This feature originally appeared in the Fall edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.



When Louis "Ed" Sanclemente passed away in 2016 at the age of 92, the Cal Athletics family lost the starting third baseman for the 1947 NCAA national champion Golden Bears. But in his death, Sanclemente sent his legacy soaring with a bequest to Cal baseball.
 
Sanclemente batted .369 during the '47 season and hit .400 in the College World Series, driving in two runs as the Bears swept Yale for the national title.
 
Having also served in the Navy en route to completing his collegiate career as a student-athlete, Sanclemente earned his BA in physical education in 1949 from Cal and received his postgraduate certificate in physical education from the University in 1951.
 
After graduating, Sanclemente played two seasons of professional baseball in Spokane, Wash., then worked as a teacher at South San Francisco High and served as the Athletic Director at the Olympic Club in downtown San Francisco before returning to his childhood home of San Diego.
 
Back in the area where he shagged flies with Ted Williams in a University Park playground as a youth and was a three-sport student-athlete at San Diego High School, Sanclemente remained devoted to the game of baseball and never stopped loving the Golden Bears.
 
Per his obituary in the San Diego Tribune:
 
"Sanclemente returned to San Diego and taught at La Jolla High before rejoining Mike Morrow [who was his coach at San Diego High] as the assistant baseball coach at what was then called San Diego Junior College. Sanclemente became the Knights head coach in the late 1950s. As the head coach at San Diego City College, Sanclemente won several championships in the
 
Metropolitan Conference, which at the time was regarded as the strongest junior college conference in the United States. After winning the 1964 Metropolitan Conference title with a doubleheader sweep on the final day of the season, Sanclemente became the first baseball coach at San Diego Mesa College, where he won more titles until retiring in 1989."
 
The obituary added that as Sanclemente enjoyed the company of loyal friends and players over the waning years of his great life, he counted watching "his beloved California Golden Bears on television" among his favorite pastimes.
 
"We take great pride in our alumni base and the connection that we're able to keep with those who care so much about our program," Cal head coach Mike Neu said. "For Ed to make the type of commitment that he did to our long-term success is a big deal. We are truly thankful for his contribution to Cal baseball."
 
Sanclemente's bequest of $272,500 to Cal baseball makes him a posthumous member of the Baseball Bullpen Club as well as the Benjamin Ide Wheeler Society. In shining a light on the program that he loved, Sanclemente's bequest also illuminates the impactful ways that donors can leave their legacies on the teams that matter most to them.
 
Donors can utilize various flexible strategies for planned gifts – from publically traded securities and retirement plans, to charitable trusts, annuities and business interests – to achieve their charitable estate planning goals while creating a large and lasting impact on Cal Athletics. These gifts, among the University's largest sources of income, truly improve the future of Cal Athletics and the student-athletes who represent the Golden Bears.
 
Those who make a planned gift to Athletics receive membership to The Benjamin Ide Wheeler Society, Berkeley's legacy society established in 1987 to recognize and honor Cal benefactors. For more information on making a planned gift to Cal Athletics, email CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.
 
In memory of Louis Edward Sanclemente and all great Golden Bears who are gone but not forgotten – Go Bears.