July 04, 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas – New inductees from the fourth class of the College Baseball Hall of Fame here expressed gratitude for long careers and for the people who helped them achieve college baseball’s highest honor.
The Class of 2009 brought the Hall’s membership to 44 since the first initiations in 2006 as inductees and their families looked forward to future facilities for permanent housing for plaques and artifacts.
The ’09 group included OF Joe Carter, Wichita State; P-DH Darren Dreifort, Wichita State; P Kirk Dressendorfer, Texas; SS Barry Larkin, Michigan; C-UT Keith Moreland, Texas; OF Rafael Palmeiro, Mississippi State; coach Ron Polk, Mississippi State; and 2B Todd Walker, LSU; vintage era inductee Branch Rickey, a player and coach at Ohio Wesleyan and Michigan; and small college inductee Gordie Gillespie, head coach at St. Francis (Ill.).
Dreifort, a 1991-93 standout for the Shockers, will be inducted at a later date because of travel limitations due to a hip replacement while Gillespie was unable to attend due to a family emergency. Gillespie, a college head coach from 1953-95, and 2006-present, addressed the audience via a special DVD.
"If you live long enough," said Carter, who starred from 1979-81 "You will see many wonderful things. I want to thank all of you for coming tonight (Friday), the city of Lubbock, the College Baseball Hall of Fame, all the staff members, and those who made this possible. It has been a tremendous atmosphere for college baseball all week, and it shows what you can accomplish when you compete on the national level.
"This is a great homecoming for me," noted Dressendorfer, an All-Southwest Conference and All-America righthander from 1988-90. "Dr. Mike Gustafson was the baseball student-athlete host of my official trip when I was recruited by Texas Tech in the 1980s. When Mike called me about the induction into the Hall of Fame, I was more than excited. It didn’t sink in until he called again, and I have been so blessed with a wonderful family (52 of which and friends attended the week’s induction ceremonies). I’m ecstatic about being included with all these guys and for (head coach, not related to Mike) Cliff Gustafson and his great teaching at Texas."
"Like Joe Carter," commented Larkin, "I was recruited by several teams as a football defensive back and was drafted in baseball by Cincinnati out of high school. My parents both were professors, and I really wanted to attend college. I thought about playing both sports at Michigan until I was redshirted as a freshman in football. I dreaded telling (then) head football coach Bo Schembechler that I was going totally with baseball, but it was the right decision for my future. The guidance that coach Bud Middaugh and others gave me at Michigan was so important to my life and athletics."
"I have coach Darrell K. Royal (a member of the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame) to thank for bringing me to Texas on football scholarship," related Moreland, who played both football and baseball at UT from 1972-75 and currently is radio analyst for both sports on the Longhorn Network. "We had two great baseball coaches in Cliff Gustafson and assistant Bill Bethea. I am so grateful for the support of my family and the Good Lord during my college and professional careers."
"I’m very proud of the inductithree-time All-America choice at Mississippi State from 1983-85) and to be part of the ceremonies tonight," stated Polk, who had been a college head coach from 1975-2008 before accepting a volunteer coaching post at UAB in 2009. "I was very fortunate to have great players at Georgia Southern, Mississippi State and Georgia. I also had the opportunity to attend the first College Baseball Hall of Fame induction in 2006 to watch Will Clark’s (MSU player under Polk) induction and to make some observations about the process. I had no idea I would be standing in front of you as an inductee three years later. It was just an honor to be part of the coaching staff of two U.S. Olympic baseball teams and several U.S. national squads."
"I am very grateful for coach Ron Polk taking a chance on a 17-year-old high school player from Miami (Fla.) in ‘83," said Palmeiro, "It gave me the opportunity to excel in college and to reach my personal goal of playing professional baseball. Mississippi State was a fabulous place to play from both a talent and fan standpoint. We made a big breakthrough for the program when we won the 1985 Southeastern Conference tournament in Baton Rouge, La., and that helped us get some great momentum for the NCAA Regional and World Series that year."
"It was tremendous to be part of that first team that made it to the NCAA World Series in 1993," noted Walker, who earned All-America and All-SEC laurels during his 1992-94 career at LSU. "That was the highlight of my sophomore year under (College Baseball Hall of Fame) coach Skip Bertman, and we later won our first national baseball championship in 1994. It was such a thrill for my teammates, coaches and family. I’m very grateful to be inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame this year."
Biographer Dr. Lee Lowenfish, author of the recent Rickey book "Baseball’s Ferocious Warrior," related several key sayings from Rickey’s long and storied baseball career as well as "The Mahatma’s" organizational skills leading to the Ohio Wesleyan grad’s place in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame.
"Mr. Rickey and Connie Mack always loved signing college baseball players and their intelligence," said Lowenfish, "He coached future Hall of Famer George Sisler at Michigan and developed the modern Major League Baseball farm system before helping integrate modern Major League Baseball in 1947 with the coming of Jackie Robinson (UCLA alumnus and member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame)."
Courtesy: mstateathletics.com
