Clear skies. Low around 65F. WNW winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph..

Clear skies. Low around 65F. WNW winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.

Last month I received an email from a Yucaipa reader. She inherited a mound of sports stuff and wanted me to judge its worth. I’m not Christie’s Auctions, but I gave it a shot.   

I arrived on trash day ironically enough and was greeted by the woman in the driveway. The middle-age couple at the house requested anonymity.  

They had items that easily could have gone in the garbage like posters and books, but also some collectibles. They showed me a stack of well-kept Los Angeles Rams’ yearbooks from the late 1950s and early 1960s. That was toward the end (1949 through 1960) of when the Rams trained during the off-season at the University of Redlands.  

I plopped myself down on a wooden box and promptly reduced the box to sawdust – perhaps an indication I should cut down on the ice cream. They’ll be hearing from my attorney, Larry H. Parker (I jest).  

Most intriguing in their collection was a binder with baseball cards from 1960 and ’61. Some were Topps cards. Others were clipped from the boxes of Post cereals. That was a thing back then.    

Even the most casual collector knows Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron cards are valuable. I Googled the cards, and my friends were pleased to learn they might fetch more than $500 apiece.  

Other cards were more interesting than valuable. Like Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitcher Harvey Haddix who had a perfect game for 12 innings against the Milwaukee Braves. Hard-luck Harv lost the game in the 13th on a single by Joe Adcock.

There was also a card of Pirates’ second baseman Bill Mazeroski. He was best known for turning double plays and for hitting the home run that beat the Yankees in the 1960 World Series.   

Based on what I saw, the couple is sitting on thousands of dollars of baseball cards and some football programs worth $20 to $30 apiece. As for my injuries from the broken box, I will not pursue legal action.   

Redlands East Valley High’s athletic program suffered a blow recently. Standout two-sport sophomore Ci’ella Pickett has transferred to Cajon.  

Pickett led the REV softball team in hitting last season as a freshman with a .548 batting average. She had six home runs and 19 runs batted in, despite missing some games with a concussion suffered against Heritage of Menifee.

T-bird grad homers  for Mets farm team

Yucaipa High grad Jacob Reimer, playing for the St. Lucie Mets of the Florida Complex League, has hit his first professional home run. He also had a triple among four hits in 11 at-bats through the end of last week. Reimer has driven in six runs, including five in one game.  

Reimer was a fourth-round pick (119th overall) by the Mets in the July free-agent draft.   

REV was routed in its season-opening football game with visiting San Jacinto. But the Wildcats’ student support was impressive.  

A few hundred students gathered in REV’s “Red Zone” cheering section and rooted all game, with few leaving early. The Wildcat cheerleaders were also in full voice and the REV band did its thing. Nice display by REV.   

San Jacinto football running back David Myers ran 74 yards for a touchdown against REV last Friday night.  Then Myers did a flying chest bump of teammate Richard Wood and sent Wood sprawling. “Thanks for knocking me over,” Wood tweeted after the game.

Dick Bruich, the former Fontana and Kaiser of Fontana football coach, was inducted into the California prep football Hall of Fame last week.  

Bruich led Fontana to two section titles and a mythical national title. He also led Kaiser to a pair of section titles. He is the father of Citrus Valley football coach Kurt Bruich and a familiar face at Blackhawk games.  

REV grad Damon Keith of the Great Lakes Loons continued his rampage on Friday, Aug. 19. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor leaguer hit a solo home run, a double, walked twice and drove in three runs in the Loons’ 12-7 win against the Lansing Lugnuts in a Midwest League game.  

The previous night Keith hit two home runs and a triple. He amassed 19 total bases in two games.  

Redlands East Valley High grad Jenna Patton is again on the Cal State San Bernardino women’s volleyball team. She had 144 kills last season. Patton began her college career at the University of Texas, San Antonio.  

Correction: The Redlands East Valley football team captain was listed with the wrong first name in last week’s Citrus Belt League preview. His name is Johnny Silva.  

John Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@redlandscommunitynews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PrepDawg2.

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