Playgrounds To The Pros: An Illustrated History Of Sports In Tacoma-Pierce County

From games played in schoolyards to professional championship teams, sports have occupied an important place in the cultural development of the Tacoma area. Playgrounds to the Pros provides an extensive overview of the sports played in the region during the last 150 years. It is not limited to such crowd favorites as baseball, football, and basketball; it also includes archery and auto racing, bowling and boxing, horseshoes and hydroplanes, marbles and mountaineering, soccer and swimming, and much more. This history of more than 40 sports acknowledges the many men and women athletes who have contributed to their sports over the years, including Lois Secreto, who epitomized ice skating in the 1940s; pro golfer Ken Still, who competed in six Masters, 13 U.S. Opens, and seven PGA Championships; Ryan Moore, who won the 2004 U.S. Amateur Championship; Doug Stevenson, goalie of the riotous Tacoma Rockets in the late forties and fifties; and Gertrude Wilhelmsen, 1936 Olympic athlete and star shortstop of the Tacoma Tigerettes. It is also a tribute to the colleges, schools, organizations, owners, managers, coaches, referees, umpires, and fans who have helped make sports such a significant part of Tacoma and Pierce CountyÕs community, a place where love of a game, any game, is honored and enjoyed. Historian Caroline Denyer Gallacci is the author of The City of Destiny and the South Sound. Marc H. Blau is president of the Shanaman Sports Museum, assistant executive director for the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame, and a longtime member of the Tacoma Athletic Commission. Doug McArthur is a sports broadcaster, journalist, and former athletic director at University of Puget Sound.