easier to get close to the hole from a shorter distance. I’ve had five aces but only three eagles during my many years of playing. Great shot, Bill.
WAYNE THORTON of the El Paso Parks and Recreation Department, who I like to describe as a Man of All Sports, helped re-start the El Paso Fast Pitch Softball Hall of Fame last year. The Hall got off to a good start in 1964 but had been dormant much of the time after the first several years. The latest inductees: Kiki Hernandez, Joe (Lefty) Rodriguez, Bobby Rodriguez (Lefty’s brother), Pete Solis Jr., Carlos Valenzuela Sr. and Tommy Zubiate. Outstanding players all. Inductees in the coaches’ category were Mike Kennedy and Jose (Pepe) Morales and in the posthumous category it was Ernesto Carreon and Felix Mendoza.
THORNTON says he didn’t know much about softball until he got involved with the Hall but he learned. He has contributed so much to so many sports I shake my head in wonder. He even coached the women’s basketball team at UTEP when it was in its infancy in the 1970s. A Man of Many Sports, indeed.
ANSWER to trivia question: 1946.