Fairly Good Ballplayer

High school sports serve as a rite of passage for the athletes who play them, the student, friends and families that gather to watch them and the sportswriters who cut their professional teeth covering them.

High school football games in Los Angeles date to 1896, but it wasn’t until 1934 that the Los Angeles City Section was born.

The Southern Section was established in 1912 and held its first athletic competition in 1913.

This story is not an attempt to document the achievements of every outstanding athlete, coach and team that made a mark, for there are far too many to chronicle here.

Rather, it is a history lesson of sorts told by current and former Times staff writers who have written about Southland prep athletes. Most of the writers graduated from Los Angeles-area high schools. And while many have gone on to cover college and professional sports as beat writers or columnists, all maintain indelible images of the prep athletes they watched, covered and, in some instances, competed with and against on the playing field.

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Approaching my 40th year of covering baseball in Southern California--first at the Long Beach Press-Telegram and, since 1968, at The Times--I have seen a wide range of outstanding young players come out of the most productive area in the nation to reach the major leagues.

Last summer alone, two area products, George Brett of El Segundo High and Robin Yount of Woodland Hills Taft, were inducted into the Hall of Fame, and a third, Tony Gwynn of Long Beach Poly, passed the 3,000-hit milestone to guarantee his induction into the Hall.

The list of the area’s top products is too long to mention here, and my coverage of major league baseball precluded me from seeing many of the best--such as Darryl Strawberry, Eric Davis and Eddie Murray--perform in high school.

But I make no apology for selecting Ron Fairly as the best high school player I ever saw.

Fairly played at Long Beach Jordan. I was involved in prep coverage at the Press-Telegram when he was on his way to becoming the CIF co-player of the year with Alhambra Mark Keppel’s Mike McCormick in 1956.

My recollection of Fairly is that of a powerful young red-headed hitter who seemed to collect a double or home run every time he came to bat. He probably didn’t, but that recollection must not be too far wrong, since Fairly was good enough to make his major league debut with the Dodgers two years after sharing the CIF honor and ultimately played 21 years in the majors, driving in more than 1,000 runs. He also remains a Southern California product, living in Westlake Village with his wife, Mary, while a member of the Seattle Mariner broadcasting team.