Several Spokane-area contributors selected to state American Legion Hall of Fame

Longtime high school baseball coaches Ron Brooks and Jim Wasem lead Spokane-area contributors among eight individuals who are to be inducted into the state American Legion Baseball hall of fame in a ceremony Saturday in Suquamish, Washington.

Brooks was the baseball coach at Shadle Park High School for 40 years and retired at the end of the 2020-21 school year. Brooks coached ALB from 1978-83 and has been an active board member of Spokane ALB since 1990. He headed the field renovation project at Shadle Park, which brought the American Legion World Series to Spokane in 2010. He is a member of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association baseball hall of fame.

Wasem has been baseball coach at Rogers High School for the past 30 years. His start with Legion ball was in 1975 as a player in Marysville, Missouri. He played college baseball at Eastern Washington and professionally for seven seasons. Wasem started coaching Legion baseball after his playing days ended, first in Canada for several years before settling in Spokane, where he spent 10 years coaching the AAA Northstars program.

Also to be honored are Paul Carroll, who has served in the American Legion Post 9 for more than 16 years and volunteered with Spokane ALB for more than 15 years, managing Al K. Jackson Field at Shadle Park High School for the past eight years. He also assisted in the transition of Spokane Indians Youth Baseball to legion ball.

Jay Miller, a four-year letter winner for Washington State and All-Pac-10 honorable mention, was drafted in the 17th round by the Philadelphia Phillies and played professional baseball for four years.

Former KREM broadcaster, East Valley graduate, Washington State alum and former American Legion player Eric Johnson is the guest speaker for the event.