City to honor Yanks’ Coke at Dec. 7 meeting

The Sonora City Council will honor Sonoran Phil Coke for his performance during the New York Yankees’ World Series-winning season on Dec. 7.

Coke is a relief pitcher with the Yankees who graduated from Sonora High School in 2001. He worked his way up through the minor league teams and into the Yankees active roster. He has an impressive career earned run average of 3.74.

City Councilman Dave Sheppard, an avid baseball fan — or “nut,” as he refers to himself — has followed Coke’s career over the past 60 games and was surprised to see that nothing had been planned to welcome the local hero home after his World Series performance.

“We’re going to present a certificate, it’s going to be really nice,” Sheppard said. “We’re quite excited. It’s a small effort on our part to get him more recognition than he has in the county. I don’t know how many people are aware of this prodigious young man.”

Phil Coke, as well as his parents, are expected to attend.       

The Dec. 7 council meeting will be held  at 5 p.m. at the City Hall at 94 N. Washington St.