The EGOT is the showbiz holy grail.
Only 11 people have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, including Mel Brooks.
Ron Hassey might just be baseball's version of Brooks - or, at least, Tucson's.
Hassey, the New Orleans Zephyrs manager and former UA catcher, is a baseball legend here for three reasons.
1. He won a state championship with Tucson High.
2. He won a NCAA title with the Wildcats.
3. He won a World Series with the Oakland Athletics.
Fun fact: He also won a city championship with Mansfield Junior High in 1967.
"Those are the things you try to accomplish as a player," Hassey said before his Triple-A Zephyrs lost 7-6 to the Tucson Padres in a Pacific Coast League game at Kino Stadium on Thursday night.
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"To be able to win as a pro, as an amateur and in college, the whole bit, makes you feel like you've accomplished something in your life. I've been in the game for 37 years, and there's been a lot of ups and downs."
Hassey's major-league ups included three World Series appearances, a career .323 post-season batting average in 16 games (all with the A's), and his feat as the only one in big-league history to catch two perfect games - with Len Barker in 1981 and Dennis Martinez in 1991.
In reality, he was never a star, more of a well-traveled role player. He played for six teams in 13 seasons (in order: Indians, Cubs, Yankees, White Sox, Athletics, Expos), had a career .266 batting average, 71 home runs and 438 RBIs.
But, it's easy to note the best part of Hassey's career - that aforementioned trifecta.
"I'm very fortunate and lucky to have been able to play on good teams," Hassey said. "It's not just me. It's a team effort."
Here's a look at those three signature moments:
High school state championship
Where: Tucson High
When: 1972
The manager: Ray Adkins
The number: 25-0. The Badgers record in their championship season
He said it: "When you win a title like that, you kinda remember it and you remember the players who played on that team. It was a good team, it was really special. Ray Adkins made it fun to play baseball, and I think when you play any type of sport you gotta have fun while you do it. You remember those times."
NCAA Championship
Where: University of Arizona
When: 1976
The manager: Jerry Kindall
The number: 1. This marked the first of three World Series titles for Kindall.
He said it: "The College World Series was the best moment of my career, because when I first came to the U of A that was Kindall's first year, his first recruiting class. It took four years to win a World Series, and to be able to do that in a short period of time was very special. It's not easy to win."
World Series winner
When: 1989
The manager: Tony La Russa
The Number: 0. At-bats in the 1989 World Series for Hassey. He had six at-bats in the ALCS that year.
He said it: "Yeah, that was special. You hit a goal when the season starts and then you accomplish it."
