POINT LOMA – Almost every high school in the United States has notable alumni, from small rural schools to large urban ones. But Point Loma High School has a distinction unmatched by any high school of any size anywhere.
Point Loma is the only school in the United States that has had two alumni pitch perfect games in Major League Baseball: Don Larsen and David Wells.
Don James Larsen
Don James Larsen was the son of a department store salesman and a housekeeper. Born in Michigan City, Ind., he moved with his family to San Diego in 1944. Their home was in the area now occupied by the original San Diego Sports Arena along what was then known as Frontier Boulevard.
Larsen enrolled at PLHS and was an All-Metro Conference player in basketball, receiving several college scholarship offers in the sport. But after graduating in 1947, the St. Louis Browns of that era offered Larsen a contract to play for one of their minor league teams. He signed for an $850 bonus, saying he was “never much into studies.”
So Larsen, a right-hander, was off in 1947 to play for the Aberdeen Pheasants of the Class C Northern League. After several stops in minor league towns and two years in the Army during the Korean War, Larsen made the roster of the St. Louis Browns. He played in the major leagues for eight different teams before retiring after the 1967 season.
He was known for his love of the nightlife, particularly in New York City, and acquired the nickname “Gooneybird.”
But for one day, on Oct. 8, 1956, Larsen was perfect.
It was Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, and Larsen, pitching for the New York Yankees, arrived at Yankee Stadium to be told by manager Casey Stengel he would be the starting pitcher against the Brooklyn Dodgers that day.
Larsen had started Game 2 and lost a 6-0 lead in a 13-8 loss to the Dodgers. But the Yankees had won both Game 3 and Game 4 to tie the series.
Larsen faced off in Game 5 against Sal Maglie and, on this day, felt his pitches were working well.
In the fourth inning of a hitless game, famed Yankee Mickey Mantle hit a solo home run, and teammate Hank Bauer hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to provide the final 2-0 win.
Larsen needed just 97 pitches for his perfect game, never allowing a Dodger to reach first base. There were several close plays made behind Larsen that preserved the perfect game.
New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra leaps into the arms of pitcher Don Larsen after Larsen pitched a perfect game in Game 5 of the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers on Oct. 8, 1956. (Photo courtesy Associated Press via Portland Press Herald)The final Dodger out was made by pinch hitter Dale Mitchell, a .312 hitter. With a count of 1-2, Larsen fired a strike and the perfect game was complete. An iconic photo shows catcher Yogi Berra leaping into Larsen’s arms.
No other perfect game has been pitched in the World Series since, and it is a record likely to stand for all time.
Larsen retired midseason in July of 1967 from the Oakland A’s. His career win-loss record was not remarkable at 81-91. He had two World Series rings (1956 and 1958, both with the Yankees).
Larsen and his second wife Corrine, drove from their Hayden Lake, Idaho, home (Larsen did not like to fly) to be honored at a PLHS Baseball Booster fundraiser in 2011. At a Harbor Island dinner, video of the final three outs of his perfect game was shown. Watching intently, Larsen told others at his table, “I don’t look nervous there, but I was shaking like crazy!”
Larsen also visited a Pointer baseball practice, speaking to the assembled varsity, junior varsity, and freshman teams.
His advice included an anti-drug message: “Guys, don’t get involved with that (expletive).”
Larsen died on New Year’s Day, 2020, from esophageal cancer at the age of 90. He lived longer than any player on the rosters of the Yankees or Dodgers on the day of his perfect game.
David Lee Wells
David Lee Wells was born in Torrance and raised in Ocean Beach by his mother Eugenia, a member of Hell’s Angels who went by the moniker “Attitude Annie.” He tracked down his father, David Pritt, at the age of 22 and began a relationship with him.
David Wells personally auctioned off numerous items from his immense personal collection of autographed items at a PLHS baseball fundraiser held in 2010 at the former Peckham home along San Diego Bay. (Photo by Scott Hopkins/Special to Peninsula Beacon)As a student at Point Loma High School, Wells described himself as a “gym rat” who spent much of his time at either the Ocean Beach Recreation Center or Robb Field. Wells is a member of the Class of 1982 at PLHS.
At PLHS, Wells played basketball and was a star on the baseball team. He even threw a perfect game during his senior season.
Pointer teammates tell a story about Wells in which he told players on the bench, “Watch…I’m going to go out and walk the bases full on 12 pitches and then strike out the side on nine pitches.” Then he went out and did just that.
Wells’ skills drew wide attention, and he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays as the 30th overall pick on the first selection of Round 2. His first stop was with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays of the Pioneer League. Later, he moved up the ladder to the Kinston Blue Jays before having Tommy John surgery in 1985.
After rehabbing his left (pitching) arm, he rose to the Florence Blue Jays, the Ventura County Gulls, and the Syracuse Chiefs before making his major league debut on June 30, 1987, for Toronto.
Given the nickname “Boomer,” Wells had a lengthy career covering 21 seasons with nine different organizations from 1987-2007. Two of his stints were with the San Diego Padres (2004 and 2006-2007).
For Wells, his perfect day was to come on May 17, 1998.
Pitching for the Yankees in a home game against the Minnesota Twins, Wells took the mound, later telling Bryant Gumbel in a 2001 interview he had a “raging, skull-rattling hangover.”
But in front of 49,820 fans, it took Wells just 2 hours, 40 minutes to retire all 27 Twins batters, defeating them 4-0.
After retirement, Wells returned to his roots as an assistant PLHS baseball coach. In 2010, the school’s baseball field on the grounds of Dana Middle School was named after him. On June 17, 2014, PLHS named Wells head coach, a post he held until leaving in 2018.
He was instrumental in having the school’s home field undergo a $2 million renovation in 2014 that makes it one of the finest fields in San Diego, with artificial turf and a huge digital scoreboard. Wells made sure the team had all the equipment and tools necessary for practice and game success.
Former PLHS vice principal, the late Kevin Gormly, told of how Wells would walk into the school office unannounced and place an envelope on the reception counter.
“Use this for whatever you need,” Wells would say as he left the building. When the envelope was opened, it would be a check for $10,000, Gormly recalled, adding that this happened more than once.
In 2015, he was elected to the Point Loma High School Hall of Fame, honoring both his baseball career and his philanthropic support of the school.
His career highlights included three All-Star selections, two World Series championships, Most Valuable Player in the 1998 American League Championship Series, and most wins in the American League in 2000.
Overall, Wells had a win-loss record of 239-157, an earned run average of .413, and struck out 2,201 batters before retiring in 2007 while with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The first of four consecutive state championship teams coached by Lee Trepanier at left and assisted by Dave Aros at right poses in Balboa Park after their thrilling accomplishment. The team was to win 122 games and lose only one during their run. (Photo courtesy of PLHS Archives)Four-time state championship basketball team
A group of highly talented girls and a coach who defined the term “tough love” came together in the mid-1980s at Point Loma High, and their accomplishments are legendary.
Lee Trepanier was a math teacher at PLHS who also coached girls basketball.
In the fall of 1983, a freshman player enrolled at the school who was to become the greatest player in school history and attract national attention for her accomplishments.
Former Pointer basketball coach Dave Aros introduces Terri Mann-Jacobs, the most dominant prep basketball player in the United States, while playing for Point Loma from 1984-87. During her career, Mann-Jacobs’ teams won 122 games and lost only one, winning four consecutive state championships. (Photo by Scott Hopkins/Special to Peninsula Beacon)Her name was Terri Mann, and she met Trepanier, along with several other freshman girls, and a dynasty was born.
Over the next four years, in Trepanier’s demanding system, they played 123 games. They lost once.
That is not a misprint. The team’s record from 1984-1987 was 122-1.
They won four straight California championships and gained national attention, but it wasn’t easy.
Many of the girls who played as Lady Pointers those four years were living in Southeast San Diego and rode buses to school. Their homes were not always equipped with modern conveniences.
For example, Trepanier needed to contact his players, but some did not have a telephone in their homes. So Trepanier paid to have phones installed in any house without one.
At school, his players did not always have lunch to eat. So Trepanier played games in his classroom like those on television in that era. When girls answered his questions correctly, he gave them money so they could buy lunch. Trepanier also worked tirelessly with his players to make sure each was well-prepared for college entrance.
Mann, who stood just over six feet tall in high school, had a big appetite before she took the court for a Lady Pointer game.
“I needed four tacos from Ortiz’s before every game,” Mann said with a laugh when she returned for a team reunion earlier this year.
Her taco quota aside, Mann was a beast on the court, outscoring and out-rebounding virtually all opponents. In fact, she set a national career rebounding record of 2,256 and scored 3,188 points, second in state history.
She once scored 65 points in a 109-35 win over Chula Vista, a county record.
Some girls played on one of the state championship teams while others played two, three, or four. Mann wore the maroon and gold for all of the four-year run.
There was another connection with the team that remained a large part of PLHS’s future. Dave Aros was a young, bearded teacher on the Point Loma staff and became Trepanier’s assistant coach.
Later, Aros became a beloved teacher and coach at the school before his recent retirement. He taught math and other subjects.
Aros was asked to become involved in Bennie Edens’s football program and quickly became a defensive guru who dissected the offenses of Pointer opponents for decades. He stayed with Edens until his retirement and continued with Mike Hastings for his 22-year tenure as head coach.
But Aros was much more than that – he was also a beloved mentor who guided countless young people into becoming quality people and making important life decisions.
As for Mann, she was the most highly sought-after high school senior in the United States. Her accomplishments appeared in Sports Illustrated and other publications. She was also runner-up for the Gatorade U.S. High School Player of the Year, which disappointed Trepanier. “If there’s a better player in the United States, they’ve got her hidden under a rock somewhere,” he told a reporter for the San Diego Union at the time.
Mann chose to attend Western Kentucky University, but her decision ultimately did not pan out. After having knee reconstructive surgery as a freshman, she only appeared in 12 games and had conflicts with head coach Paul Sanderford.
Mann did not follow Sanderford’s team rules and regulations, which led to her withdrawal. Then 6 feet 4 inches tall, Mann allegedly did not attend classes, violated curfew, and didn’t participate in team study hall.
Today, Pastor Terri Mann-Jacobs lives in Georgia with her five girls and one son. She and her husband began the God’s House of Hope Ministry.
Right behind Mann was classmate Liza Carillo, now Liza Leyva, who still lives in Point Loma. She was often right behind Mann on the scoresheet and organized the player reunion earlier this year.
At that reunion, teammate Beth Thompson fought back tears as she spoke on the microphone about the many ways Trepanier helped his players off the basketball court. In the audience, listening, were Trepanier’s surviving family members.
Coach Trepanier retired from coaching in 1990 with a record of 331-51, a winning percentage of .866. He had been battling stomach and esophagus cancer for two years and died in his sleep on Aug. 2, 1991, at age 56.
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