The city of Monroe LA is building a new baseball field for the Monroe School District which College Baseball HOF inductee Wilbert Ellis showing his support for the field. He believes that this project should increase the African-American participation numbers which are clearly down at all levels of baseball especially college. It is coming to be a rare site to see an African-American playing baseball as we continue to see the increase in showcases and other forms of elite amateur baseball play.

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FROM PRESS RELEASE
LUBBOCK, Texas—San Diego State’s dominant right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg is the recipient of the 23rd annual Dick Howser Trophy as college baseball’s player of the year. The presentation was made Thursday for the first time In Lubbock, Texas as part of the festivities to recognize and induct the College Baseball Hall of Fame and the awarding of several other national honors for 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

John Winkin with Gary Thorne (Bangor Daily News Photo by Michael York)

The Bangor Daily News has an excellent article on former Maine coach John Winkin who took the Black Bears to the College World Series six times with the most recent appearance in 1986. He also coached at Colby College of Waterville ME and Husson College of Bangor ME during his 53 year career from 1954-2007. He was able to accumlate over 1,000 victories combined with the three schools. He finished his coaching career in 2007 when he suffered a stroke on his daily walk in Bangor. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo Courtesy of Christine Muschi/Reuters)

Darren Dreifort who is known for his MLB career with the Dodgers is currently looking forward to making the trek to Lubbock TX for his induction to the College Baseball Hall of Fame on July 3rd. Dreifort played three seasons at Wichita State where he had his most success in 1993 when he received the Golden Spikes Award. He went 11-1 with a 2.48 ERA while also serving as a DH where he had a .327 average with 22 homers and 66 RBI. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM COLLEGE BASEBALL FOUNDATION
LUBBOCK, Texas – The College Baseball Foundation announced today the names of the 10 players and coaches comprising the 2009 National College Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Class.

“This is an exciting day for the Hall of Fame every year,” said Mike Gustafson, co-chair of the Hall of Fame and member of the CBF Board of Trustees. “It’s another remarkable class.” Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
LUBBOCK, Texas – The College Baseball Foundation announced today that voting is now under way for the 2009 class of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock. The ballot to select this year’s inductees features 51 players and 18 coaches.

“We’re looking forward to seeing who the voters will elect to this year’s Hall of Fame class,” said Mike Gustafson, co-chair of the College Baseball Hall of Fame and Board of Trustee member for the College Baseball Foundation. “Each person on the ballot was a truly exceptional college baseball player.” Read the rest of this entry »

bleedCrimson.net has set up a page to honor legendary head coach Gary Ward who was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame on July 4th. The page includes his induction speech as well as a few pictures from the event.

View the video at bleedCrimson.net

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
LUBBOCK, Texas — From Sun Devils to Longhorns, the greats of college baseball came together Thursday during the third annual induction for the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.

“The College Baseball Foundation is proud to recognize the members of this year’s Hall of Fame class,” said Mike Gustafson, Hall of Fame co-chair and College Baseball Foundation board member. “This is an exceptional class dominated by some of the best pitchers in the history of college baseball.” Read the rest of this entry »

Our buddy over at BleedCrimson.net talked with Gary Ward and Rocky Ward about Gary being inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame two days ago. Gary is currently the assistant coach with the New Mexico State Aggies with his son Rocky as the head coach. Gary had a successful career with Oklahoma State from 1978-1996 then with the Aggies in 2001 and 2002 before turning the reins over to his son. Gary led Oklahoma State to 16 consecutive conference titles and 17 NCAA Regional appearances, and 10 trips to the CWS. He led the Aggies to the 2002 Sun Belt Championship as he finished with a 1,022-361-1 record which is fourth all-time. You can hear the whole interview by clicking here.

FROM PRESS RELEASE
LUBBOCK, Texas – The College Baseball Foundation announced today the names of the 12 players and coaches comprising the 2008 National College Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Class.

“We are very excited to announce this year’s class,” said Mike Gustafson, co-chair of the Hall of Fame and member of the CBF Board of Trustees. “There are some exceptional players an coaches in this year’s class and they deserve this recognition.” Read the rest of this entry »

Former Longhorn player and coach Bibb Falk was inducted posthumously into the College Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Falk was represented at the Lubbock Convention Center ceremony by his niece Clemmie Hext.

“To hear all the baseball stories of Uncle Bibb,” Hext said, “you would have to be somewhere for a long while. He was gruff on the outside but had a heart of gold on the inside, and he touched so many lives. He always had a determined look on his face and a baseball rulebook in his pocket. He was a baseball man through and through but a wonderful human being. He truly loved all his players – especially the ones who competed on the 1949 and ‘50 national championship teams at Texas.”

Texas Sports.com

http://www.collegebaseballfoundation.org/

FROM COLLEGE BASEBALL FOUNDATION RELEASE

The inaugural Veterans Class of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame was inducted this morning in a ceremony held in Lubbock, Texas. Jack Barry of Holy Cross, Lou Gehrig of Columbia, Christy Mathewson of Bucknell and Joe Sewell of Alabama comprised the class.

Barry, a player and later coach at Holy Cross, coached the Crusaders for 39 seasons, including a College World Series title in 1952. Representing Barry in the ceremony, which was conducted as part of the “Hall of Fame Showcase” at City Bank Texas, was his nephew, Mr. Tom Deedy. A video speech was played from Ron Perry, former Holy Cross athletic director and a player for Barry on the ’52 national champions, in which he spoke of Barry.

“Jack Barry stressed the fundamentals and he demanded that we be mentally alert at all times,” Perry said. “He did not hesitate to replace a player who was not attentive.”

Gehrig, who set several offensive records and also pitched for Columbia, was represented by Barry Neuberger, Associate Athletics Director for Sports Marketing at Columbia University. He detailed a home run hit by Gehrig on campus at Columbia that traveled through a distant classroom window.

“I’ve had this story detailed to me a number of times, and all accounts are consistent,” Neuberger said. “The ball traveled about 450 feet.”

Bucknell baseball coach Gene Depew accepted the induction plaque on behalf of Mathewson. One of the first college men to achieve prominence in professional sports, Mathewson was better known in college as a football star.

“Grantland Rice referred to him as the finest drop-kicker of his time,” Depew said. “He also played a horn in the band and sang in the glee club.”

Joe Sewell played at Alabama from 1918 to 1920, and later coached the Crimson Tide to the SEC title in 1968. His daughter, Mary Sue Sewell Parnell, and son, Dr. James Sewell, described a father who loved to tell stories about his baseball days.

“He loved baseball until his death,” said Dr. Sewell.

“He told us about being roommates with Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, although he said he roomed with the Babe’s suitcase more often than the Babe himself,” Pernell laughed.

Hall of Fame festivities will continue on July 4 with the induction of the 2007 Class of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. The class of 11 includes John Olerud of Washington State, Jim Abbott of Michigan and Fred Lynn of USC.