Wally Maciel a special Warrior

I have so many fond and fun memories about Del Norte sports history and the many great people that have made this such a special place.

If someone were to ask me who in my memory would be at the top of my list, it might take me about 10 seconds to say Wally Maciel.

This colorful character has been a part of so much of our past that it is hard to know where to start. He was an outstanding coach, an excellent teacher, a great father, a former voice of the Warriors and an outstanding player on the former Crescent City Merchants —a semi pro baseball team— and an all around great guy.

Wally was born in Crescent City but because of World War II his family moved to Sunnyvale. He graduated from Fremont High School in 1946. After graduation, he moved back to Crescent City and thus started Wally's career as a part of local sports history.

In this column I will look at Wally's college career and his time playing for the Merchants baseball team.

As a recent 17-year-old high school graduate he came back to Crescent City. Wally and another 17-year-old Del Norte High School graduate named Teddy Hoffman were asked to try out for the Merchants. Both made the team.

Teddy as a second baseman and Wally as a shortstop and an outfielder. This combo, while young, were a strong middle infield combo. This duo played together for many seasons. At the end of the summer Wally enrolled at Humboldt State in the fall of 1946. During his time at Humboldt he played baseball and basketball and became a real standout on the Lumberjacks baseball team.

In high school, Wally had been a standout pitcher, getting the attention of several professional scouts. He played professionally for a short time but arm problems ended his pro career. Dring his time at Humboldt he regained his arm strength and became the ace of the Lumberjacks pitching staff.

Wally has a long memory about a time I wish he could forget. This involves Wally in his senior year at HSU and me in my senior year at Del Norte. Back in those days they used to select an all star team of seniors from the Humboldt-Del Norte League and they would play Humboldt State.

Following my senior year, I was fortunate to be selected for that team. Wally was scheduled to pitch a a college game the day after the All Star game, but he was able to talk his coach into letting him pitch one inning. During that inning I came to bat and he struck me out on three straight fastballs. He never fails to remind me, but I still think he cheated and threw golf balls instead of baseballs.

At least that what they looked like. When I look back at Wally's pitching I wish they would have had the present day radar guns. I am sure his would have been in the 90's.

Wally and I played together on the Merchants later. Then and to this day he still reminds me of that strikeout.

After graduating from HSU in 1951, Wally started his teaching career at Crescent Elk in Crescent City in 1952.

In the next two articles I will cover his teaching and coaching career in the district.