Athletic director Chris Grossman was inducted into Monte Vista High School’s Hall of Fame along with the rest of the 1998 championship baseball team on Sept. 29. Grossman played on the baseball team as a student, graduating from Monte Vista in 1999, Grossman said.

The Hall of Fame is a prestigious recognition program that honors contributors to the school’s athletic history, Monte Vista High School assistant principal Andy Popper said in an email. The Hall of Fame committee comprises current and retired faculty as well as community members, Popper said. 

This induction marks the first time an entire team has been inducted into the Hall of Fame, opposing the norm of inducting a specific player, Popper added. 

“We decided to induct a team [this time] to acknowledge their accomplishments in our school’s athletic program and culture,” Popper said.

After being inducted, inductees have their names displayed on a plaque in the school, alongside a short biography highlighting their achievements, Popper added.

Grossman said he first found out about the induction through a text message from his old teammates, whom he had not contacted in several years. 

“It was really cool to see the people I’ve spent a lot of time playing and growing up with,” Grossman said. “We recaptured some of the magic we had when we played together in high school by looking back at our experiences.”

What made the team special, Grossman said, was the bond between many members of the team developed from playing together since elementary school. Grossman said playing sports in his youth was one of the main factors that inspired him to continue playing in his adulthood, such as with Team USA.

“Doing so many different sports at a young age and then having success at [those] sports just kept me wanting to keep playing, to keep doing it,” Grossman said. 

Grossman’s old teammate, now head Monte Vista baseball coach Matteo Miramontes said the induction was significant because they were the first and only baseball team from Monte Vista to win the North Coast Section championships. The team lost a small total of four or five times, as the senior players benched themselves to let sophomores play, Miramontes said. 

“One of the things that contributed to our success was leadership. It was the selflessness of those leading seniors that took over,” Miramontes said. “They took over the team, and by showing they were willing to do whatever it takes to win, we just went off after that.”