Inaugural memorial gala nets over $85k for La Sierra University athletes

The Frank Jobe Memorial Gala held April 25 at the Riverside Convention Center attracted roughly 800 attendees. The event featured former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tommy John and Emmy-winning sports commentator and journalist Roy Firestone. Fundraising activities included a silent auction of sports memorabilia of professional teams and athletes including Muhammad Ali and NFL greats Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

The gala honored Jobe, a legendary sports orthopaedic surgeon, L.A. Dodgers team physician and La Sierra University alum who is credited with pioneering ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery on John’s left elbow in 1974. The procedure, which Jobe estimated had a 1 in 100 chance of success, became known as ‘Tommy John’ surgery and saved John’s pitching career. It also subsequently prolonged or saved the careers of 150 professional baseball players. Over the years, Jobe performed the crucial operation on more than 1,000 pitchers of varying ability. The surgery has also been used with athletes of several other sports.

John is a former pitcher for the Dodgers and New York Yankees, and four-time All Star in Major League Baseball. He is noted for his cumulative 288 career victories, including 164 scored after his unexpected return in 1976 with a left elbow restored by Jobe’s groundbreaking procedure. He retired from baseball in 1989 at age 46.

The gala commenced with a welcome by Master of Ceremonies and La Sierra Athletics Advisory Board Chair Stan Morrison, an invocation by La Sierra Foundation Board Director Larry Geraty, and Jobe family introduction by La Sierra University President Randal Wisbey. La Sierra’s award-winning student vocalist Anthony Leon and fellow musicians, including music department Chair Elvin Rodriguez performed. Firestone then took the stage with a pre-show of humorous stories, punctuated with musical satire, of interviews he conducted over the years with many of the world’s famous sports figures including basketball great Shaquille O’Neal, boxing legends Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali, and others.

The gala’s centerpiece event involved Firestone’s armchair interview on stage with John who recalled his injury and subsequent surgery, his perspectives on Jobe, and his insights on various professional ball players.

Firestone took listeners back to the day John injured his elbow while throwing a pitch. “I had a pain in my elbow that I’d never had before in my life,” John said. “It was a stabbing pain like somebody had hit me with a bat. [But then] I threw one more pitch, just to see if it was for real, and it was.”

“Did you think it was over for you, or did you have hope that even though it was kind of a real Hail Mary, that you were going to pitch again to the age of 46?” Firestone asked.

“I didn’t think it would be 46, but what I told Dr. Jobe is, if you do your job, I will more than do my job,” John said.  “If it takes one year, two years, three years, I will work as long and has hard as I need to to pitch.”

John, aided by a video illustration of the surgical procedure Jobe used, described the surgery which involved replacing the ulnar collateral ligament in John’s elbow with a tendon from the forearm.

Firestone then asked about John’s personal relationship with Jobe. “He was an outstanding surgeon, but he was the kindest, most gentle man I ever met in my entire life,” said John.

“When they honored Dr. Jobe at the Hall of Fame, I said there are three men who changed the face of baseball – Jackie Robinson [first African American major league baseball player], Marvin Miller [American baseball executive] and Frank Jobe. And all three of them should be in the Hall of Fame.”

Jobe graduated from La Sierra University in 1949, then studied medicine at Loma Linda's College of Medical Evangelists, now Loma Linda University School of Medicine. In 1965, along with sports medicine physician Robert Kerlan, he founded the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic. He was honored as La Sierra University’s Alumnus of the Year in April 2013, and in July of that year received a special recognition from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. during its Hall of Fame Weekend. Jobe passed away on March 6, 2014, at age 88.

Following the event, Christopher Jobe, Frank Jobe’s eldest of four sons and also an orthopedic surgeon, said his father would have been very pleased with the gala. He said his father’s values were reflected in the values of the university, including its athletics program. “My father was known for his kindness and appreciated the athletics department’s participation in the Champions of Character program,” Jobe said.

The athletics department last fall was awarded its first gold designation by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics as a Champions of Character Five-Star Institution, in part the result of student-athletes’ top conduct in competition and academics. The program incorporates five core values -- integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership.

La Sierra University’s Golden Eagles varsity NAIA athletics program offers men’s and women’s basketball, soccer and cross country, men’s baseball, women’s softball and women’s volleyball. Its teams have made it to national playoffs and won conference championships. The university currently budgets for one athletics scholarship per sport, a number department leaders hope to change.

In April, La Sierra’s Athletics Director Javier Krumm was recognized by NAIA as Athletics Director of the Year for the California Pacific Conference for 2015-16. He encapsulated the spirit of the evening in the days following the gala. “The Riverside Convention Center is still shining after such a magnificent event,” he said. “The Frank Jobe Memorial will be a cherished memory by many and remembered for a long time. We hope to see everybody again next year.” He thanked those who brought the gala to fruition, including members of the Riverside community.

Former Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge who attended as a member of La Sierra’s Foundation Board described the evening as “a marker of the coming of age of La Sierra University. I was impressed by the support represented by those who attended and sponsored the dinner. As a past Mayor of Riverside, I have long contended that the most important assets [and] resources of the city are the three universities and Riverside Community College District. I value the many ways that La Sierra University has reached out to the greater Riverside community. The dinner was an important example,” he said.

“I think the event was fantastic,” said La Sierra junior Health and Exercise Science major Eduardo Gomez del casal Rodriguez. He attended the gala along with many members of La Sierra’s sports teams. A native of Spain, he transferred to La Sierra from Barstow Community College after learning about La Sierra during a university recruitment effort.

Rodriguez is a six-foot-six guard on La Sierra’s Golden Eagles basketball team. He aims to pursue a master’s degree and perhaps a doctorate in physical education toward teaching physical education. He also wants to continue playing basketball, a favorite family sport that includes his uncle who played professional ball in Barcelona, he said.

Rodriguez knows well the impact scholarships can have on students’ lives. He is a recipient of three scholarships, including an award for his 4.0 grade point average. “They are very important to me,” he said of the scholarship assistance. “I believe that scholarships can change your life.”

The fundraising gala resulted from the efforts of a La Sierra University Foundation Board subcommittee chaired by James Fuson, senior general manager of the Galleria at Tyler.  “The benefits from creating the gala became special for us all when we understood that athletics scholarships at times are the single gateway for a student to obtain a higher education,” Fuson said. “To know that an event can make a difference in an individual’s life is very rewarding.”