City Wants Sports Heroes to Come Home--to Invest : Civic pride: The idea is to start a Hall of Fame, honor local athletes who made it big, and entice them to finance a business.

When Atlanta Braves outfielder Lonnie Smith stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded during the fifth game of the World Series this year, it’s a safe bet he was not thinking about his hometown.

But Compton was thinking about him.

As Smith smacked the ball into the stands for a grand slam and the crowd roared, Compton Councilman Omar Bradley and marketing consultant Reginald Beamon turned from the television and said, “We’ve got to get Lonnie back home.”

“Lonnie Smith showed the world what it meant to be a (Centennial High School) Apache from Compton, California, when he hit that grand slam,” Bradley said last week at a ceremony honoring the baseball player.

During two hours of speeches at a pep rally at Smith’s alma mater, Compton marked not only pride in its native son, but the beginning of a concerted effort to bring its sports heroes home.

“We don’t want them to forget Compton is their home,” Beamon said. “We want them to come back and reinvest in the community that gave to them. To attract more professional athletes, Beamon is attempting to start a Compton Hall of Fame. Smith, he said, is just the beginning.

“The idea is to get them to come back to Compton, where we will honor them for their achievements,” Beamon said. “Then we convince them what a great place Compton would be to start a business.”

Beamon, a marketing consultant for sports equipment manufacturers, is not talking about a small-scale effort. Most towns can point to one or two pro athletes as their own, but Compton has dozens of former residents who have played or are playing professional sports.

“Those are the guys I know, and I’m old--33,” Beamon said. “I can’t keep track of all the young guys. But we’ll find them.” Once found, these athletes will be opening restaurants, sporting goods stores and other businesses all over town, Beamon hopes.

Before Beamon’s effort began, Greg Townsend, defensive end for the Los Angeles Raiders, opened a sports bar in the city-run Ramada Hotel in September. Now Beamon and Bradley want more.

“There are other people from Compton doing great things, but pro athletes are the most visible people--the most well-recognized successes,” Beamon said.

To create the Hall of Fame and bring more pro athletes home, Beamon is looking for corporate sponsorships. He persuaded Taco Bell to support “Lonnie Smith Day” with a trade that will benefit the fast-food giant.

In exchange for $1,200 to support the Smith celebration, Beamon arranged a Taco Bell concession at Centennial High School one day a week.

Every Friday, Taco Bell will be allowed to sell burritos, nachos and cinnamon twists in the campus snack shop, and the school will receive 18% of the profits. Taco Bell sold its food after the pep rally and was pleased with the results, said Rodney Bell, 26, general manager of the Compton store running the Centennial concession. He declined to say how much money the firm took in.

“We’ll be there for a couple of months at least,” Bell said. “We wanted to be able to make back our donation.”

According to Beamon, the money donated by Taco Bell was spent for limousine rentals, flowers, plaques and other gifts for Smith and his wife. When other sports heroes are welcomed back to the city, Beamon expects to give them the same first-class treatment before he persuades them to set up shop in the city.

As for Smith, he is warming to the idea of starting a business in the city where his parents and family still live. He and Beamon are considering a partnership in a sporting goods store, Smith said.

But mostly, Smith said, he wanted to return to his alma mater as an example of what teen-agers could accomplish if they stay in school and away from drugs. Smith has undergone drug rehabilitation during his baseball career.

“I just hope they realize,” Smith said, “that even though they’re from a city that’s struggling, they can be anything they want.”

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Professional Athletes From Compton

Player School Team Dates Football Eric Bieniemy Bishop Amat San Diego Chargers current Cedric Brown Compton High Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1976-78 Joe Cain Compton High Seattle Seahawks current Robin Cole Compton High Pittsburgh Steelers 1977-78 Vernon Dean Compton High Washington Redskins 1982-87 and Seattle Seahawks 1988 Marv Fleming Compton High Green Bay Packers 1963-69 and Miami Dolphins 1970-74 Nesby Glasgow Gardena High Seattle Seahawks current Gaston Green Gardena High Denver Broncos current Floyd Hodge Centennial High Atlanta Falcons 1982-84 Darrin Nelson Pius X Minnesota Vikings current Freeman McNeil Centennial, Banning New York Jets current Vernon Maxwell Verbum Dei Los Angeles Rams current Hardy Nickerson Verbum Dei Pittsburgh Steelers current Mike Richardson Compton High Chicago Bears 1983-88 Greg Townsend Dominguez High Los Angeles Raiders current Basketball David Greenwood Verbum Dei San Antonio Spurs 1985-91 Baseball Hubie Brooks Dominguez High California Angels 1992 Chris Brown Crenshaw High San Diego Padres 1987-88 and Detroit Tigers 1989 George Hinshaw Compton High San Diego Padres 1982-83 Mitchell Page Compton High Oakland Athletics 1977-83 Lenny Randle Centennial High Seattle Mariners 1981-82 Lonnie Smith Centennial High Atlanta Braves current Duke Snider Compton High Brooklyn Dodgers 1947-64

Sources: Reginald Beamon and Compton coaches