Charleston Baseball HOF Releases Candidates
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame's advisory committee has released the candidates for their Class of 2011, which will be selected by fans.
The Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame is coordinated and operated by the Charleston RiverDogs. An advisory committee consisting of knowledgeable and local volunteers was created to come up with the names as potential nominees. The Hall of Fame is located inside Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
Official ballots are currently available during games at the Riley Park Guest Services booth and on-line voting has also commenced via a link available at www.riverdogs.com. Voting will conclude on Friday, July 22. On Friday, August 5, the top three individuals and/or teams with the most votes will be enshrined prior to the RiverDogs' game against the Savannah Sand Gnats.
The finalists, in alphabetical order, for the Class of 2011 include:
- Bill Ackerman: Local philanthropist who kept professional baseball alive and thriving in Charleston when he owned the Charleston White Sox from 1959-61; had the opportunity but declined the chance to purchase the Chicago White Sox; deceased.
- Roberto Alomar - A member of the Charleston Rainbows (1985) as a 17-year old who later spent 17 years in the majors playing for the Padres, Blue Jays, Orioles, Indians, Mets, White Sox and Diamondbacks; is a 2011 inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame; was a 12-time All-Star who was the 1992 ALCS MVP (with Toronto) and the 1998 All-Star Game MVP (in Colorado as a member of the Orioles); played in the '92 and '93 World Series; played in 2,379 games and had a career batting average of .300.
- Tim Cook: Middleton High grad who pitched at Newberry ('77-'80); records include most wins/season (11) shutouts/season and career, and strikeouts/season; named All-State and NAIA 1st Team All-America in '77; played on the USA World Cup Team winning a silver medal and played in the '77 NAIA World Series; drafted in the 5th round by the Brewers ('80); reached AAA for the Brewers and Padres; member of the Newberry Athletic Hall of Fame.
- Kiki Cuyler - A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame (1968) who played for the minor league Charleston Pals in 1922 (131 games) at Hampton Park; was an outfielder for 18 seasons (1921-38) with the Pirates, Cubs, Reds and Brooklyn Dodgers; burst into the Pirates lineup in '24, batting .354 as a rookie and the next year led the NL in triples (26), and runs (144), batted .357 while leading the Pirates to the World Series against Walter "Big Train" Johnson and the Senators; the next year he led the NL in runs (113) and stolen bases (35); traded to the Cubs, he continued to be a star over the next 7½ seasons, hitting over .300 five times, and helping them to the '29 and '33 World Series; named a starting outfielder on the NL's All-Star team (the second to be held); career totals were 1,879 games, 2,299 hits, 1,305 runs, 128 home runs, 1,065 RBI, 328 stolen bases and a .321 career average, hitting over .300 10 times (topping at .360 in 1929); deceased.
- Irish Abney Danehay: One of the most sought-after young catchers in the country in 1939 when the Cleveland Indians offered him a contract; was catching for the General Asbestos and Rubber Co. team in North Charleston at the time and had one more year of college; World War II put an end to his aspirations to play big league ball but he played minor league and semi-pro baseball until he was well into his 40s; deceased.
- Robert Drose - Longtime coach in the St. Andrews Playground area from 1962-1982; was inducted into its Hall of Fame for his many contributions as a volunteer coach and fundraiser; was responsible for many building projects and coached highly successful baseball teams year after year; laid the foundation for St. Andrew's eventual winning tradition by coaching the first team from St. Andrew's to go to the State tournament in 1966; coached for many years with the West Ashley American Legion team and tirelessly shared his love of baseball with many younger coaches and players; deceased.
· Mike Kimbrell: A former standout pitcher at Wando High who lettered four times at Clemson from 1988-91; had a career record of 17-1 with a 3.63 ERA, including a perfect 11-0 mark as a senior; continues to hold the Clemson record for career winning percentage at 94.4 percent; played on teams that won ACC regular-season titles in '88 and '91, the '89 and '91 ACC Tournaments and started a game in the '91 College World Series.
- Britt Reames - A hard-throwing right-hander who finished his Citadel career with an 18-7 record and 2.03 ERA; native of Hanahan; after his senior season, was second in school history with 296 career strikeouts, having established the mark for strikeouts in a season (135 in '94) and game (18, vs. Marshall in '95 during the SoCon Tournament); a two-time All-SoCon performer (first team in '95; second team in '94); in '94 he had the best league ERA (2.16) and in '95 was tops in the league in strikeouts per 9 innings (11.3); played on two SoCon Tournament championship teams; drafted in the 17th round by the Cardinals and in 2000 pitched for them in the NLDS against Atlanta and the NLCS against New York; played six years in the majors for the Cardinals, Expos, Athletics and Pirates; inducted in The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.
- Alfred von Kolnitz: Served as athletics director for the College of Charleston in the 1930s; played baseball at CofC; also played three seasons of major league baseball (1914 and '15 with the Cincinnati Reds and '16 with the Chicago White Sox); played in 115 career games with 48 hits in 226 at bats (.212 average); deceased.
Last year's class was comprised
of Lee Glaze, Fred Jordan, D.K.
Walters and Kenny Wilkinson while the 2009 class included John Dodds, Jr., W.S.
"Bull" Durham, Donald Morillo and Doug Pounder. The Class of 2008 featured Richard
Wieters, Danny Jones, Charlie Smith and Bryce Florie while the Class of 2007
included the 1955 Cannon Street YMCA team and The Citadel's 1990 College World
Series team, Anthony Jenkins and Modie Risher. Ty Cline, Mike Cook, Gary McJunkin and
In
the Hall of Fame's inaugural year in 2003,
CHARLESTON BASEBALL HALL
OF FAME INDUCTEES
2010 - Lee Glaze
Fred Jordan
D.K. Walters
Kenny Wilkinson
2009 - John Dodds, Jr.
W.S. "Bull"
Donald Morillo
Doug Pounder
2008 - Bryce Florie
Danny Jones
Charley Smith
2007 - 1955 Cannon Street YMCA All-Star Team
1990 Citadel World Series Team
Anthony Jenkins
Modie Risher
2006 - Ty Cline
Mike Cook
Gary McJunkin
2005 - John Candelaria
2004 - David Cone
2003 - Willie Randolph