EARL ANTHONY – Bowling
One of the country’s all-time bowling greats, Earl Anthony is the holder of 43 national Professional Bowlers’ Association titles. The first pro bowler to reach $1 million in career earnings. PBA player of the year six times. ABC Masters champion in 1977 and 1984.
Anthony was voted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1981 and the ABC Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2000 he was voted “Master of the Millennium” by a wide margin in a nationwide vote conducted by Bowling Magazine. In a Sports Illustrated magazine national vote in 2010, he was named the second greatest athlete in the history of the State of Washington (behind only former Gonzaga and NBA star John Stockton).
Anthony was born in Tacoma. After his time in the Air Force, he got his start in bowling by playing in a league for his employer, West Coast Grocery.
HUGH CAMPBELL – Football & Coach
Considered one of football’s great pass receivers, the two-time Washington State University NCAA pass receiving champion, won All-America honors twice. He gained additional honors as a player and coach in the Canadian Football League with Edmonton. He also coached Houston in the NFL and Los Angeles in the USFL.
RON CEY – Baseball
One of Tacoma’s all-time top athletes, Ron Cey spent 17 seasons in the Majors including 12 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a six-time National League All-Star from 1974-1979. The Mt. Tahoma High School and WSU graduate hit 316 major league home runs and drove in 1,136 runs. He went 7-for-20 with 6 RBI to win Most Valuable Player of the 1981 World Series. He had been knocked out of Game 5 when Goose Gossage hit him in the head with a pitch but he returned for the clinching Game 6.
Cey’s 1,989 games played at third base are the 15th most in history. He never took the field at another position. WSU baseball coach Bobo Brayton gave Cey a nickname that stuck throughout his career, the “penguin” because he waddled when he walked. Cey was the first athlete to earn nine varsity letters at Mount Tahoma.
RAY FRANKOWSKI – Football
One of the finest guards in University of Washington football history. He was an outstanding lineman for the Huskies during the Jimmy Phelan-era. He was named twice to an All-America team. He also is a member of the school’s sports Hall of Fame. Frankowski was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 1942.
DICK HANNULA – Coach (Swimming)
One of the world’s premier swim coaches, Dick Hannula’s teams at Wilson High School of Tacoma won 24 consecutive state boys’ team swimming titles from 1960 to 1983, undefeated in 323 meets. Inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame, he holds scores of national honors. He served as the Swimming Commissioner of the 1990 Goodwill Games.
MARV HARSHMAN – Coach (Basketball)
One of Pacific Lutheran University’s legendary athletes, Marv Harshman lettered 13 times in four sports for the Lutes, graduating in 1942. He went on to become one of the nation’s top collegiate basketball coaches. He began his illustrious coaching career at PLU (where he also coached baseball and football) before moving on to Washington State (13 seasons) and the University of Washington (14 seasons). His teams won 637 games over a 40-year span. Twice (1982 and 1984), Harshman was the Pac-10 conference coach of the year.
GORDON PFEIFER – Handball
One of the nation’s top handball players, Gordon Pfeifer won 15 world, national and professional titles in the 1970s and 1980s. A University of Puget Sound graduate, Pfeifer won back-to-back United States singles championships in 1971-72. He also was rated as one of the state’s standout slowpitch players
RICK REDMAN – Football
A standout linebacker for University of Washington teams from 1962 through 1964, he won All-Coast recognition three times and also earned All-America honors. He was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995. His professional career with the San Diego Chargers included nine years in the AFL where he won All-Pro selection in 1967. He attended Seattle’s Blanchet High and was a long-time prominent alumni supporter of UW.
DOUG SMART – Basketball
One of the University of Washington’s premier basketball stars, he played for the Huskies in the 1950s, including two matchups with Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas at Hec Ed Pavilion on the UW campus. He won numerous all-star honors, gaining All-America recognition in his junior and senior seasons. He led his Garfield Bulldogs to a state high school championship in 1955. Smart was the long-time leader in career rebounds at UW and averaged 18.9 points per game. Drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1959, Smart passed up the NBA to become a dentist.
KEN STILL – Golf
Winner of three pro golf tournaments and a member of the Ryder Cup team, Tacoma native Ken Still is considered one of the state’s top all-time golfers. Over a four-decade career, his titles include the Florida Citrus Open and the Milwaukee Open in 1969 and the Kaiser International in 1970. He finished in the top 10 of a major twice, 5th at the 1970 U.S. Open and 6th in the 1971 Masters.
WES STOCK – Baseball
Considered one of baseball’s premier pitching coaches, Wes Stock spent parts of five decades both as a relief pitcher and coach with five major league organizations. He started with Baltimore in 1959 and ended his active career with Oakland in 1993. He appeared in 321 major league games with a .675 winning percentage (27-13). He graduated from Shelton High in 1952. From 1977-81, he was on the Seattle Mariners coaching staff. In 1973 and 1974 he was a coach with the World Series champion Oakland A’s.
JERRY WILLIAMS – Football & Coach
Recognized for his distinguished football career both as a player and coach, he excelled as a high school star in Spokane, as a collegian at WSU and as a professional with the L.A. Rams. His coaching career included a Grey Cup title with Hamilton in the CFL plus head coaching roles with Calgary in the CFL and the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL.
LAVERN “TORGY” TORGESON – Football
LaVern Torgeson was a multi-sport standout at LaCrosse High School about 45 miles West of Pullman before taking his talent to Washington State University and then to the National Football League. “Torgy” spent 42 years as a player and coach in the NFL.
He was a linebacker and center for WSU. Torgeson was a fifth-round selection of the Detroit Lions in the 1951 NFL draft. He played with Detroit for four seasons and then played for three years with the Washington Redskins. He was selected to the Pro Bowl as a linebacker in 1954, 1955 and 1956. He started all but two of his 83 NFL games and grabbed 18 interceptions and six fumble recoveries.
Torgeson became a Redskins coach upon completion of his playing days. He was on the Washington staff for 23 seasons over three stints. He was one of only three members of the staff to be part of all five of the Redskins Super Bowl appearances. He also coached the Rams and the Steelers. Torgeson was inducted into the WSU athletic Hall of Fame in 1979.
JOHN MCCALLUM – Author
John McCallum was an English and journalism student at WSU who also played baseball. World War II interrupted his education. He returned to Pullman to complete his degree, spent a brief stay with the 1947 Portland Beavers and then went to New York to be a writer. He became a prominent biographer of athletes and celebrities in the 1950s. In 1956, he published a book about Ty Cobb (The Tiger Wore Spikes). McCallum also wrote about Dwight Eisenhower’s family and Grace Kelly, the movie star who became princess of Monaco. By the time he died in 1988 at age 64, the Tacoma native had written 40 books.
PAUL LINDEMANN – Basketball
Paul Lindemann won All-America honors on the WSU Cougar team that won the Pacific Coast Conference and Western NCAA Regional titles before falling in the national championship game under coach Jack Friel in 1941. He was the second-leading scorer for WSU in the decade of the 30s with 668 points. The Cougars went 72-26 during the career of the 6-foot-7 center. Lindemann also earned All-Coast and All-Northern Division honors during the ’41 season and was inducted into the Pac-10 Hall of Honor in 2010. He joined Phillips Petroleum AAU team after leaving WSU and played on four national championship teams with the 66ers. His teams were 176-25 during those five years and he was an AAU All-America selection in 1945.
JOANNE CARNER (GUNDERSON) – Golf
Excerpted from her Ladies Professional Golf Association Hall of Fame bio:
“JoAnne Carner (nee Gunderson) joined the LPGA Tour in 1970, winning 43 times including two major championships, the 1971 and 1976 U.S. Women’s Opens. Also known as “Big Mama”, Carner was the second player in LPGA history to reach $1 million dollars in career earnings and after winning a U.S. Girls’ Junior, five U.S. Women’s Amateurs, and two U.S. Women’s Opens, set the women’s record for most USGA championships won with eight titles to her credit. Only Tiger Woods and Bobby Jones have more. Carner also remains the only woman to have won the U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Women’s Amateur, and U.S. Women’s Open in her career.
She won the 1981 Bob Jones Award and was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1982. She was also named the Golf Writers Association of America Player of the Year for the 1982-83 season. At the inaugural 1994 Solheim Cup, Carner captained the United States to a 13-7 victory over Europe. Ten years later, she became the oldest player to make a cut in LPGA Tour history when she finished T70 at the 2004 Chevron Championship at 64 years old. In 2021 at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Connecticut, Carner again made history, setting the new record for the oldest golfer to play in a USGA championship at 82.
As an amateur, Carner won a national collegiate title while playing for Arizona State University and was a 4-time member of the United States Curtis Cup team. She also earned her first LPGA Tour victory at the 1969 Burdine’s Invitational as an amateur.”
She is a native of Kirkland, Washington.
