Oakland Field of Dreams

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Bill Rigney, Oakland High School Class of 1936, was born in Alameda and began his professional baseball career in 1938 when he signed with the unaffiliated Oakland Oaks of the top-level Pacific Coast League. A 26-year big-league veteran, Rigney played for the New York Giants from 1946 to 1953, then fashioned an 18-year career as a manager (195672; 1976) with the Giants, Los Angeles/California Angels and Minnesota Twins. Rigney was the last manager of the Giants in New York City (1957), and their first in San Francisco (1958). Three years later, Rigney became the first manager in Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim franchise history.

Curt Flood, Oakland Tech Class of 1956, was the first African-American player to crack the St. Louis Cardinals lineup as a regular in 1958. He won seven gold glove awards over a 12-year career and hit better than .300 six times, with a career batting average of .292. He played in three All-Star Games and three World Series, winning two with the Cardinals. Flood also left his mark on the game by challenging baseball’s reserve clause in 1969, suggesting that a player’s having no say in what team he played for was a form of slavery. Although he ultimately lost his case in the United States Supreme Court, his fight paved the way to free agency for major league players in 1975.

Louie has been a friend and supporter of Oakland Field of Dreams for years, and is a great ambassador for youth baseball in Oakland. This honor could not be more well-deserved, and OFOD exists to carry on the legacy of East Bay Youth Baseball that Louie represents.

A 1953 graduate of McClymonds High School, Frank Robinson was an outfielder for five MLB teams from 1956 to 1976. One of the best right-handed hitters in the history of baseball, Robinson was the only player to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL). He was named the NL MVP after leading the Cincinnati Reds to the pennant in 1961 and was named the AL MVP in 1966 with the Baltimore Orioles after winning the Triple Cro...wn; his 49 home runs that year tied for the most by any AL player between 1962 and 1989, and stood as a franchise record for 30 years. Robinson helped lead the Orioles to the first two World Series titles in franchise history in 1966 and 1970, and was named the Series MVP in 1966 after leading the Orioles to a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1975, he became the first African-American manager in major league history. A 14-time All-Star, Robinson batted .300 nine times, hit 30 home runs eleven times, and led his league in slugging four times and in runs scored three times. His 586 career home runs ranked fourth in major league history at the time of his retirement, and he ranked sixth in total bases (5,373) and extra-base hits (1,186), eighth in games played (2,808) and ninth in runs scored (1,829). His 2,943 career hits are the most since 1934 by any player who fell short of the 3,000-hit mark. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1982. Robinson went on to manage the San Francisco Giants, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals. For most of the last two decades of his life, Robinson served in various executive positions for Major League Baseball, concluding his career as honorary President of the American League. Robinson passed away on February 7, 2019, at the age of 83.

Cookie was a third baseman, manager, and coach in American League baseball. But he’s best known for a single hit he made during a 1947 World Series game when his Brooklyn Dodgers were facing the New York Yankees, in a game that would come to be called The Cookie Game. Harry played both football and baseball at Oakland Tech Tech where he had two nicknames: Harry Loonatic Lavagetto and Harry Lovebird Lavagetto. After graduating from Oakland Tech in 1931, Lavagetto, then ...still called Harry, tried out for the Oakland Oaks, a team in the Pacific Coast League owned by Cookie DeVincenzi. The team owner’s nickname eventually was applied to Lavagetto too, and stuck. Lavagetto played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1934-1936, and was then traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1938, while with the Dodgers, he made the All-Star team, a feat he repeated four years in a row. His career was interrupted in January 1942 when he voluntarily enlisted alongside his brother in the Navy. In 1945 he managed a Navy baseball team. When the war ended, Lavagetto played two more seasons with the Dodgers, but went out with a flourish in The Cookie Game, during Game 4 of the World Series. Bill Bevens of the Yankees was on the cusp of going down in history for pitching the first ever World Series no-hitter. Lavagetto’s last hit in the major leagues denied Bevens that satisfaction and gave the Dodgers a 3-2 win. (The Yankees went on to win the series, but it took all seven games.) In later years, Lavagetto was a coach for the Dodgers, a manager for the Washington Senators and the Minnesota Twins, and a coach for the New York Mets, before coming back to the Bay Area to manage the Giants from 1964-1967. He died at home in Orinda in 1990 at the age of 77.

Joe Morgan was a standout at Castlemont High School, Class of 1961, before being signed by the Houston Colt .45s as an amateur free agent in 1962. Morgan played 9 seasons for Houston, 1963-1971, compiling 72 home runs and 219 stolen bases. He made the All Star Team twice during this period, in 1966 and 1970. He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds as part of a blockbuster multi-player deal on November 29, 1971. After joining The Big Red Machine, Morgan's career reached a new ...level. He made eight consecutive All-Star Game appearances (197279) to go along with his 1966 and 1970 appearances with Houston.Morgan, along with teammates Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Pérez, and Dave Concepción, led the Reds to consecutive championships in the World Series. He drove in Ken Griffey for the winning run in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series. Morgan was also the National League MVP in 1975 and 1976. He was the first second baseman in the history of the National League to win the MVP back to back. In Morgan's NL MVP years he batted .327 with 17 Home Runs & 94 RBIs in 1975 and he batted .320 with 27 Home Runs, 111 RBIs, & 60 stolen bases in 1976. While his lifetime average was .271, he hit between .288 and .327 during his peak years with the Reds, with a .392 on-base percentage. He also hit 268 home runs to go with 449 doubles and 96 triples, excellent power for a middle infielder of his era, and was considered by some the finest base stealer of his generation (689 steals at greater than 80% success rate). Besides his prowess at the plate and on the bases, Morgan was an exceptional infielder, winning the Gold Glove Award in consecutive years from 1973 to 1977. Morgan returned to Houston in 1980 to help the young Astros win the NL West. The Astros then lost the National League Championship Series to the Philadelphia Phillies. He went to the San Francisco Giants for the next two seasons. His home run in the last game of the 1982 season eliminated the Dodgers from the division race. He won the 1982 Willie Mac Award for his spirit and leadership. He then went to the Phillies, where he rejoined ex-teammates Pete Rose and Tony Pérez. After the Phillies lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, Morgan finished his career with his hometown Oakland Athletics. Morgan was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990. After retiring as an active player, Morgan became a baseball broadcaster for the Reds, Giants, and ESPN. He currently hosts a weekly nationally-syndicated radio show on Sports USA, while serving as a special advisor to the Reds. In 1999 Morgan ranked Number 60 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

A 1945 graduate of Oakland High, Jackie Jensen was a 2-sport All-American student-athlete at Cal and the American League's MVP in 1959 for the Boston Red Sox. The "Golden Boy" was a running back for Cal's 1949 Rose Bowl team and finished 4th in the Heisman Trophy voting that year. He married high school sweetheart and silver medal winning Olympic Diver Zoe Ann Olsen in 1949, and made his major league debut with the New York Yankees in 1950. He finished his career with 199 home runs and had 100+ RBI in 4 of his 11 big league seasons with the Yankees and Red Sox. Jensen was forced to retire prematurely at age 32 after the 1961 season, due primarily to his fear of flying. He served as Head Baseball Coach at Cal in the 1970s.

Oakland Field of Dreams will be honoring the Oakland baseball legacy by posting regular tributes here to recognize the players and coaches who have contributed to the rich baseball history of our city. Of course, any such tribute must begin with the player whose name hangs on the signs at our Oakland Field of Dreams baseball facility at 45th St. and Telegraph Ave. Ranked #22 on both the ESPN and Bleacher Report list of the Best Baseball Players of All Time, Rickey Henderson i...s considered the greatest leadoff hitter and base runner in the history of the game. The Oakland Tech Bulldog (Class of '76) was the California State Baseball Player of the Year in 1976 at Tech, where he also played basketball and football. In fact, while at Tech High, he was an All-American running back with two 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Rickey collected 3,055 hits and 297 home runs as a professional ballplayer, during which he was a 10-time All-Star and 1990 American League MVP. Henderson played for the Oakland A’s for 14 seasons, New York Yankees, and six other teams during his 25-year career. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009, the same year that "Rickey Henderson Field" was named in his honor. He left Major League Baseball in 2003 as the all-time leader in runs scored (2,295), stolen bases (1,406), games led off with a home run (81), and walks (2,190; a record that Barry Bonds eventually passed). He won two World Series championships, with the 1989 A’s and the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays, and was a 10-time All-Star, the 1990 American League MVP and the 1989 American League Championship Series MVP. Rickey played for nine different major league teams, but is best remembered for his time with the Oakland Athletics. Out of 25 major league seasons, Henderson spent parts of 14 seasons with the A’s. He is the A’s all-time leader in stolen bases, runs scored and walks, and he is among the Oakland A’s top-five in on-base percentage, games played, at-bats, hits, BA and doubles. He entered the Hall wearing the hat of his hometown Oakland Athletics.