Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame Releases 2013 Candidates
CHARLESTON, SC - The Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame's advisory committee has released its candidates for the Class of 2013, and enshrinement will be conducted by voting from local fans.
Official ballots will be at Riley Park beginning on Thursday, June 13 and on-line voting is also available here: http://www.ballotbin.com/voterReg.php?b=40063
Voting will conclude on Friday, Aug. 2. On Friday, Aug. 9, the top three individuals with the most votes will be inducted prior to the RiverDogs' game against the Rome Braves.
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.
The finalists, in alphabetical order, for the Class of 2013 include:
- H.A. "Pete" Ayoub: A Charleston native who attended Clemson on a baseball scholarship and who was a three-year starter; led team in RBI and batting as a sophomore with a .349 average as a senior; selected as the First-Team All-ACC second baseman as a senior; career .318 batting average; returned to North Charleston High to coach and led his baseball teams to three consecutive state championships in 1965, 1966, and 1967 (this was the first time any team had won three consecutive baseball championships in South Carolina); served as Assistant Executive Director of the South Carolina High School League from 1980-86 and Executive Director of the SC High School League from 1986 until his retirement in 1998. Enshrined in the SC Athletic Administrators Association Hall of Fame in 2011.
- Tim Cook: Middleton High graduate who pitched at Newberry from 1977-80; 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);
- Steven Jackson: After pitching for Summerville High, Jackson played at Clemson for four seasons (2001-04) despite being drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 38th round of the 2000 MLB Draft; he was also drafted after his junior season with the Tigers by the Cleveland Indians in the 32nd round but stayed in school; in his four years as a Tiger, Jackson put together a record of 19-8; his professional career began in the Arizona Diamondbacks' system after he was a 10th round pick by them in 2004; he spent three seasons in their minor league program before being traded to the New York Yankees in January 2007 as part of the Randy Johnson trade; in 2009, Jackson was called up to the majors for the first time by the Yankees but never got into a game; he was then designated for assignment by the club and he was selected off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates where he made his major league debut on June 1 against the New York Mets; Jackson would spend the next year and a half going between Pittsburgh and Triple-A Indianapolis; he began the 2011 season in the Los Angeles Dodgers' organization before signing with the Cincinnati Reds and finally being traded back to the Pirates; during his time in the majors, Jackson pitched in 54.1 innings during 51 appearances with a 2-4 record and a 4.31 ERA.
- Drew Meyer: Bishop England High graduate; a 2002 All-American at South Carolina and was the first-round pick in the 2002 Draft by the Texas Rangers; played three seasons at South Carolina from 2000-02 before beginning a nine-year career in professional baseball highlighted by a stint in 2006 with the Texas Rangers; the 2000 and 2002 teams at South Carolina that Meyer played on won the SEC Championship with the `02 squad reaching the College World Series and earning national runner-up honors; the shortstop was a 2002 second-team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Collegiate Baseball as well as third-team All-American by Baseball America. He twice was named All-SEC including a first-team selection in 2002; he played in 209 games in a three-year career and missed only one game; he still holds single-season records at Carolina from 2002 for at bats (334), hits (120) and singles (86) as well as tied for the record in games played (75) with three others from the 2002 squad; he is the only player in Carolina history to start 75 games in a season.
- Channing Proctor: Former Citadel pitcher who is the founder of the Charleston Chapter of The Miracle League; also authored the book entitled, Seasoned Rookie.
- 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.
Last year's class included Gettys Glaze, Tom Hatley and John Rhodes while the 2011 group was comprised of Bill Ackerman, Roberto Alomar and Mike Kimbrell. The 2010 Class included Lee Glaze, Fred Jordan, D.K. Walters and Kenny Wilkinson while the 2009 group 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 Coach Chal Port comprised the Hall of Fame's Class of 2006. It marked the first time that amateurs and teams were considered for induction.
In the Hall of Fame's inaugural year in 2003, James Island's Gorman Thomas and Holly Hill's Willie Randolph were enshrined as the first members. David Cone was inducted in 2004 and John Candelaria received the nod in 2005.
CHARLESTON BASEBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
2012 - Gettys Glaze
Tom Hatley
John Rhodes
2011 - Bill Ackerman
Roberto Alomar
Mike Kimbrell
2010 - Lee Glaze
Fred Jordan
D.K. Walters
Kenny Wilkinson
2009 - John Dodds, Jr.
W.S. "Bull" Durham
Donald Morillo
Doug Pounder
2008 - Bryce Florie
Danny Jones
Charley Smith
Richard Wieters
2007 - 1955 Cannon Street YMCA All-Star Team
1990 Citadel World Series Team
Anthony Jenkins
Modie Risher
2006 - Ty Cline
Mike Cook
Gary McJunkin
Chal Port
2005 - John Candelaria
2004 - David Cone
2003 - Willie Randolph
Gorman Thomas
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