“It all starts with the offensive line,” BJ Garbe, the quarterback who had just accounted for 361 of his Moses Lake Chiefs’ 424 yards of total offense, told his local newspaper. “I just take what they give me.” That statement perfectly encapsulates the humility and selflessness of one of the most prolific athletes in Washington state history.

Taken in conjunction with the fact that — after leading Moses Lake to back-to-back appearances in the 3A State Semifinals in football — he won the 1999 National Player of the Year in baseball, the modesty of Garbe’s statement takes on a whole new meaning. Throughout his high school career, the “most beloved and admired student-athlete” in Moses Lake history, in the words of Greg Kittrell, Garbe’s high school football coach, gave his community four years of unhittable pitching, blistering batting, and gridiron greatness. Even more importantly, he provided a poster child for sportsmanship and work ethic.

According to former coaches and administrators, if a close call didn’t go his way on the basepaths, Garbe was still the first player out of the dugout the next half inning, trotting unaffected to his post in center field. After a particularly crushing defeat in the State football semifinal, Garbe still made his way out of the locker room, upbeat as ever, pen in hand, ready to sign autographs for eager children — before thanking them for their admiration.

Today, the former fifth-overall pick in MLB’s 1999 amateur draft retains a legacy of greatness and integrity, exemplifying what a student-athlete leader should look like. As Garbe’s high school baseball coach Donnie Lindgren said, “BJ was the one person that entire teams looked up to.”