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www.deltalivingmagazine.com
July – September 2013
athletic careers recognized by the
program, and have memorabilia at
the museum.Tom Menasco, one of
the program’s founders, reflects on
its seven-year existence.The Sports
Legends has “far exceeded our ex-
pectations of what we thought we’d
be able to do.”
In a corner of the museum,
one of Antioch’s old movie the-
aters is recreated, showing videos
of game highlights and biographi-
cal backgrounds of the museum’s
annual group of inductees. In the
next room are display cases featur-
ing their uniforms, awards, sports
equipment and signed game balls.
Take a closer look, and you may
notice some very famous names
appear on some of the memorabilia.
This year’s induction ceremony
will be the seventh for the Antioch
Sports Legends program. On Oct.
12, the 14 individuals and one team
in the Class of 2013 will be hon-
ored at a dinner celebrating their
achievements and enshrining their
names and photos on the walls of
the museum’s main display for the
next 12 months.
Determining who gets inducted
each year is a research-intensive
labor of love. The statistics, game
records, honors and specific sports
achievements of each nominee are
painstakingly verified by volunteers,
who prepare the voting lists used by
the Sports Legends program mem-
bers.“We need new sports enthusi-
asts to join us,” said Menasco.“This
ensures the program’s survival and
there are MANY volunteer oppor-
tunities.”
Antioch Sports Legends is the
brainchild of a quintet of commu-
nity athletic boosters who did the
groundwork for raising the thou-
sands of dollars needed to create
the quality displays; retired Antioch
city recreation department employ-
ees Menasco and Dave Sanderson,
businessmen Leo Fontana and Ed-
die Beaudin, along with Jim Boc-
cio, Sr.
When you visit, take a kid with
you to the museum and show him
or her the Babe Ruth LeagueTeam
photo on the wall: point out the
grinning face of the very small-
est kid on the team, an elementa-
ry-school student named Aaron
Miles. “That little guy,” you can
say, “worked hard, practiced hard,
and like many other Antioch kids,
dreamed of hearing the crack of his
bat in the World Series - and his
dream came true.”
ANTIOCH SPORTS LEGENDS at the Antioch Historical Society Museum
1500 W. 4th Street, Antioch, CA
DISPLAYS OPEN: Wednesdays and Saturdays, 1-4 p.m.
925.757.1326
www.antiochsportslegends.com
Founders of the Sports Legends (top L-R) Dave Sanderson, Jim Boccio Sr.
and Eddie Beaudin, (bottom L-R) Leo Fontana, Tom Menasco. Photo by Linda
Thompson.
Ron Pritchard (AHS Class of 1965) came back to Antioch for his induction in
2007. Pritchard played 10 years in the NFL, retiring from the Bengals. An an-
nual award for the best football linebacker at AHS is named after him.
Here is what NFL Hall of Famer Gino Marchetti (AHS Class of 1944) looked
like in his playing days with the Baltimore Colts. To the left are some of Mar-
chetti’s personal affects in the museum.
Gene Rounsaville (AHS Class of
1962), the first Antioch athlete to
sign a pro baseball contract with
the Phillies, shown with former NFL
player Pritchard in front of the “An-
tioch to the Pros” display.