When I was 13 in my first year of Jr. High School my first dream was to play on the Jr. high baseball team knowing full well I was good enough to make the team and be a starter.
I played sandlot ball with most of the guys trying out so I knew where I stood. 
When I went to try out Ken told me I was too young and only 8th and 9th graders could play.
Needless to say I was totally devestated and down right mad !!!.
For the next few days while the team was practicing on the ball field I would play catch with myself throwing the ball against the wall of the gym as hard as I could not realizing Coach Gimblin was watching me as my frustration played out on the gym wall and pavement.
I guess he saw something in me that he liked and came over and said, "I've been watching you and I think I've made a mistake not letting 7th graders try out, I want you to try out with the team"
I was so excited and couldn't wait to get home and tell my Dad.
I not ony went on to be the first 7th grader  to make the Jr.high baseball team but 3 years later I was the only sophomore to make the Varsity High School team.
It was Ken's belief in me as a young man and ballplayer that motivated me to always do my best and never give up on a dream.
He took me to my first Major League baseball game and took me on the field and I was able to meet and have pictures taken with some ball players, many of them now in the Hall of Fame.     
That was the beginning of a life long friendship with Ken I will never forget.
God Bless you Coach and thanks for the memories !!!  

 

This was taken sometime in the 1970's.
You can tell by the wood paneling and the burnt orange carpeting. 

Like so many other people, I grew up in the 60's listengint to Ken's reports on KROY radio.  

In 1985, I was hired to be the statistian for the Sacramento Kings and I was lucky enough to sit next to Ken every home game for the first 3 years at the first Arco Arena.  I always enjoyed talking sports with Ken in those years.  

I was so glad I was able to see and talk to him twice this past season (just 6-8 weeks ago).  He was a wonderful person and a real gentleman. 

Mr Gimblin was just a great man.

Some of my most cherished memories as a young child were because of his doing.


I remember playing at halftime of a Warriors game. Mr Gimblin gave me a sweaty wristband from the game on the ride home (which i couldn't believe).

He was one of kind and I will miss him.  

Click on the link below and you will be taken to the KROY Website where you can read a tribute written in memory of Ken.  (By the way, if you were a Sacramento resident in the 1960's through the 1980's, you will remember KROY as THE radio station).

http://www.1240kroy.com/whatsnew.html#gimblin

I first met Coach Gimblin in the fall of 1977 at Albert Einstein Junior High School in Sacramento.  I was in 8th grade and Coach Gimblin was my PE teacher and basketball coach.  I have so many fond memories of Coach Gimblin I don't even know where to begin.  He took me and so many others to countless SF Giants and GS Warriors games in 1978-79.  Not only did we attend the games but he always made sure we had pictures with the pros, autographs, and souveniers.  I had at least 5 baseball bats that were used by Ginats players.  He used to get them after they broke.  Some only had hairline fractures so we played with them all summer long pretending to be Willie McCovey, Darrell Evans or Johnnie LeMaster.  One of my best memories was meeting Vida Blue and getting to take a picture with him.  Somehow Coach Gimblin printed the pic and had Vida sign it.  36 years have passed and it's still one of my most prized possesions.  Meeting Clifford Ray and playing at halftime of the Warriors game was also a highlight for me and many others. Coach Gimblin was not only giving - he was a great basketball coach as well.  He was tough but no one doubted how much he cared for each and every one of us.  One thing you could always count on at halftime was orange slices and a broken clipboard if we weren't playing well. hahahaha.  None of us minded because we knew he was pushing us to be the best we could be.  One of the main reasons I became a credentialed teacher and HS basketball coach was becasue of Coach Gimblin's incredible influence in my life.  Rest in Peace, Coach.  You will be missed!!

Scott Sorgea

Originally published 4-24-2014
By Robert D. Davila

Ken Gimblin, an influential teacher and sports journalist who covered Northern Californiateams for many radio and TV stations, died April 15 of a heart attack, his family said. He was 76.

Decades before Ryan Seacrest turned up everywhere as a TV host, radio personality and producer, Mr. Gimblin was a expert multitasker who juggled careers as an educator and sportscaster. He started teaching at California Middle School in Sacramento in 1961 and later ran a successful student internship program at the state Capitol. Meanwhile, he reported on local high school and college sports for KROY radio and was the first sports anchor for KTXL Channel 40 in the 1970s.

“He told me once that he would get up, do a radio show, teach all day and then drive down to San Francisco to do an interview,” his sister Jean Cress said. “In the van on the way back, he’d sleep. Then he’d go into the station, write everything up and do the show. The next day, he did it all over again.”

For more than 50 years, Mr. Gimblin hustled harder than many top-dollar athletes as one of the most respected sports journalists in Northern California. In addition to college teams – fromSacramento State to Stanford and UC Berkeley – he covered the San Francisco Giants and 49ers, the Oakland A’s and Raiders, and the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings for major Sacramento and Bay area media outlets.

“When I was covering the Giants at Candlestick (Park) in the 1970s and ’80s, Ken helped me so much,” said Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, a Spanish-language Major League Baseball announcer. “He was a real gentleman who treated everyone with respect, no matter who it was. He was a very talented man, and we’re going to miss him.”

Besides working as sports director at KTXL, Mr. Gimblin built a loyal following in Sacramento reporting for KCRA, KGMS and KWOD radio, including live coverage of the Camellia Bowl atHughes Stadium. While working as a sportscaster for KXTV Channel 10, he eased into game shows as the popular host of “Bowling for Dollars,” a nationally syndicated program. In addition, he spent spent many years as a spokesman for the California State Fair.

Widely admired for his extensive knowledge of professional sports and teams, he founded his own company, Multi-Media News and Sports, as an umbrella organization for his services as a journalist, public relations expert and tour host for Giants and Raiders booster clubs. He was spotted in the press box at a Giants game a few days before he died, family and friends said.

“Ken was top-notch,” said Lee Leonard of Sports Radio Service. “He was always giving tips and helping people who were trying to break into the business. He had relationships with so many people in radio and TV. He was a classy guy.”

Kenneth Earl Gimblin was born Dec. 2, 1937, in Sacramento. He began doing on-air sports for KXOA and KFBK radio while attending McClatchy High School and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education and social studies from California State University, Sacramento.

He taught for many years in the Sacramento City Unified School District and oversaw Practical Politics, a program that placed high school students in internships at stage agencies and Capitol offices. In recent years, he was a substitute teacher at Capital City School, a Sacramento City independent studies program.

Mr. Gimblin was divorced and is survived by two daughters, Carolyn Bonanno and Jennifer. In addition to Cress, he is survived by two other sisters, Catherine Wilson and Nancy, and a granddaughter.

A memorial is set for 1 p.m. May 10 at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, 8701 Elk Grove-Florin Road, Elk Grove. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Sacramento State, through a secure site accessed at www.csus.edu/giving.

Link to this article published in The Sacramento Bee:
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/24/6352354/obituary-sacramento-teacher-ken.html#storylink=cpy