Miracle to honor Goldis and Barr as newest Pro Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame members
Twelve veteran baseball scouts have been named to the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame (PBSHOF) for 2009 induction.
This is the second year of honorees, with the selections announced on Tuesday by The Goldklang Group – parent organization of the Fort Myers Miracle – and sponsored by The Topps Company, who also include eight additional scouts in a trading card set paired with star players they scouted.
With players, executives, umpires, writers and broadcasters honored annually in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame, this is a unique honor given to those at the very foundation of player development for the Major Leagues. The inductees are commemorated with their names on the walls at the six minor league clubs operated by the Goldklang Group (Fort Myers Miracle, Charleston RiverDogs, Hudson Valley Renegades, St. Paul Saints, Brockton Rox and Sioux Falls Canaries).
This year’s honorees include the great Tom Greenwade, the only inductee who is deceased. Greenwade had a long scouting career for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees and is best remembered for his signing of Mickey Mantle. Greenwade, who died in 1986, also gave Branch Rickey the definitive scouting report that made him decide that Jackie Robinson was the player best suited to integrate the Major Leagues.
Greenwade, along with the Phillies’ Marti Wolever, will be honored this season in St. Paul. Honored at Fort Myers will be Al Goldis (long time scout) and John Barr (San Francisco). Honored at Hudson Valley will be Joe McIlvane (Minnesota) and Joe Rigoli (St. Louis). Honored at Brockton will be Rene Mons (Milwaukee) and Roland Johnson (New York Mets). Honored at Sioux Falls will be Bob Fontaine (Toronto) and Gary Hughes (Chicago Cubs). Honored at Charleston will be Tom Burns (Toronto) and Howard McCullough (Arizona).
Their formal inductions will take place on six different dates to be announced.
The Goldklang Group activated a ballpark campaign in 2008 to spotlight the tremendous dedication of Professional Baseball Scouts, tireless and devoted individuals who spend a significant amount of their lives on the road, and create recognition for their invaluable contributions to the game of baseball.
The criteria for induction includes a minimum of 20 years of pro scouting experience, with selection based on a combination of quantifiable success in the field, contributions made to the game in other areas of the sport whether professional or amateur, and importantly, their involvement and dedication to the local community that is honoring them through induction.
The PBSHOF is the culmination of recent broad scale efforts to create a forum designed to honor one of the game’s most valuable professions. The combined reach and recognition achieved through the partnership of industry leader Topps and the Goldklang Group has succeeded in shining a long overdue spotlight on scouts across the landscape of professional baseball.
For more information, visit www.miraclebaseball.com