Former Pioneer coach to be honored
Representatives from Pioneer High School's 1966 and 1967 Suburban
League championship baseball teams will gather Friday to honor the late Howard Pollock
for his contributions as a coach and athletic director in a ceremony
at the school.
A commemorative plaque will be given to Pollock's daughter, Dana
Hicks, during a ceremony at 2:45 p.m. before the varsity game against
visiting Del Rio League leader La Serna. A plaque also will be placed in
the home dugout.
The festivities will feature comments from event organizer and former
Pioneer player Hal Young along with Anthony Gonzales, a former Pioneer
coach and current California High School physical education teacher who
worked with Pollock, and former team members.
Pollock's teams won five league championships in eight years, according
to Young, who was a member of the 1966-67 title teams. Ed Thomas was the
CIF Southern Section, Division 3A Player of the Year in 1967, and
several players from those teams went on to play college or
professionally. Another of Pollock's players, Bill Saunders, earned the Player of the Year honor in 1962. Both Thomas and Saunders reportedly will be present for the ceremony.
Pollock served as the Titans' coach for 16 years. Gonzales replaced
him and led the program for 17 years. "He was brilliant and very
professional," Gonzales said. "He was a strategic baseball coach - he
taught me a lot about strategy. I learned so much from him, and I tried
to continue his tradition as coach."
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Roger Murray is the prep sports editor for the Whittier Daily News.
Having grown up near Pioneer during the 60's I remember hearing about coach Pollock from Anthony when he was just a kid himself working the summer program at Nelson Elementary School, and Anthony could attribute those qualities to himself as well. He was an influence in my young life, and he went on to build an even better program at Pioneer, with several of his players signing pro contracts. Playing against his teams back then was always a tough battle. Not only did they have a very good Pioneer Little League feeding it, but Anthony taught the basics- defense first, pitching, little ball- and coaches always warned their guys about Anthony's trick plays. He was an innovator, and he taught a college level game to high school kids; his son is now doing the same up at La Serna. Anthony Gonzales Sr., and his son both have an amazing passion for the game and have served several communities well over many years now. Congratulations to the Pollock family, and to Anthony Gonzales and his great family, who built on coach Pollock's legacy both at Pioneer and at Califonia. Whittier area baseball to this day owes him a debt of gratitude.