INVOCATION

Thanks To Our Team Of Writers And Video

A big thanks to the following individuals for volunteering their time to prepare the biographical profiles you are enjoying in this souvenir program. They do it for the “love of the game” and we are appreciative of their dedication and interest in preserving our baseball and softball heritage:

Gary Brooks • Tyler Scott

Gail Wood • Bill Schey

Arnold Lytle • Nick Dawson

Victor Yoshida

Frank Colarusso

We also want to give a “shout out” to Doug Drowley (script), Mike Beers (videography) and Steve Thomas (narration) for their time, patience and endless hours devoted to creating the video presentations.

I would like to impart many thanks to all of my fellow committee members for their efforts in making each and every banquet a success.

—Chairman

Ken Laase

Bill Ralston—Born on May 9, 1945 in Whittier, CA, Bill Ralston was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1966 and signed to a contract by Tom Lasorda. He began his career in Ogden, UT and was called up in 1971 to play for the Spokane Indians of the PCL under Lasorda. Bill hit .301 and as a utility player he played 2nd, SS, and 3rd base, occasionally filling in for Ron Cey when he was on active military duty.

The team moved to Albuquerque in 1972 where they won the PCL championship with teammates Ron Cey, Davey Lopes, Tom Paciorek, Joe Ferguson, Steve Yeager, and Charlie Hough. Traded to the Twins organization after the 1973 season, Bill finished his career with the Tacoma Twins in 1974 and 1975. A teammate in Tacoma was Tom Kelly, former manager of the Minnesota Twins.

Bill served as the chapel leader for the Tacoma Twins, Tugs, Tigers and Rainiers for 28 years and he dedicated 8 years as a board member with Reality Sports, a non-profit sports ministry with a mission to teach excellence in sports skills and one’s faith in God.

Mission Statement

Tacoma-Pierce County BaseballSoftball Oldtimers Association

The Tacoma-Pierce County Baseball-Softball Oldtimers Association was conceived and organized to recognize and honor those participants whose commitment and dedication has resulted in a significant contribution to the history of those sports in the Tacoma-Pierce County community.

The Association shall conduct an annual awards ceremony for the purpose of inducting worthy members into the organization’s baseball, fastpitch, and slowpitch “Halls of Fame” and other related categories. In addition, certain special awards created to recognize and appreciate efforts “above and beyond” shall also be presented at the ceremony.

The Association shall establish the necessary criteria to determine nominations for the respective honors, and the Association shall elect inductees from those nominations.

Other goals of the Association shall be to establish a site, or sites, for its Hall of Fame(s) and the displaying of appropriate recognition for all inductees. The Association pledges cooperation with the Shanaman Sports Museum in developing its Hall of Fame plans to be certain of not conflicting with their already-established public displays.

The perpetuation and recognition of the sports of baseball, fastpitch, and slowpitch remain #1 priorities of the Association, and all efforts of the organization shall be directed toward enriching the phrase, “Play Ball”!