I hope you all have enjoyed our blog. We are taking a short time out for football season and hope to resume posting after the playoffs. We hope your favorite team wins more often than it loses.
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Dr. Larry White graduated from Hobbs High School in Lea County, New Mexico in 1950. He played center and linebacker at University of New Mexico, having the distinction of being the first All-American football player from that university. In 1952, the Lobos earned a 7-2 record despite not having a strong offense. That year the Lobo defense was ranked number one in the nation, allowing 46 points the entire season with White on defense. A well rounded student, Dr. White played oboe in the Albuquerque Symphonic Orchestra the UNM Symphonic Band while concentrating on his studies, graduating with a degree in biology. Dr. White speaks of this with typical humor when he says, "People on the football team remember me as a great oboist and people in the orchestra remember me as a great football player." In those days, things were much different in the NFL as salaries were much lower than they are today. The two time UNM All-American was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL in 1954, but instead of pursuing a career in the NFL, he chose instead to attend Baylor Dental College in Dallas, Texas, earning his DDS degree in 1959. Dr. White attributes much of his personal make up to lessons learned when he was a youth. He grew up in Hobbs, playing center and linebacker on Coach Duane Fisher's teams where the Eagles won two State Championships in 1948 and 1949 and went to the final again in 1950, losing to the Cavemen of nearby Carlsbad. He also was a starter for Coach Ralph Tasker's basketball teams. Dr. White's interest in the dental profession began with a painful extraction when he was 10, after the local dentist failed to numb the area. A couple of years later however, he had a much more favorable experience with Dr. Jim Reynolds of Lubbock, Texas which led him to contemplate going into the dental field. Following his graduation from dental school, he established dental offices in Hobbs, Roswell and Portales, New Mexico and branches in Denver City, Andrews and Seminole, Texas. After practicing dentistry for a number of years, he returned to Baylor to earn an advanced degree in orthodontics from 1966 to 1968. In addition to practicing orthodontics for many years, he established the orthodontics department at University of Texas San Antonio and has also served on the faculty at Baylor Dental School. Dr. White credits many influential people as his mentors including his high school football coach Duane Fisher and Dr. Jim Reynolds. Life lessons learned include being willing to submit to a team concept, learning to cooperate with others, having discipline and organization, learning to do the right things in the right way. He firmly believes that psychological and physical preparedness can often overcome superior talent and that nowhere is this illustrated better than in team sports. Dr. White's honors include being named All-American two years at University of New Mexico, being inducted into the New Mexico Hall of Honor, being named by Sports Illustrated as one of the Top 50 Athletes of the Decade in New Mexico. He and his wife currently reside in Dallas, Texas. Copies of his book "Eagles Once Soared" may be obtained from the Lea County Museum in Lovington, New Mexico, and from Amazon.com. While we generally focus on athletes and other individuals who played sports below the college level in New Mexico, from time to time we feature others who are also connected to the state in some unique way. This post features Don Perkins of Albuquerque. Donald Anthony Perkins' connection to New Mexico was that he attended and graduated from the University of New Mexico and still resides in Albuquerque. Perkins was born and raised in Waterloo, Iowa and at Waterloo West Hight School he was a multi-sport athlete, playing basketball, football and running track, lettering in the latter two sports. Playing both offense and defense in football, his athletic honors included being named to the Iowa All-State team on offense. He was president of the student body during his senior year and has been inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame – Waterloo, Iowa. Don was recruited and coached at UNM by NFL Hall of Famer Marv Levy during his short tenure as head coach. Levy has remarked that Perkins was one of the greatest players he ever coached and made note of Perkins in his NFL Hall of Fame acceptance speech.Perkins played his college football at the University of New Mexico, where he played halfback and was also a kickoff returner. At UNM, Perkins was an offensive standout, serving as a running back, receiver and special teams player. He was a three-time All-Skyline Conference selection from 1957–1959, and he was Skyline Sophomore of the Year in 1957. In 1958, he led the nation in kickoff returns. He was only University of New Mexico's second All-American, selected for his play in 1959, a year in which he was 8th in the nation in scoring with 74 points, first in the nation in kickoff returns, averaging 34.7 yards per return. Perkins was a three-year letterman (1957-59) and a two-time All-Skyline Conference selection (1958-59). His versatility allowed him to accumulate 3,466 all-purpose yards in his career. The Lobos retired his jersey number 43 in 1959, the first time a University of New Mexico player was so honored. He ranks 14th in the UNM career rushing list with 2,001 yards. He was inducted into the University of New Mexico Hall of Honor and the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. Perkins went on to play a leading role with the young Dallas Cowboys club in its early years, from 1961-68. He had a stellar career. His honors included being named to the Pro Bowl 6 times, being selected as a First Team All Pro in 1962, being named NFL Rookie of the year in 1961. He was the first Cowboy to rush for more than 6,000 yards. In his career, Perkins rushed for 6,217 career yards on 1500 attempts and had 1,310 receiving yards on 146 attempts. He was inducted into the Ring of Honor at Texas Stadium alongside his quarterback Don Meredith in 1976. Only Bob Lilly was inducted ahead of Meredith and Perkins, in 1975. He was inducted into the State of Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2006. Although he was considered a superb blocker, he finished in the NFL’s top 10 rushing in each of his eight seasons in the league. On September 24 1961, he became the first running back in Cowboys’ history to run for 100 yards in a game, when he rushed for 108 yards on 17 carries against the expansion Minnesota Vikings. Perkins’ best year was in 1962, when he rushed for 945 yards and seven touchdowns, becoming the first Cowboy to make the All-Pro team. He was coming off his two best all-around seasons when he decided to retire prior to the 1969 season. At the time only four other NFL running backs had rushed for more than his 6,217 yards. Even though he played the fullback position at 5-10 204-pounds, his ten career 100-yard games ranked fourth in club history, he led the Dallas Cowboys in rushing in six of his eight seasons – from 1961 to 1965, then again in on the NFL’s All-Time Rushing list. Perkins has served as an analyst for CBS Sports, a football analyst for CBS Sports, ABC Sports, and independent networks. He has been a sportscaster for local radio and TV stations. Locally, Don was the Director of the Work Incentive Program for the State of New Mexico Department of Human Services from 1972 to 1985. He served on both the Executive Board of US West and the Board of Trustees for University Hospital from 1990 to 1993. Don has been active in local theater, public speaking, broadcasting at the local and national level, and is presently retired from the City of Albuquerque. For more information: Don's college statistics, Sports-Reference.com Don's page from the Dallas Cowboy Ring of Honor Don's pro statistics, Pro-Football-Reference.com John Watson is the individual for whom Watson Memorial Stadium in Hobbs (Lea County), New Mexico is named. The stadium is just about to enjoy its 50th anniversary. John moved to Hobbs with his family, Mr. and Mrs. Finn Watson, in 1937 when he was 6 years old. His father started Watson Truck and Supply in Hobbs and the company still operates under the leadership of the family. The company began as an International Harvester truck dealership in 1943 and expanded in 1944 to include a General Motors truck and automobile dealership.
Watson was an outstanding athlete. At Hobbs High School, he earned 12 varsity letters in football, basketball, track and baseball. He was named to the 1948 Football All-Star Team and received more votes than any other player, 135 points from listings on 23 of 37 ballots. His head football coach, Duane Fisher, tied in the voting for Coach of the Year. Fisher had come to Hobbs in the late 1940s and was credited for turning the then-floundering program around, leading the Eagles to back to back state championships in football in 1948 and 1949. John Watson went on to begin a promising career at University of New Mexico and quickly rose to be the number one tailback on the squad, but his college career ended before the 1952 season due to a severe knee injury. He remained in school and in 1953, he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. Watson returned to Hobbs to join the family business and quickly became a civic leader. In 1967 he was named Outstanding Young Man of the Year in Hobbs and was named Lion of the Year in 1955 and 1956 by the Hobbs Downtown Lions Club. He was president of Watson Truck and Supply when he died at the age of 42 after a long illness. He was honored in 1965 by the Hobbs Chamber of Commerce for his efforts in promoting New Mexico Junior College, which at that time was the only junior college in New Mexico. He was an original member of the steering committee that worked to enact legislation and encourage support in the community for the institution. Watson has been called the father of the Lea County junior college. It was said by founding trustee Ben Alexander that "it was this man's determination and tenacity that overcame many of the obstacles and setbacks in the long road to the creation of NMJC." The John Watson Student Apartments on the campus was dedicated in his honor in 2011. Watson Memorial Stadium was dedicated and named for John Watson in 1964. With a capacity of 15,000, it remains the stadium with the largest seating capacity in the state. Ralph Kiner was a 2014 inductee into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. Ralph's sole connection to New Mexico is that he was born in 1922 in Santa Rita, now a ghost town but at the time, a copper mining town in Grant County, New Mexico. He attended high school in Alhambra, California and then attended Pasadena City College and University of Southern California, signing a contract with the Pittsburg Pirates in 1941. Like many other players, he entered the armed forces after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Kiner served in the United States Navy as a pilot in World War II, afterwards making his debut with the Pirates on April 16, 1946 and playing his final game September 25, 1955. During his 10 year career, he played with the Pirates, the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians. He was an everyday player, most often in the outfield, averaging about 144 games per year. He was also a good hitter with a lifetime batting average of .279 and 369 home runs. Though the records have since been surpassed, he broke three of Babe Ruth's hitting records, being the fastest player to hit 100, 200 and 300 home runs. He also led the National League in home runs for seven consecutive years and all of Major League Baseball for six. His career eventually ended due to injuries and Kiner was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975. Ralph is probably better known to most baseball fans as an announcer, calling every game of the New York Mets from the team's inception until his death earlier this year on February 6, 2014. During his 53 seasons in broadcasting, he was known for his wit, his humor and also for his tongue-twisting and wrongly-worded expressions, some of which are listed below: "If Casey Stengel were alive today, he'd be spinning in his grave." "The Mets have gotten their leadoff batter on only once this inning." "On Father's Day, we again wish you all happy birthday." "Solo homers usually come with no one on base." "There is a lot of heredity in that family." A sample of Kiner's many links and references: Career statistics on Baseball-Reference.com. Broadcasting quotes from the Baseball Almanac. Ralph Bowyer was a record-setting coach in Carlsbad (Eddy County), New Mexico for whom Bowyer Stadium is named. In his days as a player, he was considered one of the greatest athletes to attend University of New Mexico earning All-Border Conference honors both in football (1934-35) and basketball (1934-1935 and 1935-1936).
In coaching, he stood for fairness and equality. After integration came to New Mexico, on overnight stays Bowyer would put his teams up in lesser quality hotels so that they could remain together rather than have his black athletes be refused lodging. On a road trip, Boyer once ordered chicken fried steak dinners for the team. When he was told that his black players would have to eat in the kitchen, Bowyer took the entire team and left the restaurant. It was his supporting attitude that encouraged many of his minority players to go on to college. He was rigid in enforcing discipline. In 1945, he had warned his players against going to a midnight Halloween-week movie before a big game with El Paso Austin. Spotting some of his players in line for the movie, he went in and asked the theater manager to warn his players about attending. Those who still attended sat on the bench for the game. Carlsbad almost went scoreless in the game, only pulling out a win with a last minute touchdown. The lesson may or may not have been learned by all, but it earned him the respect of the team and the town. As a player at Albuquerque High School, he was All-State in football, basketball, track and baseball from 1929-1932. He was a nine time letterwinner in football, basketball and track at University of New Mexico. As a Carlsbad coach, he won eight state football titles during his tenure from 1943 to 1967. Two of those years (1946 and 1947), he coached teams that won state titles in football, basketball and track. Five of his players went on to play in the NFL. He served as athletic director at New Mexico Highlands University from 1967 to 1972 and was inducted into the Albuquerque Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. He was beloved by his players, many of whom considered him to be a father figure and remained in close contact with him for the rest of his life. His high school coaching records were 171-109-10 in football, with eight* state titles, 365-137 in basketball with three state titles and two state titles in track. In his senior years, he was an active Senior Olympian, golfer, fisherman and artist. Carlsbad's football stadium is named in his honor. It has been said that it is not just Bowyer Stadium, but Ralph Bowyer Stadium. Each year the New Mexico High School Coaches Association (of which he was a founding member) honors him by awarding the Ralph Bowyer Coaching for Character Award. * NMAA lists only six championships. The official reason for the difference is unknown, but in years prior to about 1950, there was no sanctioned state championship system. Terry Landrum is from Albuquerque, New Mexico and graduated from Highland High School. He was a good high school athlete with a desire to play professional baseball, despite not playing the sport in high school. Landrum wanted to attend junior college rather than a four year college, but he caught the eye of the baseball coach of a small school, Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilbarton. However, only a couple of months into his freshman year, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball club. Despite the quick start, his professional career was a long time developing as he slowly worked his way up from A ball in 1973 to AAA before breaking into the big leagues in 1980. His minor league stops included Orangeburg (A) in the Western Carolina League, St. Petersburg (A+) in the Florida State League, Arkansas (AA) in the Texas League, and Tulsa and Springfield (AAA) in the American Association. He began his nine year career as an outfielder in Major League Baseball with the Cardinals on July 23, 1980 at age 25, playing with them from 1980 to 1983 before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles late in the season. He rejoined the Cardinals from 1984 to 1987. Late in the 1987 season, he was released by the Cardinals and picked up as a free agent by the Los Angeles Dodgers for the remainder of the 1987 season. His final year in the big leagues was 1988 when he returned to the Orioles. Landrum played his final game in the majors on May 9, 1988 at age 33. Landrum relates that he tried to get a job in baseball upon retiring as a player but none were forthcoming. That door being closed, he resumed his college education at New York University, where he obtained a B.S. degree in Physical Therapy. He was honored by being selected to make the valedictory address to his graduating class, though others had a higher grade point average. He commented that this honor exceeded the thrill of appearing in three World Series in baseball. Terry believes that he learned valuable life lessons in his baseball career. He never gave up, despite it taking him eight years to reach the major leagues. And once he achieved that, he said "I was not an everyday player. I would stay late and listen to everybody. I accepted criticism. That was the only way to learn." [New York Times Archive, November 22, 1998] Applying these lessons to his education, he then engaged his work ethic to learning, devoted the time to his education that it required and remained teachable and inquisitive, giving him a life after baseball. Thomas Jefferson Brookshier was raised in Roswell (Chavez County), New Mexico. He was an All-State player in football, basketball and baseball at Roswell High School. Tom went on to be a three year letterman (1950-1952) in football at University of Colorado, playing defense, offense and special teams. He was known as one of the fiercest hitters in the Big 7 Conference, earning first-team all Big 7 as a junior and senior. He was also a relief pitcher on the Buffaloes' baseball team. At his memorial service, teammate Frank Bernardi joked, "He had a really good fastball; he just never knew where it was going!" He was a 10th round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1953. Drafted comparatively low, Brookshier knew he had to make an impression to avoid being cut at training camp. He related that the team's number one pick was running a pass pattern down the field toward him. Brookshire delivered a hard hit that knocked the player out. Tom said he thought he would be released then and there, but when the coach jumped up and yelled, "I like that!" he knew he might have a chance. His rookie season with the Eagles, he intercepted eight passes. The following two years he spent in the U. S. Air Force, having been in the ROTC at Colorado. While in the Air Force, he became an assistant coach of the Air Force Academy with Buck Shaw, later to be his head coach with the Eagles. Brookshire went on to complete seven seasons with the Eagles, being selected All-Pro and twice making the Pro Bowl team (1959 and 1960). His playing career ended after he broke his leg in a 1961 game with the Chicago Bears. Tom then transitioned to a career in broadcasting. As he was recovering from his broken leg, CBS Radio asked him to do a sports show in the mornings. He then began filling in on WCAU in Philadelphia. He went on to a long and successful career in national broadcasting, and was teamed at various times with Pat Summerall, Dick Vermeil and John Madden. After retiring in 1987 from CBS television broadcasting, Brookshire completed his career working in sports radio in Philadelphia on station WIR. The Philadelphia Eagles retired his jersey number 40 and he was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 1989. [Vernon Stephens is not a product of New Mexico schools, but from time to time we will write about such people and hope you enjoy the diversion.] Vernon Decatur Stephens, Jr. was born in tiny McAlister (Quay County), New Mexico. He was known as "Junior" and was the son of a minor league umpire, Vernon Stephens, Sr., who was a farmer by trade. Born in Oklahoma Territory, Vernon, Sr. and his wife Grace decided to head west in 1920, getting as far as New Mexico where Vernon, Jr. was prematurely delivered. This, however, is likely Junior's only connection with New Mexico, as the family continued on west, eventually settling in Long Beach, California. Consequently, we will only do this brief sketch about him. If you would like to read more about him, please see the excellent article on Vern from SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research, written by Mark Armour. Junior played shortstop for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles from 1941-1955. Stephens made his debut at the age of 20 when he suited up with the St. Louis Browns on September 13, 1941. He was known as a hard hitting shortstop. His career totals included 1,859 hits, 1001 runs scored, 247 home runs and a lifetime batting average of .248. Career highlights: 8-time All-Star Six times in the Top 10 in MVP voting Led the American League in home runs in 1945 Three times led the American League in RBI Collected 440 RBI within three consecutive seasons (1948–50) Three times in the Top 10 in batting average Twice led the American League in games played Inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2006 Vernon's career statistics match up favorably with today's well known players. He was a very good hitter and fielder of the period in which he played. With respect to amounts paid in professional baseball these days, his highest salary of about $40,000 would seem modest. He was a quality player and enjoyed a nice career. Junior retired from baseball at age 35 and died of a heart attack at age 48. |
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We post articles of general interest about New Mexico athletes, coaches and sports. Some names will already be familiar to you. Others are perhaps not as well known, but we hope you enjoy them all. Archives
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