A Colorado Sports Hall of Fame banquet for all seasons is scheduled for tonight at 6 p.m. at the Denver Marriott City Center.
For football, there is Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. Baseball is well represented by Andres Galarraga, a hero for the Rockies in their first season (1993), when he won the National League batting title. Galarraga also hit six grand slams and compiled a .316 batting average while playing in 679 games at first base for the Rockies.
Scott Wedman holds up basketball’s end, having played at Mullen High School, the University of Colorado and in the NBA with Kansas City, Cleveland and Boston.
Hank Kashiwa brings a career in skiing, where he won a national championship in 1969 and a world pro title in 1975.
The sport of tennis couldn’t find a better representative than Carol Baily, winner of 14 singles titles and 27 doubles championships in the state’s three major tournaments.
Ben Dreith completes the list of six new inductees, bringing them all together as an NFL official of renown and an all-around athlete at Denver North High School and the University of Northern Colorado.
“I’m glad it happened before I’m dead,” Dreith said. “Something like this puts the cap on my career in sports.
“I was born and raised here. It really makes me feel good because of where I came from. The Globeville area didn’t have a lot of fields or places to play sports when I was growing up.”
When told of his induction last fall, Bowlen noted he was joining an impressive list of Broncos alumni already in the state’s hall of fame.
“I’m honored, but also I’m thinking about the inductees from the Broncos who already are in there,” Bowlen said. “Some of them have coached and played for me.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
