Mannie Ponsford is one of the greatest all-around athletes in the history of El 
Paso. I was intrigued, therefore, when I got a call from his niece, Mary Jo Ponsford Melby, with the news that she had a copy of a column I wrote about him in 1955.
The article pointed out that Mannie, who was inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame in 1960, had performed an amazing 24-hour athletic feat in 1919. On a Saturday afternoon he caught a pass in the final minutes to help El Paso High School beat Albuquerque. That night, he sank the winning basket to give Trinity Methodist a victory and the championship of the Church League.
The next day, he went out and pitched El Paso to a victory in a mound duel.
Thus, in a 24 hour period he accounted for three victories in three different sports.
He went on to pitch for the University of Texas at Austin and led the Longhorns to an undefeated season.
I WAS FURTHER intrigued to learn that Mrs. Melby had written a history of the entire Ponsford family. And what a history!
The Ponsford family, starting with H. T. Ponsford who came to El Paso in 1897, went into construction and built many historic homes and buildings in the region.
To name a few, the Ponsford family built Ysleta High School, Bowie High School, Radford, Cadwallader, Coldwell and the first Zach White elementary schools. They also built the Sun Bowl stadium, the Plaza Theater and buildings at Fort Bliss and UTEP
In short, they were pioneers in what El Paso looks like today. It’s such a great history every El Pasoan should read it. If you call Mrs. Melby at 532-7213 or email her at mjmelby@hotmail.com she’ll be happy to email you a copy.
TRIVIA QUESTION: In 1920, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves went 26 innings, the longest game inning-wise in the history of Major League baseball. What was the final score? Answer at end of column.
READERS WRITE:
Ana Chavez — “I wanted to reach out to all of you (media) to let you know that I will be leaving my position as Director of Media Relations at the Sun Bowl Association. My heart is heavy … If you know me, you know I love El Paso and I LOVE the Sun Bowl! I have been offered an excellent opportunity as Senior Account Executive at a public relations firm in Miami, Florida. I want to thank you all for being the best local media in the bowl business.”
I’ll miss her dearly.
Bob Fields, former El Paso sportscaster – “Great to see you are doing well. I retired from TV five years ago and stay very active with the NFL Alumni Association. I’m on the board of directors and will be named chairman of the board next year. It’s amazing how some never believed I ever played in the NFL. You were the only one who took the time to find out I did, and now I work for them. You will never know how much you mean to me.“
El Paso High School Alumni Association – “The EPHS Centennial takes place October 2016 and we are looking for all alumni. We will attempt to break the Guinness book of World Record for the largest alumni reunion. The current record is 3300.”
Jose Torres, public information officer, City of Dallas – “Nice story on Ernie Ponce. He was also a visionary. He invested in the original KEHB TV with E.H. Baeza, which later became El Paso del Norte Broadcasting, parent company of KINT TV.”
OOPS DEPARTMENT: Last week I wrote that late alderman Ernie Ponce should be inducted into the El Paso Golf Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1997. I should have double checked. The El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame? Not inducted yet. He should be.
ANSWER to trivia question: A 1-1 tie.