The school was the alma mater of a number of major-league players, including Sparky Anderson, Chili Davis and Don Buford.

In one of his best seasons, he hit .276 for the 1975 San Francisco Giants, collecting 48 runs batted in and 28 stolen bases, both career highs.

[2] He was traded along with Bill Greif and Mark Schaeffer from the Astros to the San Diego Padres for Dave Roberts on December 3, 1971.

[1] "Let's put it this way: Derrel Thomas does things that make it easy to hate him," Dodgers teammate Reggie Smith said.

[6] Following his playing career, Thomas briefly coached at Los Angeles City College and was the first manager of the Boise Hawks in 1987, then an independent team in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League.

In March, a Dorsey baseball player fatally shot himself on the team bus while playing Russian roulette.