His name is Bogie, but his accomplished life of nearly 80 years has been right on par. Between 1967 and 1990 West Seattle's Howard Bogie was a big-league sports statistician and director of Seattle Parks Department's aquatic, athletics, and golf facilities. Since then he has organized 175 golf tournaments and retires this year.

"In the late '70's and early '80's I was doing stats for the Seahawks, Sonics, and Huskies (for KIRO radio), and faxing reports from the Mariners press box to the P-I and other media outlets while at the same time working for the parks department," said the still-energetic health buff who works out on an elliptical trainer an hour a day, five days a week at the West Seattle YMCA. He has lost over 115 pounds after triple bypass surgery six years ago.

"A thousand calories a day and no dessert," he declared. "And no food after 7pm. The doctor said, 'Hey. Do you want to live or not?'"

In his basement home office, among dozens of accolades and pictures crowding every inch of his paneled walls he pointed to a photo of Jack Nicklaus with his arm around a heftier Bogie.

"Yep that was me, standing on the left," he said.

While Bogie's heart is on the mend, those close to him say his is a heart of gold. He organized the first 10 Lenny Wilkens Celebrity Golf Classics that aid the Children's Hospital's Odessa Brown Clinic. He became acquainted with the NBA star player and coach when Wilkens approached him in 1968 for a job during the off-season with Seattle Parks. He hired Wilkens, and they've been buddies ever since. Bogie still lends a hand to Wilkens for his annual golfing tournament. With his longtime role as Wilkens' loyal helper, you might say Bogie leads in assists.

"The first year Lenny worked for me at the Parks Department we held a track meet for the underprivileged in West Seattle Stadium," said Bogie. "Lenny and Jesse Owens gave out ribbons that day. A lot of people there didn't realize what was really happening."

Bogie has also been running his own baby, the Starlight Children's Foundation of Washington Charity Golf Tournament. Last July he organized the Warren Moon & Steve Pool Golf Classic. He also co-chairs the Tibbetts United Methodist Church's 100-year Anniversary Council and brought in Wilkens for a recent motivational speech.

Across from his photo with the "Golden Bear" is another shot of Bogie at Greenland's Thule Air Base, where he served between 1950 and 1954. It was America's northernmost air force base and boasted having the northernmost post office in the world.

On his wall a bracket clenches a line-up of 26 commemorative foot-long Louisville Slugger baseball bats from all over America engraved with just some of the significant games he organized as Seattle Metro's Men's Major Fast Pitch Softball Commissioner.

"We held a national game here at Sick's Field and it was the most profitable and well-attended game ever," he said. "I brought the World Championships here in '76 and we won in extra innings. I think we beat Canada."

"David, then Donald started helping me do stats at those Sonics games," said Howard. "My eyes just weren't good enough anymore." Donald did stats for the Seahawks and Huskies for over 26 years, and David did stats for 12 years for the Sonics, including the era when Wilkens was leading assists in the NBA.

Howard recalled that Wilt Chamberlain was particular about having each rebound and free throw recorded in the stats. He would "visit" the stats booth during the game to make sure they didn't overlook any of his plays. "Statistics are very important. That's how players get raises nowadays," said Howard, who worked with several others during each game. "One person specialized in typing out the play by play. I rotated, but my specialty was keeping the minutes (of athletes' time played on the court or field.)

"I'm a very lucky man," said Donald, Howard's 46-year-old son. "There aren't many people who have a father like I do. We got to do things and go places. "

David became a golf pro in 1978 at Foster Golf Links in Tukwila, then on to Glendale Country Club in Bellevue. He ran the sales department at golf-related Leonardo Manufacturing, also in Bellevue, then became national sales manager for Penna Golf Company in Florida.

"We developed the club Jack Nicklaus fell in love with in 1992, so the owner of Penna and Nicklaus became partners and started Nicklaus Golf Equipment in West Palm Beach," said David, 53, who lives in Jupiter, Florida. "The woods and irons had a unique weighting system that made the clubs very forgiving on off-center hits." David is the company's vice president of operations, distribution, and manufacturing.

And working for Nicklaus? "He's intense, very involved in all his businesses," said David. He's not an absentee owner."

And being Howard's son? "Dad is just a great guy, a genuine person who truly loves what he does," said David. "It has been a nice blend for him being around the sports he loves and being able to bring that into his business."

Howard Bogie's interest in sports was nurtured at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California, where he attended. His father was vice-principal, and his role models included athletes, coaches, and referee graduates, including 6-foot 5-inch Clyde Devine, his swimming instructor. Devine was a champion diver, but his claim to fame was the "pyramid play" he engineered as center for the 1933 University of Oregon Beavers.

Bogie explained, "Clyde was lifted up by his feet onto two tackles to block field goals and extra points. It worked, but they outlawed the play by the end of the year."

The biggest professional sports highlight for Bogie was, he said, witnessing the back-to-back father-and son home runs the Ken Griffey's hit off Angels' Kirk McCaskill on Sept. 14, 1990.

"I mean it was unbelievable. The place went nuts. They couldn't stop the audience from applauding. The Griffeys kept coming out from the dugout. It seemed like an impossibility, nothing you thought could ever happen to a father and son."