On December 30, 2009, former East LA Dodger player and current coach, Phillip Valdez, was inducted into the East LA Dodgers' Hall of Fame. Coach Phil played witht the ELA Dodgers from 1997-2003, as a Mickey Mantle, Connie Mack, and Stan Musial player. As an outstanding LHP and first baseman, Phillip Valdez had an outstanding career with the ELA Dodgers. A fierce competitor, he was called upon to pitch in the biggest and most important games. Because of his success on the mound, the ELA Dodgers became one of the elite teams in California.
In 2004, after his playing days were over, Phillip began coaching in our lower level program. He is now coaching our Blue Team, our top NBC Collegiate Team. Because of his leadership and expertise, our Blue Team has experienced much success, including the 2009 Western Baseball Association League Title.
Congratulations to Phillip as our firt inductee into our Hall of Fame!
Class of 2010
On December 28, 2010, Co-Founder and former ELA Dodger Coach, Mark Viramontes, was inducted as the second member of our Hall of Fame. Mark is currently assistant coach at San Diego State University. He works with the catchers and outfielders. Mark also coached at Cal State LA and at Univ. of San Diego. Mark co-founded the ELA Dodgers with Coach Leo in 1997 and coached with him until 2004. He has had a tremendous impact on hundreds of players in the ELA Dodgers organization. We are very grateful for his service to our organization. We wish him the best at San Diego State with Head Coach Tony Gwynn.