This year’s event was extra special as it marked the 10th Annual Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration. Not only did we usher in five new tremendous athletes, but the added emphasis honored all our past inductees once again. This brought the total to 50 inductees enshrined in the prestigious Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame. In a truly unique celebration, many of the past inductees were in attendance as we celebrated Sacramento’s 50 Greatest Athletes of all time.
To make this even more memorable, we held this year’s celebration at Golden 1 Center, home of the Sacramento Kings and so many other high-profile events in our thriving downtown area. Sacramento’s Best Annual Sports Night of the Year once again lived up to the billing and its moniker with a fun filled evening of speeches, video tributes, music and live comedy. It was truly another amazing evening filled with laughter, emotions and a star-studded cast of inductees and audience members honoring our rich sports heritage.
The Class of 2026 featured another great group of talented and accomplished inductees: Jim Breech, Mike Burton, Stan Hack, Ricky Jordan and Dustin Pedroia. Each of their stories was told in dramatic and informative fashion as the audience relived their career highlights and got to know each inductee’s personal journey and accomplishments.
With the emphasis on celebrating Sacramento’s 50 Greatest Athletes, 28 of them were represented by walking the stage in the grand introductions. From the first class in 2013 to the latest group of 2026, it was quite a scene to see Sacramento’s greatest sports reunion of all time.
In attendance were Dusty Baker, Bill Cartwright, Tony “The Tiger” Lopez, Summer Sanders, Leron Lee, Debbie Meyer, Jeff Float, Greg Vaughn, James Owens, Pete Ranzany, Loreto Garza, Jerry Royster, Jerry Manuel, Dan Bumz, Geoff Jenkins, Aaron Garcia, Trevor Matich, Gerald Willhite, Leon Lee and Jamie Whitmore. Darnell Hillman was represented by his son Lloyd as Darnell and several other past inductees have either passed on or were unable to attend due to health issues or work-related commitments with many now living across the country.
The Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame continued its tradition of inducting its ninth local Special Olympics Athlete as part of our partnership and fundraising efforts with Special Olympics Northern California. Rodney Hayes was inducted on this night while past inductees were also honored and recognized again. Donald Shendel, Deanne Bridgers, Patrick Underly, Rolando Jimenez, Jonathan Sparks and Robert Bodas were in attendance along with the other nominees of this year’s class. The Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame has now raised over $50,000 during these events in donations to Special Olympics Northern California while honoring these athletes and raising awareness of their exceptional talents and character.
The 10th Annual Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame Celebration featured another successful and amazing rendition of honoring our city’s greatest athletes of all time that once again made for a fun and entertaining evening. Thanks to all of those who attended and have supported our mission over the past decade in paying tribute to our athletes and Sacramento’s storied sports tradition.
Click here for event photos.
Click here to see the list of inductees and their videos.
If you have any photos or videos you'd like to share, please email us at SacSportsHOF@att.net. We'd love to post them on our website!