Baseball - 2006

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Hal Charnofsky moved to Los Angeles and quickly made the Southland his lifelong home base. Charnofsky attended Lincoln High and USC, where he achieved outstanding success both on the field and in the classroom. In 1952, Charnofsky received All-America and All-Conference kudos as the shortstop half of the Trojans’ formidable double-play combo alongside his brother Stan. He still stands at No. 2 on USC’s list of all-time career batting averages with a three-year .376 clip.

Charnofsky would continue his baseball career in several minor league systems as both a player and manager. He played with the New York Yankees’ farm teams at Binghamton, Mobile, Greensboro and Modesto. In the off-season, the avid learner earned a Master’s degree in English from USC. Apart from the classroom, he managed two pennant-winning minor league teams - at Greensboro and Modesto, where he was voted manager of the year in 1959, before retiring from baseball at age 32.

Still, Charnofsky stayed in the game as an assistant coach to Rod Dedeaux’s USC squad from 1961-66, including the NCAA championship team of 1963. He earned his Doctorate in Sociology from USC in 1966.

A Manhattan Beach resident until his death in 2002, Charnofsky was a Cal State University Dominguez Hills professor for 36 years and a founding member of the Dominguez Hills Sociology Department. As a groundbreaker in the area of co-parenting, Charnofsky helped launch Dominguez Hills’ Marriage, Family and Child Counseling Master’s program. He was awarded the CSU “Outstanding Professor Award” in 1992.