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THE LEGEND OF
TO M MY K A R A K A LOS
PART 2
By MATT LOVE
Ever since I started watching
high school baseball games at
Ernie Aiken Field in Astoria, I
wondered: Who was the last hitter
to smash a pitch 500 feet down
the right fi eld line and into Youngs
Bay? Surely if some batter pulled
off this prodigious feat of slugging,
it would have to be a local legend.
I asked my question around
town, investigating a legend, and
a name kept coming up: Tommy
Karakalos.
Not too long ago, I sat down
with Tommy Karakalos at his
home in Astoria and interviewed
him. After hearing him recount
the fabled home run — actually
two! — I left thinking I might
have just heard the
greatest story in the
history of Oregon high
school baseball.
It was the summer
of 1962 and an Amer-
ican Legion team from
Portland traveled to As-
toria for a game. After
the left-handed-hitting
Tommy belted a pitch
with his Mickey Man-
tle Louisville Slugger
into Youngs Bay off a
right-handed hurler, “He
just stood on the mound
and shook his head,”
said Tommy.
The pitcher’s name
was Rick Wise, and Wise
later went on to pitch
18 years in the Major
Leagues, won 188 games
and was a two-time All-
Star. He also threw a no-hitter.
Wise told current Astoria High
School baseball coach Dave
Gasser that Tommy’s homer was
the hardest he’d ever been hit,
and Wise faced the likes of Willie
Mayes and Hank Aaron.
PHOTO BY MATT LOVE
Above: Tommy Karakalos stands near Ernie Aiken Field in Astoria, where
he never misses an Astoria High School baseball game. When he was in
high school in the 1960s, Tommy hit two home runs into Youngs Bay.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Left: In this photo from Astoria High School’s 1963 yearbook, Tommy
Karakalos plays baseball at Ernie Aiken Field.
The next summer, Tommy
smashed another one into the bay
off another right-handed Portland
high school pitcher during an
American Legion game.
“He threw me a fastball. I hit
it on the sweet spot, and it took
off,” Tommy recalls.
The pitcher’s name was
Wayne Twitchell, and Twitchell
later went on to pitch 10 years in
the Major Leagues and was an
All-Star in 1973.
After a professional game
where a player crushed one of
Twitchell’s pitches into the upper
deck of a stadium, a television
announcer asked him if that
was the hardest he’d ever
been hit. No, Twitchell re-
sponded, that happened back
in high school in Astoria,
Oregon.
In other words, former
Astoria High School baseball
player Tommy Karakalos’ only
home runs that splashed down in
Youngs Bay came off two future
Major League Baseball players
who both said it was the hardest
they were ever hit.
And as far as anyone knows,
no one ever hit one into the bay
before or after Tommy.
That’s what’s called a legend.
“I’d love to see someone do
it again,” said Tommy, and if it
does happen, he’d witness the
splashdown himself because he
never misses an Astoria High
School baseball game at Ernie
Aiken Field.
Matt Love is the author/editor
of 14 books, including
“A Nice Piece of Astoria.
” His books are available at
coastal bookstores or through
nestuccaspitpress.com