ARCATA (July 2) — The Humboldt Crabs are pleased to announce our Hall of Fame Class of 2013. The second group ever to be inducted into the Crabs Hall of Fame spans six decades of Crabs history:

Eddie Oliveira (1945-1960) ~ Don Carter (1959-1961, 1964)

Sandy Vance (1966) ~ Mark Marquess (1966-67) ~ Randy Niemann (1975)

Craig Lefferts (1978) ~ Steve Olin (1985-86) ~ Tom Giacomini (1987-1991)

Mike Redmond (1991) ~ Brian Blauser (2003, 2005, 2006)

Team Honoree:

1968 Team ~ 42 wins/11 Losses

We hope you will join us for the induction ceremony between the Crabs games on Saturday, July 13. Come to the park early and visit with many players from Crabs history on Alumni weekend!

2013 Inductee Bios
compiled by Crabs Historian Brice Gummersall


Eddie Oliveira

  • Played for the Crabs from 1945 – 1960, in ’59 and ’60 was mostly the first base coach, but would play when team was short of players
  • Started at third base in the Crabs first game
  • Selected as the only third baseman on the “Times-Standard All-Time North Coast Baseball Team”
  • 1945 Arcata High Grad
  • Inducted into the  HSU Hall of Fame in 1964
  • #28 on the Times-Standard's “Players of the Century”
  • Coached the Arcata High Football team from 1956 – 1960
  • Carl Del Grande said of him, "Oliveira had excellent bat control. He usually led our team in hitting. He was very good at the hit-and-run play. He was a great athlete."

Don Carter

  • Played for the Crabs 1959-1961, 1964
  • Mostly played SS and batted third his first two years with the Crabs, then moved to 1st base
  • Had a four year minor league career, .314 pro career average

Gene “Sandy” Vance

  • Played for the Crabs in 1966
  • Threw three no hitters for Crabs (two in consecutive starts)
  • Won all three games he started in NBC World Series, in his first start he had 13 strikeouts, and had a 0.77 ERA in the tournament.
  • After his Freshman year at Stanford, he turned down a $75,000 signing fee offered by the Los Angeles Dodgers
  • Named to the California All State Tournament Team
  • Named the 1966 NBC Sandlot Player of the Year
  • Pitched for the Dodgers during the 1970 and 1971 seasons, forced to retired due to arm injury
  • His MLB Stats:

IP

W

L

ERA

G

GS

SV

CG

141

9

8

3.83

30

21

0

2

  • “I put my whole heart and soul into baseball.  Then one day it was over.  When you leave baseball you leave part of your childhood behind.” ~ Sandy Vance

Mark Marquess

  • Played first base for the Crabs in 1966 and 1967, usually was the clean-up hitter
  • Named to the 1966 NBC World Series All American Team
  • Member of the 1967 gold medal winning USA Baseball Team in the Pan-Am Games
  • Drafted by the White Sox in 1969; played 5 seasons in minors, combined stats are:

G

AB

R

H

2B

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

SLG

261

747

117

203

26

0

78

19

.272

.349

  • Coached 1988 USA team to Olympic Gold
  • While at Stanford, earned All-American honors in both baseball and football
  • Since 1977 has been Manager of Stanford’s baseball team, two time College World Series Champion: 1987 and 1988.
  • First person to win a gold medal over a Cuban baseball team as a player (1967 Pan-Am Games) and coach (1988 Olympics)
  • One of a dozen men to play and coach in the College World Series

Randy Niemann

  • From Fortuna
  • Played at CR
  • Played for the Crabs in 1975
  • #25 on the Times-Standards “Players of the Century”
  • Had an 8 year MLB career with five different teams (Astros, Pirates, White Sox, Mets, & Minnesota) His combined MLB stats are:

IP

W

L

ERA

G

GS

SV

CG

200

7

8

4.64

122

10

3

3

  • Won the World Series with the 1986 New York Mets
  • Currently the pitching coach for the Springfield Cardinals (AA team for the St. Louis Cardinals)

Craig Lefferts

  • Played for the Crabs in 1978, starting pitcher with a 6 – 1 record
  • Drafted by the Cubs in 1980, played in 696 games over a twelve year MLB career with six different teams (Cubs, Padres, Giants, Orioles, Rangers, and Angels), Combined MLB stats are:

IP

W

L

ERA

G

GS

SV

CG

1145.2

58

72

3.43

696

45

101

1

  • Last pitcher to hit a walk-off homerun (April 25, 1986 vs Giants)
  • Currently the pitching coach for the Vermont Lake Monsters (Short Season A, affiliated with Oakland A’s)
  • In 1985 was inducted into the University of Arizona Athletic Hall of Fame

Steve Olin

  • Played for the Crabs in 1985 & 1986
  • In 1985, he was 2 – 0 with a 4.16 ERA (as a reliever)
  • In 1986, he was a starter for the Crabs;  he was 6 – 1 with a 1.59 ERA
  • Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1987
  • Had a five year career with the Cleveland Indians (1989 – 1992)
  • Career MLB Stats:

IP

W

L

ERA

G

GS

SV

CG

273

16

19

3.10

195

1

48

0

  • Tragically died in a boating accident on March 22, 1993 during spring training

Tom Giacomini

  • Manager of the Crabs from 1987 – 1991
  • As manager had a 178 – 42 record (.809 winning percentage)
  • Left the Crabs after 1991 season because he became the AD at CR (AD from 1991 – 2001)
  • Head baseball coach at CR from 1970 – 1991
  • Defensive coordinator for CR’s football team 1969 – 1986
  • Coached the CR golf team 1994 – 2001
  • Member of CR’s Athletic Hall of Fame (2004)
  • Inducted into the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011

Mike Redmond

  • Catcher for the Crabs in 1991
  • During the last month of the Crabs season, he caught almost all of the games because the other two catchers were hurt
  • Signed by the Marlins as a free agent in 1992
  • Played in the major leagues for 13 seasons (Florida, Minnesota, & Cleveland)
  • Career MLB stats:

G

AB

R

H

2B

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

SLG

764

2264

208

649

117

13

243

1

.287

.358

  • World Series Champion with the 2003 Florida Marlins
  • Currently the manager of the Florida Marlins

Brian Blauser

  • Played for the Crabs in 2003, 2005, & 2006
  • During the 2005 and 2006 seasons, led the Crabs in homeruns (8 & 9, respectively), doubles (18 & 17), RBI (50 and 55), and slugging percentage (.679 & .794)
  • Crabs stats:

Year

G

AB

R

H

2B

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

SLG

2003

38

113

32

41

10

3

34

4

.363

.531

2005

39

131

30

45

18

50

50

2

.344

.679

2006

43

126

31

50

17

9

55

1

.397

.794

totals

120

370

93

136

45

20

139

7

.368

.673

bold =  Crabs season leader


1968 Crabs Team

  • Overall record: 42 – 11
  • California State National Baseball Congress Champions
  • Regular season champions of the Western Baseball Association with a 24 – 9 record
  • Finished tied for third place in the NBC World Series (5 – 2 record), Third Place game was rained out, so both teams agreed to a tie
  • At least twelve of the players on this team went on to play professionally.  Four of them played in the majors (Ken Crosby-P, Dane Iorg-OF, Rick Miller-OF, and Greg Shanahan-P)  Iorg had a 10 year MLB career and Miller had 15 year MLB career

Sources:

 

Newspapers & Periodicals

  • Arcata Eye
  • Arcata Union
  • Humboldt Standard
  • Humboldt Times
  • Humboldt Times-Standard
  • North Cost Journal
  • Osprey

Articles & Pamphlets

  • “Ned Barsuglia: Board Member, General Manager, and Chief Scout” by Scott Gourley
  • “The Humboldt Crabs All-Time Roster of Alumni Pros 1945 – 2003” by Dr. Joesph Giovanetti

Websites

Note on statistics: Statistics and recording statistics have changed.  The local papers in the 1940’s and early 1950’s only listed at-bats, hits, put outs, assists, and errors for batters.  Also, from the mid 1950’s until the mid 1980’s, the local papers didn’t list season statistics for Crabs players, only box scores from most games. 

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