TROY, NY – Last Sunday the N.Y. State Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place at the Hilton Hotel in Troy, N.Y. and the spirit of Thurman Munson was very much in the building. Even though it was their day a few of the 2022 inductees, Ron Blomberg, Bucky Dent, and Luis Tiant pleaded their case for Munson.
They shared personal stories about the Yankees Captain, who perished in a plane crash back in 1979. All three were loud and clear about their feelings of Munson not having a Cooperstown Hall of Fame plaque. Tiant, who also should be in, had the audience in tears with his Munson memories. He then pleaded with the packed house to love each other, as El Tiante turned into Reverend Tiant.
Introducing Tiant was Yankees community advisor, Ray Negron, and he also got into the Munson love-fest. His words of Munson the man, also left the crowd searching for tissues.
Blomberg, who was the closest with Thurman, was a natural storyteller, while Dent put everyone on the field as he spoke about that Bucky “F*ckin” Dent game. He also hit it over the Green Monster when he made a point with his line of, “We used our brains to position ourselves by what we saw from the batter.” Take that you ANALytic Asinines!
Another inductee showed his true talent. Jack McKeon, the ultimate baseball lifer, brought the audience down with laughter. His slick humor and one-liners would have made comedic legends like Don Rickles and George Carlin blush. The 93-year-old McKeon is what this game needs today. Would any of these morons, who run the game today, hire him? Probably not, and that is why the once great game will continue to rot, while “Trader Jack” lives on.
Tommie Agee’s daughter J’nelle represented her inductee dad with class and dignity, as her speech was as smooth as his outfield play in the 1969 World Series. MLB Network’s Brian Kenny told of how he won the girl, with his romantic takes of using baseball to court his future wife, Nicole Jacqueline Desy. Staten Island Ferry Hawks General Manager, Gary Perone, was the most grateful inductee in the room, as he hurried his speech to the delight of director, Rene M. LeRoux, who begged him for more. Mets employee Lorraine Hamilton shared her Tom Seaver stories. Her passion for her team made her the real Mrs. Met of the evening.
A building flooded with artifacts is scheduled to open in April of 2023.
