German, Clifford J.

Clifford J. German – (2000)

 

Lorain native Cliff German found his niche in Admiral King High School athletic history by becoming a four-year participant in three sports: earning three varsity letters in baseball, two in football and and two in wrestling.

It was baseball where he made his biggest impact as an outstanding defensive catcher and slugger who compiled a career .370 batting average on teams that went on to capture three conference championships, three sectional tournament and three district championships. He was team captain his senior year and was voted first team AP All-Ohio honors as catcher.

Following graduation, German was pursued by major league scouts from the Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles. However, he opted instead to further his baseball aspirations at Miami of Ohio University whose head coach was former AKHS baseball coach Forrest (Bud) Middaugh, now head baseball coach at the University of Michigan.

German played four years at Miami where he played with or faced such future major league stars such as Buddy Bell (Indians), Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia Phillies) and the late Thurman Munson (New York Yankees). Bell was manager of the Detroit Tigers and is now manager of the Colorado Rockies. Schmidt and Munson are both in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In the baseball off-season at Miami, German took up handball and would wind up helping win the intramural doubles championship two years in a row. Unfortunately, an arm injury ended any dreams he may have had of moving on to a professional baseball career.

Upon graduation from Miami in 1971, German returned to his hometown where he became a teacher and coach at Irving Junior High School, serving as head coach in football and wrestling and assistant coach in track. His first year as head football coach saw Irving capture its first city junior high championship in 36 years.

He moved on to Atlanta, Ga., in 1972 where he played racquetball and slow pitch softball, but returned to Lorain in 1979 to work in management at U.S. Steel where he led the Bar Mill slow pitch team with a .700-plus batting average in two championship seasons.