BOB BLAKLEY
Football and Baseball, 1973-77
Inducted February 10, 1990

Bob Blakley was one of the SMSU Bears’ top two-sport athletes in recent years, lettering in football in 1973, 1974, and 1975 for Coach Don Cross and in baseball from 1974 to 1977 for Coach Bill Rowe.  A native of St. Joseph, Blakley played slotback for the grid Bears for three seasons and earned MIAA all-conference first team selection in 1974 as a sophomore and all-league second team honors in 1975 as a junior.  He helped the Bears to records of 7-3 and 6-4-1 his last two seasons at SMSU.  Blakley finished his career with 732 yards and 7 touchdowns rushing and caught 49 passes for an additional 793 yards and 3 touchdowns.  He ranked among the all-time top 10 in receiving stats when he graduated.  In baseball, Blakley was the Bears’ centerfielder for four years, starting what was, at that time, a record 138 consecutive games for SMSU.  He was the only SMSU player and only one of two in the MIAA to gain all-conference first team honors in baseball four years in a row, and was selected to the NCAA Division II All-American first team as a freshman in 1974.  He hit .440 his freshman season to become the only SMSU baseballer ever to be selected as the team’s Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season.  He was also the MIAA Rookie of the Year in ’74 and was on the all-regional team three times.  Blakley’s four-year totals saw him rack up 171 hits, score 121 runs and drive in 130 runs with a .366 batting mark.  He had 20 doubles, 12 triples, 30 homers and 41 stolen bases and now, 13 years after his graduation, he still ranks among the Bears’ all-time top five in a dozen different offensive categories.  Blakley played professionally in the San Diego Padres organization for three seasons after his SMSU graduation.