VGI Updates

John Peter "Pete" Beiden, son of Henry Beiden, was born 30 January 1908 in Dinkel. He died 6 March 2000 in Visalia, California.

He was coach of the was hired to coach baseball at Fresno State University in 1948 and led the Fresno teams to nine CCAA championships and took his 1959 team to the College World Series in Omaha where they came in third.

The baseball field at California State University, Fresno bears his name: Beiden Field.

Alex Metzler played professional baseball as a centerfielder for the Chicago Cubs in 1925 and the Philadelphia Athletics in 1926 prior to joining the Chicago White Sox in 1927. He also went on to play for the St. Louis Browns before retiring in 1930.

Alex Metzler was inducted into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame in 1966.

Alex Metzler, son of Henry Metzler & Mary Schwabenland, was born 4 January 1903 in Fresno, California, and died 30 November 1973 in Fresno.

Henry Metzler, Alex's father, was born in Straub.

Boxer Billy Mahoney was really William "Christ" Biehl, son of Fred Biehl Sr. & Sophia Ritter. He was born 13 August 1909 in the Volga German daughter colony of Gnadendorf and immigrated with his parents and siblings to the United States in 1910. He grew up in Fresno, California, where he died on 9 February 2000.

He boxed in the Welterweight class with a career win-loss-draw tally of 11-6-4. His debute fight was held 13 January 1921 and his career ended in 1924.

Billy Mahoney was a 1950s-era sports writer.