Inductees

Growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Missouri City, a river town northeast of Kansas City, Jack Talley, his siblings and school-age buddies were usually outside in good weather.

“We were always playing something whether it was football, baseball or basketball,” Talley said. “With four siblings and three other family members my age, there was always a game.”

Talley later emerged as a baseball standout at Excelsior Springs High School, William Jewell College and the Ban Johnson League. And his play – along with a generous heart for gifting financially to all three – is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Talley with the Class of 2020.

Think he made an impact?

The baseball stadium at William Jewell College is named after Talley, who also is an inductee of the Excelsior Springs High School and William Jewell Athletics Halls of Fame. He also was named in 2002 to the Ban Johnson League’s 75^th Anniversary Team as one of its Top 50 players. The Ban Johnson League is Kansas City’s wood-bat summer league for the area’s top college baseball players.

Because Missouri City did not have a high school, he enrolled at nearby Excelsior Springs. It was there he played for outstanding coaches.

His football coach was Sam Brown, a member of the 1969 Missouri Tigers Football Team (MSHOF 2015).

“Our baseball coach was Dick Michaels, and he was also a William Jewell graduate and played on the 1968 William Jewell National Championship Team (MSHOF 2002),” Talley said. “With my brother, Jim, attending William Jewell and Coach Michaels an alum, it was kind of pre-determined where I was going to go to college. And it was funny. When I got there, we did the same drills as we did in high school.”

Among Excelsior Springs teammates was Gregg Williams (MSHOF 2016), one of the National Football League’s most respected defensive coordinators.

Coach Michaels had a true sense of humor. The Talley Brothers – Jack, Jim and John – typically batted Nos. 3, 4 and 5, and the coach penciled them in on the lineup card as, “J Talley, J Talley, J Talley.”  When umpires questioned it, Coach Michaels would laugh and say it would all work out.

Talley was invited to play in the Ban Johnson League during the summer of his senior year. Within his five seasons, he won the Hustle Award in 1979 and was a two-time All-Star for Kansas City Life, managed by John Stipetich.

“He was a lot like Coach Fred Flook – extremely competitive, had high expectations and played the game the right way,” Talley said, referring to his William Jewell coach. “You didn’t learn just baseball. You learned about life.”

When Talley was selected to the Ban Johnson League’s 75th anniversary team, he was surprised.

“That was quite an honor and very gratifying. In fact, I experienced the same emotions when I received my call from Mr. Jerald Andrews about The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame,” Talley said. “During our conversation, I was wondering if he had the right Jack Talley.”

At William Jewell (1976 to 1980), Talley was a four-year letterman and three-time NAIA All-American, including honorable mention his sophomore and junior seasons and second team his senior year. He played on four conference championships teams, two which qualified for the NAIA Tournament.

“I told Coach I didn’t care where I played. I just wanted to hit,” Talley said.

Talley played in the Kansas City Royals farm system before spending 37 years with Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

“From high school, to Ban Johnson, to William Jewell, I was surrounded by coaches with high integrity and had a character-first approach to coaching,” Talley said. “They all made a positive and lasting impression on me.”

To Talley, family has always been paramount.

“I grew up in a loving and supportive family environment,” Talley said. “God blessed me with my beautiful wife, Jill, and three wonderful children, Casey, Cameron and Claire.”

As a businessman, he made certain to give back. He serves on the board of the Gregg Williams Foundation Tiger Classic, which benefits the kids of Excelsior Springs, and makes gifts to William Jewell and the Ban Johnson League.

Prior to the 2011 season, renovations were made to the William Jewell ballpark. Gifts from Jack and Jill Talley and Lynn Schlemeyer-Cookson primarily funded the renovations.

When asked why he gives back, Talley said, “Over the years I witnessed where others have given back and the impact it made on people. It was just my turn.”