Sam Khalifa, the highest drafted baseball player in Tucson history, stood tall a few feet from the first Tucson player to win a World Series crown, Pat Darcy.
The two stood in front of a room full of people at the Holiday Inn and told stories about Sparky Anderson, Willie Stargell and plenty of other former greats.
That was one of the many special moments Wednesday at the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame announcement news conference.
The Hall of Fame announced its 16-member class for 2012.
Darcy, inducted into the Hall in 1995, had a question-and- answer segment with 12 of the members.
Here's a brief look at the 16 who will be inducted in October.
Peggy Baker
Known as: Longtime athletic director at Palo Verde
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In one sentence: Baker played badminton for four years at Amphitheater and for two more at the University of Arizona before serving as the AD for 24 years for the Titans.
Edward "Buddy" Doolen
Known as: Basketball and football player at the UA
In one sentence: An all-state hoops player at Catalina, Doolen played for four years at Arizona and played football in his fifth year, starting at defensive back.
Glenn Ezell
Known as: An all-state athlete at Amphitheater
In one sentence: Ezell played nine seasons of minor-league baseball for the Mets, Twins and Giants and currently serves as the minor-league spring training coordinator and instructional league coordinator for the Detroit Tigers.
Ken Fones
Known as: The head tennis and football coach at Catalina
In one sentence: Led the Catalina tennis team to a 99-match winning streak and won five state titles and six district championships during that span.
Kelly Fowler
Known as: State champion winning softball coach at Canyon del Oro
In one sentence: Fowler won more than 170 games as a head or assistant coach at CDO, including four state titles and also coaches the Desert Thunder travel team, which has produced more than 50 future Division I players.
Phil Gruensfelder
Known as: Softball coach and athletic director at Salpointe Catholic
In one sentence: Gruensfelder took over as AD at Salpointe in 1999 after winning 259 games as the school's softball coach the previous 10 years.
Sam Khalifa
Known as: Former member of the Pittsburgh Pirates
In one sentence: Khalifa, a former Sahuaro star, bypassed a scholarship offer from Arizona State after he was selected seventh overall in the 1982 MLB draft.
Rick LaRose
Known as: A head coach at the University of Arizona for 39 seasons
In one sentence: Coached both the men's and women's golf teams at the UA to national championships and is the only coach in NCAA history to win a men's and women's title.
Randall Moore
Known as: Former standout basketball player at Pueblo.
In one sentence: After playing college ball at Abilene Christian in Texas, Moore started a successful coaching career and has served as the head coach at Pima and is now the head man at Pueblo.
Tony Morales
Known as: Former basketball and baseball player at Arizona
In one sentence: Morales was the head coach of the 1961-62 boys basketball team at Tucson High, which won a state title. He won 178 games total.
Dwight Rees
Known as: Successful head coach at Sunnyside and Pima College
In one sentence: Rees led the Blue Devils to the 1993 state championship, the first in school history.
Jimmy Riccitello
Known as: Professional triathlete
In one sentence: The Santa Rita graduate attended Arizona and then began his triathlon career, which spanned more than 20 years and included more than 50 championships.
Saturnino "Curly" Santa Cruz
Known as: Longtime football coach at Pueblo
In one sentence: Santa Cruz led the Warriors to an undefeated regular season in 1988 and his '92 team was the last Pueblo team to qualify for the postseason.
Carlos Serrano
Known as: Championship-level motocross competitor
In one sentence: The Sunnyside graduate learned to ride bikes in his neighborhood and then won Mexico's most prestigious event, the Gran Premio de Armistad.
Dave Sitton
Known as: Award-winning broadcaster for Arizona sports
In one sentence: Sitton has served as the local television voice for UA hoops since 1990 and won the national Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy Award for basketball play-by-play in 2010 and football in 2011.
Julie Walters
Known as: State champion winning coach at Catalina Foothills
In one sentence: Walters has led the Falcons boys soccer team to four state championships and also won a state title as the boys golf coach in 2001.
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