East Hills Alumni
Eric Thames
Eric Allyn Thames, born November 10, 1986.
He is an American professional baseball infielder for the Milwaukee Brewers. He previously played outfielder in Major League Baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays, and Seattle Mariners.
Eric Thames grew up in the San Jose area and began his baseball career at East Hills Little League. He attended Bellarmine College Prep where he was an all league player 2 years and a team MVP as a senior in 2004. Thames then attended West Valley Community College after sitting a year at Cabrillo College in 2005. During the 2006 season Thames made the Northern California all-state team, and he also made the first team all conference squad. From there, Thames transferred to Pepperdine University Thames was drafted from Pepperdine University by the New York Yankees in the 39th round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft, pick number 1191 overall. He chose to continue his studies at Pepperdine. He was drafted the following year by the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, pick number 219 overall.
Kenny Williams
Selected by the White Sox in the third round of the 1982 amateur draft, Williams made his debut in 1986 and spent three years in Chicago, primarily as a center fielder, before being traded to the Detroit Tigers in 1989. The Tigers waived him during the 1990 season, and he was claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays. Williams remained with the Blue Jays, usually coming on as a pinch-runner due to his speed. He was the starting center fielder when Dave Stieb threw his only no-hitter, the first no-hitter in Toronto history. He is best remembered as a player for a bizarre incident during the 1990 season, where a series of wild throwing errors resulted in him (on base as a pinch-runner) rounding third base and mauling over third base coach John McLaren, knocking him out in the process (Williams himself was winded, but eventually ended up scoring the run). This humorous clip would be played over and over in blooper reels for years to come. Williams retired from baseball in 1991 and today serves as Executive VP of the Chicago White Sox.
Late Forrest Fezler
In addition to playing Little League baseball at East Hills Little League, Forrest first showed an interest in the game of golf as a 7-year-old boy growing up in San Jose, California by drawing golf holes. As a youth, he would sneak onto the course at the San Jose Country Club to practice. He attended James Lick High School and was a member of the golf team; and a teammate of future fellow PGA Tour playerRoger Maltbie. Fezler attended San Jose City College from 1968–1969, and still holds most of the college's golf records. Fezler won the California State Amateur, Santa Clara County Championship and the California State Community College Championship in 1969. He later attended Stanford University. Fezler played on the PGA Tour from 1972–1983, and won one event. He had 30 top-10 finishes including eight runner-up finishes. He won the PGA Rookie of the Year award in 1973. His career year was 1974 when he won the Southern Open and finished in 2nd place to Hale Irwin at the U.S. Open. This was his best finish in a major championship. .