Golden Knights hoping health is wealth against Eagles
SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — The Glendale YMCA Quarterback Club, in its 68th year, meets Tuesday’s at the Elk’s Lodge. The following are odds and ends from the sixth meeting of the year.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS SEEKING GOOD HEALTH
Mired in a rare three-game losing skid, St. Francis High will likely see the return of three key players to its lineup Friday night against visiting Chaminade in a Mission League contest.
Veteran St. Francis Coach Jim Bonds said running backs Michael Melnick and Austin De Los Santos and standout left tackle Patrick Carroll might return when the Golden Knights (3-3, 0-1 in league) face a Chaminade squad that’s 6-0 and ranked second in the latest CIF Southern Section Western Division poll behind Gardena Serra.
“We just have to keep an even keel and we have another tough test against Chaminade,” Bonds said. “We feel like we match up with them speed-wise.”
Bonds also reflected on St. Francis’ 41-14 loss to Serra, the defending CIF-State Division III champion, on Saturday at Friedman Field.
“We knew that we would have our work cut out against Serra,” said Bonds, who saw the Golden Knights’ four first-half possessions result in two straight failed attempts to convert on fourth down, along with a punt and interception. “The score wasn’t indicative to the way our team played.
“We just made some offensive mistakes. If we could have prevented those mistakes and the big plays, then the score would have been much closer. If we can limit our mistakes, then I think we can see them again [in the playoffs].”
NITROS STILL TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT
Glendale second-year Coach Alan Eberhart isn’t accustomed to losing. The last thing he probably expected was to see the Nitros saddled with a 13-game losing streak. Glendale suffered a 26-13 Pacific League loss to visiting Pasadena on Friday.
“We’ve got to try and figure it out,” said Eberhart, whose team fell to 0-6, 0-3 in league and will meet defending co-league champion Burroughs on Thursday. “In our six games, we’ve been in four of them with a chance to win three.
“I’m intrigued. I have to be patient and it will take some patience. We just need to keep playing hard.”
Glendale’s last victory came Sept. 24, 2009, when it topped South Pasadena, 28-21.
FORMER DODGERS GM VISITS CLUB
Fred Claire knew he wanted a career that revolved around sports. After graduating from San Jose State, Claire began that journey by serving as a sportswriter for newspapers in Whittier and Pomona, where he covered high school and collegiate sports and the 1959 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox.
While Claire enjoyed covering various sports, baseball became close to his heart. He turned it into a lengthy journey with the Dodgers, that lasted nearly 30 years. Claire served in numerous roles for the Dodgers, ranging from working in public relations to being the team’s general manager from 1987-98.
Claire’s finest moment came in 1988, when the Dodgers toppled the Oakland Athletics in five games to capture the World Series.
Claire, who was Tuesday’s guest speaker, discussed his countless roles with the Dodgers.
“The Dodgers spent their first four seasons at the [Los Angeles Memorial] Coliseum, and that established a foundation for them in Los Angeles,” Claire said. “In my 30 years with the Dodgers, it was a wonderful journey.
“We had that great year in 1988, when Kirk Gibson came in and changed the mentality of the Dodgers and we had Mike Scioscia as the leader of the team. It was an honor to be a part of the Dodgers under [former owners] Walter O’Malley and Peter O’Malley and working with [former managers] Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda.”
After Claire helped the Dodgers return to the playoffs in 1995 and 1996, the O’Malleys sold the club prior to the start of the 1998 campaign to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.
Claire resigned near the midway point of the 1998 season after the Dodgers traded catcher Mike Piazza and infielder Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins in exchange for four players. Claire had complete control over all player personnel before that mega deal was struck.
