For CM, gym class

In this spirit today we bring you Ron Perry, the man and the memory -- by any measure one of the greatest high school and college athletes who ever prowled New England's ballfields.

Don't be confused. We're not talking about Ron Perry's son, Ronnie Jr., who belongs in any debate of this type. Today we're toasting the deeds of Ron Sr., perhaps the best there ever was on the playing fields of the Globe's circulation area.

We remember Ron Perry today because the good people at Catholic Memorial High School next Monday will do the right thing and name the gymnasium in honor of the man who brought more honor to the building than anyone else on the planet. Those who think of Catholic Memorial as one of our best athletic programs would do well to know that the school didn't even have a baseball or basketball team until one year after Perry started there in 1958.

Perry is being honored because of what he did after his playing days. He spent a lifetime providing structure, leadership, and competition for young people as a longtime coach and athletic director at Catholic Memorial and AD at Holy Cross.

The story goes back to 1949 when Perry, a high school junior, was a member of Somerville High School's New England championship basketball team. In the late 1940s, a Somerville game at Boston Garden would attract more interest than the Celtics, then a floundering team, losing in the playoffs every year despite the efforts of young coach Red Auerbach.

"Somerville was known as the school of the city," remembers Perry, who lives in Shrewsbury, with Pat, his lovely wife of 49 years. "At Tech Tourney time we would play preliminary games for the Celtics and bring 2,000 or 3,000 fans."

In baseball, young Perry took his team to the state finals as a senior. He was a righthanded pitcher.

From there it was on to Holy Cross, where Perry became a captain and national champion in baseball and basketball. When he was a sophomore hurler at the Cross, the Crusaders won the NCAA championship at Omaha in 1952. He went 23-2 over four seasons and it can be safely argued that this will be the only national baseball championship ever won by a New England school. In hoops, the Crusaders went 26-2 and won the NIT in Perry's senior season, 1953-54, when he had teammates named Tom Heinsohn and Togo Palazzi. Those were the days when the NIT was every bit as big as the Final Four.

In the late 1950s, Perry sometimes threw batting practice to Ted Williams at Fenway Park.

"Ted was feisty," said Perry. "I threw strikes, so he liked me. I remember that he did not hit the ball to left field and he never hit a ball near me. He hit a rocket shot to right-center and I said `That's a double.' He said, `They had the shift on, so that's an out!' I threw him a changeup on the inside and he hit it into the bullpen. I think I enjoyed that more than he did."

Drafted by the Celtics in 1954, Perry signed with the Boston Braves after Holy Cross, but a three-year stint in the Marines shortened his pro sports career. The Perrys already had started a family when Ron was discharged from the service. He left spring training with the Braves in 1958 and went to work at Catholic Memorial in the fall of 1958. He was the first lay teacher at the Catholic high school. The basketball and baseball teams were founded a year later with Perry as the first coach, and by 1962 they were winning state championships. Coaching stars named Ron Teixeira, Arthur Good, Bobby Joyce, Jimmy O'Brien, Billy Raynor, King Gaskins, Fran Costello, and Mike Vicens, Perry's basketball teams went 292-34 and won three state championships (56 straight wins in 1969-70). His baseball teams went 186-53 and included major leaguer Skip Lockwood.

Perry returned to the Cross as AD in '72 and served until 1978, a period when the Crusaders built the Hart Center, joined the Patriot League, downsized football to Division 1-AA, and still went to the NCAA basketball tournament regularly.

In well-deserved retirement, Perry keeps an office at Holy Cross and spends a lot of time watching over his nine grandchildren.

"I've been very blessed," he said. "My decisions were never based on money. In the '60s I had the opportunity to go to a Division 1 college basketball program, but I was happy with what I was doing. The Brothers were terrific at CM and I enjoyed working with the kids and I enjoyed teaching math. I enjoyed all my time as a player and a coach -- those were fantastic times in my life -- but I've never dwelled on one thing over another. When I look back, things have worked out pretty well."

That's an understatement. Perry comes from a generation of understatement. Don't brag, just do the job with dignity, and respect will come your way.

And now there'll forever be a Ron Perry Gym at CM. The same gym where his hoop teams once won 93 consecutive games.

"It's a tremendous honor," he said. "It's one of the nicest things that could ever happen. It just came out of the blue. To be remembered in that way at this time in my life is something special."