BY PATRICK “PACKY” MADER
Staff Writer
McClymonds High School in Oakland, California, has been a hotbed for professional athletes.
The high school, originally named after a former school district superintendent, produced these Major League Baseball (MLB) players: Vada Pinson, Curt Flood, Willie Tasby, Lee Lacy, Curt Roberts, Aaron Pointer and Hall-of-Famers Frank Robinson and Ernie Lombardi. There is documentation of a breathtaking 17 MLB baseball players who played at McClymonds.
It is reported that Robinson, Flood, and Pinson played together in the team’s outfield for one year (1953). Robinson, a Triple Crown winner as a Baltimore Oriole in 1966, was always known as an athletic and fierce competitor. He starred on the basketball team which featured future NBA Hall of Fame center Bill Russell. Robinson first played with the Cincinnati Reds before being traded to the Orioles a decade later.
Pinson showed speed and grace in the outfield with hitting power to the gaps resulting in 485 doubles, 127 triples, and 256 home runs in an 18-year MLB career. He is most remembered for playing on the Cincinnati Reds. An accomplished trumpet player, Pinson considered a professional career playing the instrument.
A seven-time Gold Glove winner, Flood led the National League in hits with 211 in 1964 and had a career batting average of .293, playing almost entirely for the St. Louis Cardinals. Flood also had an artistic bent – he was a skilled painter. All three of these remarkable athletes began their MLB careers at age 19 or 20.
Catcher Ernie Lombardi was an imposing figure at 6 feet, 3 inches and 235 pounds at the time when he played primarily for the Reds and New York Giants in the 1930s and 1940s. A two-time National League batting champion who won the Most Valuable Player award in 1938, Lombardi was famous for both his deft receiving skills and slow running. He was the catcher of Johnny Vander Meer’s back-to-back no-hitters in 1938. Lombardi’s statistics in home runs, runs batted in, and batting average mirror recent Hall of Fame inductee Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins.
Signed by the St. Louis Browns in 1950, Willie Tasby first played for the Baltimore Orioles in 1958. Tasby played in 583 games, all but two in the outfield.
Drafted in the second round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1969 amateur draft, Lee Lacy had 5,000 plate appearances in a MLB career which spanned 16 seasons. Versatile and speedy, Lacy proved to be a valuable player on three Dodger World Series losing teams. However, in 1979 he was a member of the World Series championship Pittsburgh Pirates. A superb athlete, Lacy played on the McClymonds High School basketball team with future NBA players Joe Ellis and two-time All-Star Paul Silas.
The first Black player for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1954, Curt Roberts played three years for the team. Signed by Branch Rickey in 1952, Roberts started at second base his rookie year, but played only sparingly his final two seasons.
his only card (1967 Topps)
Aaron Pointer deserves mention despite having only 101 MLB at bats. He is a brother to the successful mainstream R&B group The Pointer Sisters (hit song “I’m So Excited”). Following his brief career with the Houston Colt .45s/Astros in the 1960s, Pointer served as a college football and then NFL official for more than two decades.
Of the impressive McClymonds High School baseball players, Robinson and Flood played historic roles as well. Robinson was hired as the first full-time Black manager in MLB, heading the Cleveland Indians in 1975. A crowd of 56,000 fans gave the new skipper a huge ovation on Opening Day as Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s widowed wife, threw out the first ball. The 14-time All-Star was serving as player-manager for the team, and he stroked a home run in his first at bat off the Yankees’ Doc Medich, propelling the Indians to a victory.
Flood filed a lawsuit against MLB’s reserve clause in 1970 following a large player swap between the Cardinals and Phillies. The reserve clause limited the options of players, contracting them to a team for life. Despite losing the case at the U.S. Supreme Court on a split decision in 1972, it opened the floodgates to free agency in 1975. Flood took a lot of heat from both the public and fellow players for his gutsy stance and forfeited a minimum of a $100,000 contract in the 1970 season. Out of shape and battling alcohol abuse, Flood played a final year for the Washington Senators in 1971. There his notable baseball career came to a tragic end with a meager seven hits in 35 at bats.
And remember, this is only McClymond’s remarkable athletic contribution to Major League Baseball.
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Patrick “Packy” Mader has written several books, including two large volumes on Minnesotans who were in the Olympic Games or competed in world competitions. To view hundreds of articles on Minnesota athletes, be sure to visit Packy’s website: MNAthletes.com. (Click Link Here)
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