In sports, you never know when your number is going to get called. Even for coaches. In 1980, Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City hired a 1976 graduate to be a freshman football coach and assistant varsity basketball coach, with the baseball coach later asking him to volunteer in the spring. Denny Hughes was… Read more »
News
Sport: Baseball
Rick Hummel
Hummel is a 1968 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and began working at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1971. He has covered 27 MLB All-Star Games, 29 World Series and 2 NCAA Final Four tournaments. Hummel was inducted into the writer’s wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY… Read more »
Dr. Robert Hyland
Dr. Robert Hyland was a long-time physician for the St. Louis Cardinals. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Lou Gehrig were some of his famous patients who benefited from his pioneering methods in sports medicine. Hyland was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but received his M.D. from St. Louis University in 1911. Pitching injuries fascinated him… Read more »
Stan Isle
The Stanberry native returned from a tour of duty in World War II to become sports editor of the Moberly Monitor-Index from 1946-1961. He helped to form and nurture the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, even serving as the Hall’s Executive Director for a time. He joined the staff of St. Louis-based “The Sporting News”… Read more »
Jason Isringhausen
The truth is, Jason Isringhausen never intended to be a pitcher. In fact, he was a center fielder when he headed off to junior college. “Some scouts started coming around after seeing my arm, and I went to a couple of tryout camps, where they asked me if I ever pitched,” Isringhausen said. “I just… Read more »
Vincent “Bo” Jackson
Regarded by many as one of the best athletes to ever participate in two professional sports, Bo Jackson was born in 1962 in Bessemer, AL. He attended Auburn University to pursue his love of football. While at Auburn, Jackson excelled on the gridiron, on the baseball diamond and in track and field. For the Tigers… Read more »
Ron Jacober
A long time sports fan, Ron Jacober took television broadcasting to a new level while working as the Sports Director of KMOX in St. Louis. Rather than just reading scores and doing an occasional interview, Jacober introduced the idea of vignettes and one hour television sports specials, something unknown in those days. Ron has over… Read more »
Charlie James
He lived the dream that so many couldn’t. Of reaching the big leagues with none other than the St. Louis Cardinals. Of playing outfield alongside Stan “The Man” Musial. And, years later in 1964, of experiencing the ultimate pinnacle by winning a World Series. Indeed, Charlie James has so many stories from his athletic days… Read more »
Rick Jester
He’ll never forget the moment. All of 20 years old and having grown up in Springfield where basketball had long been the premier sport, Rick Jester walked into his family’s kitchen one Saturday and there was his old high school coach, Larry Atwood, enjoying a cup of coffee along wtih Jester’s dad. “Sit down here,”… Read more »
Walt Jocketty
Since 1995, under the leadership of General Manager Walt Jocketty, the St. Louis Cardinals have compiled six NL Central Division championships, one NL Wild Card appearance, two NL Championships and one World Series Championship, 2006. The Cardinals have had seven straight winning seasons under Jocketty, including 100 plus win seasons in 2004 and 2005. Jocketty… Read more »
Doug Jones
In rural Wright County, not far from where his family ran a dairy and cattle farm, the kid who fell in love – first with baseball, then a girl named Calleen – is proof of a universal truth: If the big leagues never come calling, you can still make it big in small-town America –… Read more »
2000-2003 Joplin High School Baseball Era
Ask baseball folks about the sport’s history in Joplin, and they’re likely to mention Mickey Mantle and the city’s old minor league clubs. Or maybe they’ll point out the dozen Final Fours of its high school teams. In the early 2000s, all eyes were on the Joplin High School Eagles baseball teams, and what an… Read more »
Brian Jordan
He remembers it as if was yesterday: The clubhouse meeting called by the veteran catcher. The maddening spring of a club trying to adjust to a new manager. The sense that everything was going off the rails. There Brian Jordan was in 1996, his fourth season in the big leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals,… Read more »
Ewing Kauffman
The strength and integrity of Ewing Kauffman’s ownership was the cornerstone of success for the Kansas City Royals during the club’s first quarter century. Since purchasing the Royals as an expansion franchise in 1968, Kauffman’s primary and continuous motivation was to provide winning Major League Baseball. Under Kauffman, the Royals developed into one of baseball’s… Read more »
Bob Kendrick
Bob Kendrick Sports Administration – Class of 2014 Bob Kendrick was named President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) in March of 2011. The NLBM is the world’s only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African-American baseball and its profound impact on the social advancement of America. Kendrick’s appointment marked… Read more »
Vern Kennedy
Lloyd Vernon Kennedy, a Kansas City native, was a big-league baseball pitcher with the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds. Kennedy, who batted left-handed and threw right-handed, attended college at what is now known as the University of Central Missouri, where the football field… Read more »