Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame Announces Nominations for 2011 Induction
Foley’s NY Pub & Restaurant Recognizes Players, Executives, Journalists and Entertainers of Irish Descent
New York, NY (March 15, 2011) – Foley’s NY Pub & Restaurant (18 W. 33rd St.) today announced the nominations for 2011 induction into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame. Voters include past inductees into the IABHOF and a panel of baseball historians. Results will be announced during the baseball season.
HALL OF FAMERS and LEGENDS
Big Ed Walsh – Baseball’s All-Time ERA Leader
Wee Willie Keeler – A .341 lifetime hitter who shares the longest ever NL hitting streak (44 games) with Pete Rose
Mighty Casey of the “Mudville Nine” – Character in Ernest Thayer’s famous poem
CURRENT LIVING EX-PLAYERS
Nolan Ryan – Baseball’s All-Time Strikeout Leader, now president of the Texas Rangers
“Super Joe” McEwing – Popular versatile player, now a White Sox minor league manager
Jeff Nelson – Four-time World Series champion, now a broadcaster with MLB Network
MANAGERS
John McGraw – Legendary New York Giants manager
Tom Kelly – Minnesota Twins two-time World Series champion manager
“Walpole Joe” Morgan – Former Boston Red Sox manager
TEAM EXECUTIVES
Gene Monahan/Steve Donohue – Longtime New York Yankees trainers
Mike Kindle – President of Baseball Ireland (Dublin)
ENTERTAINERS
John Fogerty – Writer/Singer of “Centerfield”
Terry Cashman – Writer/Singer of “Talking Baseball” (30th anniversary this year)
John Fitzgerald – Filmmaker of “The Emerald Diamond”
“The nominating committee has come up with some intriguing names this year,” said Shaun Clancy, owner of Foley’s, which features one of the country’s most extensive public displays of baseball memorabilia outside of Cooperstown. “We believe it is significant that baseball’s all-time strikeout king and its all-time ERA leader are both of Irish descent and have New York connections. So do the legendary manager John McGraw, players Wee Willie Keeler, Joe McEwing and Jeff Nelson, Yankees trainers Gene Monahan and Steve Donohue, and songwriter Terry Cashman.”
With the blessing of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Foley’s, a popular destination among baseball players, executives, umpires and fans, created the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame to recognize players, managers, executives, journalists, and entertainers of Irish descent. Inductees are chosen based on a combination of factors, including impact on the game, popularity on and off the field, contributions to society, connections to the Irish community, and, of course, ancestry.
The game of baseball has welcomed immigrants from its earliest days, when an estimated 30 percent of players claimed Irish heritage. Many of the game’s biggest stars at the turn of the 20th century were Irish immigrants or their descendants, including Michael “King” Kelly, Roger Connor (the home run king before Babe Ruth), Eddie Collins, Big Ed Walsh and managers Connie Mack and John McGraw. Today, major league teams regularly sign players born in Latin America, Japan, Canada, and elsewhere.
Shaun Clancy, an amateur baseball historian, created the Hall after learning about the rich heritage of Irish Americans in the sport dating from its infancy – a legacy overshadowed in recent years by other ethnicities. He decided to celebrate his roots and those who helped make the game great by creating a shrine to Irish Americans in baseball in 2008.
“Starting Nine”
The “Starting Nine” inductees in 2008 were: the late Mets and Phillies reliever Tug McGraw, Yankee announcer John Flaherty, sportswriter Jeff Horrigan, NY Mets groundskeeper Pete Flynn, retired sluggers Mark McGwire and Sean “The Mayor” Casey, Kevin Costner, star of Field of Dreams and Bull Durham, legendary owner-manager Connie Mack, and longtime official scorer and sports columnist Red Foley.
2009 inductees were: Walter O’Malley, longtime Brooklyn and LA Dodgers owner (Executive category); sluggers Steve Garvey and Paul O’Neill (Players category), Jim Joyce (Umpire); veteran sportscaster Vin Scully, and Ed Lucas, a blind reporter who has covered the Yankees and Mets for four decades.
2010 inductees were: Tim McCarver, veteran TV analyst and former player; Bob Murphy, longtime Mets announcer (Media category); Michael “King” Kelly, the game’s first superstar (Hall of Famers and Legends category); Yankees GM Brian Cashman (Executives category); Bill James, famed statistician and an advisor for the Boston Red Sox (Executives category).
