Hall of Fame Class of 2018

Hall of Fame Class of 2018

Biographies of the 2018 Humboldt Crabs Hall of Fame Inductees

Written by Brice Gummersall

Ugo Giuntini

Ugo was born in Lucca, Italy in 1911. When he was ten, his family immigrated to Korbel. He graduated from Arcata High School in 1930. He graduated from Humboldt State Teachers College in 1930, the first immigrant from Italy to do so. He became a U.S. citizen on his 21st birthday. In the 1930s, he played on many Humboldt County baseball teams, including the Korbel Volunteer Fire Department and the Arcata Blues.

In 1945, the Crabs first season, he served as their official scorer. In 1951, he became the ticket seller for the Crabs. He was dubbed “the face of the Crabs” because he worked in the ticket booth for over thirty years.

Ugo was also a math teacher in the Eureka City Schools’ system. He retired in 1973 after 39 years of teaching. Beginning in 1946, he also worked for the Eureka Department of Parks and Recreation. He became the Director of Eureka City Recreation league, in charge of the baseball, basketball, and softball leagues. In 1973, he received a citation from the California Parks and Recreation Society for his work with Eureka Parks and Recreation. 

Bob Milano

Bob Milano was a catcher for the Crabs during the 1960 and 1961 seasons. He attended UC Berkeley. From 1978 through the 1999 baseball season, he served as Cal’s head baseball coach. He compiled a record of 668 wins, 644 loses, and 4 ties.   He also was a coach for the Crabs in 1979.

Some of his accomplishments:

  • His 668 victories are still a record for Cal baseball.
  • He led three Cal teams to the College World Series.
  • In 1998, he was an assistant coach on the gold medal winning USA Olympic Baseball Team.
  • Twice he was selected as the Pac Ten Coach of the Year.
  • In 2003, Cal retired his number 7.
  • In 2004 he was inducted into the Cal Hall of Fame.
  • In 2010, he was inducted into the American Baseball Association Hall of Fame.

Jim “Spider” Thomas

Jim Thomas was a pitcher for the Crabs in 1964 and 1965. Both of these teams were the National Baseball Congress California State Champions. He also pitched for Sac State from 1963 through 1965. In 1965, he was a six round pick by the Boston Red Sox in the MLB Draft.

  • In 1998, he was inducted into the Sacramento Area Coaches and Officials Hall of Fame of the La Salle Club at Christian Brothers High School.
  • In 2010, he was inducted into the La Salle Club Baseball Hall of Fame at Christian Brothers High School.
  • In 2013 he was inducted into the Coaches’ Wing of Sacramento States Men’s Baseball Hall of Fame.

Lee Iorg

Lee Iorg played outfield, usually centerfield, for the Crabs from 1970 – 1972. In 1970, he played just after graduating from Arcata High. All three of these Crabs teams won the National Baseball Congress California State Champions. In 1973 and 1974, he played for the Alaskan Goldpanners. He was the MVP of the 1973 National Baseball Congress World Series. He attended Brigham Young University. In his freshman year of 1970, he had a .350 batting average. In 1971, he batted .370 for BYU.

  • He was selected for Times-Standard’s Baseball Players of the Northcoast all-20th Century Baseball team.
  • He played professionally from 1974 – 1977 in the New York Mets’ organization.
  • He is a member of the Arcata High School Hall of Fame.
  • He is a member of the BYU Hall of Fame.

Jack Fimple

In 1980, Jack Fimple was serving in the Coast Guard and stationed in Humboldt County. He tried out for the Crabs as a catcher and made the team. After playing for the Crabs, he played baseball at HSU. He made his MLB debut for the LA Dodgers on July 30, 1983.   He played for the Dodgers during the 1983, 1984, and 1986 seasons. He finished his career with the Angels in 1987.

His MLB totals: 92 games, 21 runs, hit .228, with 2 homeruns and 28 RBI.

Pat Clements

Pat Clements was a left-handed pitcher for the Crabs in 1981. He also pitched for UCLA. He was drafted in the 4th round of the 1983 MLB Draft by the Anaheim Angels. He made his MLB debut on April 9, 1985 with the Angels. He played for the Angels (’85), the Pirates (’85 and ’86), the Yankees (’87 & ’88), the Padres (’89 – ’91), and the Orioles in 1992.

His MLB totals: 288 games, 360.1 innings pitched, 17 wins, 11 losses, 12 saves, 158 strikeouts, and a 3.77 ERA.

Troy Schader

Troy Schader played for the Crabs in 1998, primarily as a shortstop. He set a Crabs record with 22 homeruns that season. He was chosen as team MVP, helping the Crabs to a 41 – 7 record. He played at Oregon State from 1997 – 1999. He was selected by the Padres in the 1999 MLB Draft. He played professionally in the Padres organization from 1999 – 2001. He currently is the Park Maintenance Supervisor for the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation Division in Oregon.

Leo Rosales

Leo Rosales pitched for the Crabs during the 2002 season. During this season, he was named the MVP of the All-American Invitational Tournament in Gresham, OR. The Crabs won this tournament. His stats as a Crab: 9 appearances, starting 6 games, 3 complete games, 45.2 innings pitched, a 1.97 ERA, and opposing hitters had a .216 average against him.

He was drafted by the Padres in the 2003 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut on June 15, 2008 for the Diamondbacks. He pitched for the Diamondbacks during the 2008, 2009, and 2010 seasons. His MLB stats: 76 games, 91.2 innings pitched, five wins, two losses, and a 5.01 ERA.

John Austin

John Austin pitched for the Crabs during the 2009, 2010, and 2011 seasons. He also pitched for San Jose State University. His stats as a Crab:

 

Season

  

ERA

 W – L record  

Appearances

 Games

Started

 Compete

Games

 Innings

Pitched
2009 2.11 8 – 1 10 9 1 50.1
2010 1.82 7 – 0 9 9 0 49.1
2011 2.76 4 – 3 13 5 0 42.1

= Led the Crabs pitching staff 

He was the Co-Pitcher of the year for the Crabs in 2009.

1990 Team

The 1990 team had an overall record of 44 – 6. They won 28 of their last 30 games. They were the Western Baseball Association champions with a 27 – 3 record. Four players from this team went on to play professionally: Toby Foreman, John Bushart, Chris Falco, and Dane Walker. Ken “Shorty” Ames was an assistant coach, whom later managed the Crabs for ten seasons (1996 – 2007). Steve Neel, Crabs Hall of Famer, was the other assistant coach on this team. He later managed the Crabs in 1992. Matt Nutter was a pitcher on this team and later managed the Crabs from 2006 – 2013. Two catchers on this team, Al Brisack and Byron Pontoni later were assistant coaches for the Crabs.

Sources:

Newspapers & Periodicals

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

Articles & Pamphlets

  • Nash, Jack ”Ugo Giuntini The Face of the Crabs” 2017 Crabs program pgs. 48 – 49.
  • Giovanetti, Joseph   “The Humboldt Crabs All-Time Roster of Alumni Pros 1945 – 2003”
  • Gourley, Scott “Will it be Breakout or Heartbreak?” 2011 Crabs program page 20.

Humboldt Crabs Programs: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2000, and 2006 – 2018.

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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