Baseball inducts new Hall of Fame class

By Rebekah Herbert

The Fresno State Baseball Hall of Fame has announced as the Class of 2004 inductees: Jeff Weaver, Jimy Williams, Don George and the members of the 1988 team.

The inductees will be members of the Hall of Fame alongside long-time coaches Pete Beiden and Bob Bennett and former major leaguers, such as Dan Gladden and Bobby Jones.

This year’s Hall of Fame banquet will be held on Thursday at Pardini’s restaurant on Shaw and Van Ness avenues.

The night will include interviews with past players, an award ceremony and a procession of past inductees.

Randy Asadoor, who is on the Hall of Fame committee and was inducted himself in 2000, said it will be a fun, relaxing evening.

“All these guys will change the ambiance of the dinner,” Asadoor said. “They are like a fraternity; it will be a good comic relief.”

The committee is pleased that the three individual players can attend the event to be formally inducted.

“We were worried about Weaver because of the Dodgers going to the playoffs,” Asadoor said. “We are very fortunate he is coming with some of his family.”

Weaver has had a seven-year career with the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. He played at Fresno State for three years, holding a 33-15 record with a 3.12 ERA and 477 strikeouts, a school record.

Williams is finally able to be formally inducted into this year’s Hall of Fame. He was elected 10 years ago but has been busy managing the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros. He played at Fresno State from 1963 to ’64 and played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1966 and ’67.

George played at Fresno State in 1951 and ’52. George led the team in hitting with a .333 batting average and he ended the 1952 season with five doubles and 27 RBIs.

The 1988 team is the second team to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, following the 1959 team, which was inducted last year.

“We are arguably the best team Fresno State had, ever,” said Bryan Marsoobian, who was a part of the team in 1988 and is on the Hall of Fame committee.

The team finished with a school-best season of 56-12. The team ranked No. 2 with a College World Series appearance and had a .350 average, hitting 120 home runs and 606 RBIs.

“The only reason we weren’t inducted first was because they couldn’t put the 1988 team before the 1959 team,” Marsoobian said. “The old guys would’ve gotten mad.”

Of the 35 players on the 1988 team, 11 have already been individually inducted into the Hall of Fame and 31 of the players are attending the banquet to be inducted together, as a team.

A special moment will be recognized for Steve Bukholz, a member of the team who was murdered last year. His wife will be present at the banquet and will accept his jersey in his memory.

“Most the guys are coming back because we haven’t seen each other in so long,” Marsoobian said. “Part of the reason we were such a good team was because we all got along so well.

“Being inducted is a great honor, there are a lot of great players and teams.”