Inductees

Herb was born February 10, 1884, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Was signed by Philadelphia A’s in 1912 - 1915 was traded to Boston Red Sox – 1923 Red Sox traded him to New York Yankees. Finished his career in 1934 with the Boston Red Sox. Won 240 games and lost 162 in his career – had a total of 22 years in the Major Leagues. Pitched in over 600 games – in 1923 and 1926 won 2 games for the New York Yankees in World Series play and in 1927 won 1 game. Never lost a game in World Series play and won 5, competing in 5 World Series. He is the only pitcher with 100% in World Series play. Ranked second with saves in World Series play with 3. Had a lifetime ERA 3.61 and World Series ERA 1.95.

Was inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1948 and finished his career as General Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Gibson played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946. Internationally he played a year in the Dominican League and two years in the Mexican League.
Josh was the first manager of the Santurce Crabbers, a historic Franchise in the Puerto Rico League.
Gibson never played in the major leagues because of the unwritten “gentlemen’s agreement” that prevented non-white players from playing. He stood 6 foot-1 and weighed 210 pounds at the peak of his career. Baseball historians consider Gibson to be among the very best power hitters and power catchers in baseball history. In 1972, he became the second Negro League player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

“The Pittsburgh Windmill” as he is known in the trade was widely regarded by many boxing historians as one of the best pound- for-pound boxers of all time. He was the American heavyweight champion from 1922 to1923 and world middleweight champion from 1923 to 1926. He fought a record 298 times in his 13 year career. He fought against the best opposition the talent rich 1910s and 1920s could provide him, including light heavyweights and even heavyweights. Greb, had a very aggressive, fast moving style of fighting and would bury an opponent with a blizzard of punches. At the time of this writing, Greb was considered one of the best fighters of all time, 9th by BoxRec, and was named the 7thgreatest fighter of all time by Ring Magazine,

Francis better known as Red because of his red hair and freckles. He was the water boy at Penn from the age of 12 until he became a student in 1945. Before entering Penn, Red was a two-sports letter Winner at West Catholic High School and led his school to Catholic League football championship in 1944 and 1945. He was named the outstanding Football player in Philadelphia in 1945. Red also became an All-American football player and team captain his senior season in college and became only the fifth player in school history to win nine letters. He was a starting guard on the basketball team, an out-fielder on the baseball team. He was an All-American tailback at the University of Pennsylvania graduating in 1951. He won the Maxwell Trophy and was runner up
for the Heisman. After graduation, Red served four years as a naval officer. Returning to Philadelphia he became a broker and very Active in community affairs. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

Henie was a Consensus All- American at Rutgers In 1924 when he led the East in scoring with 100 points. Also 2nd Team All-American in Lacrosse in 1925. He ran for 2,124 yards during his career at Rutgers. He played in the NFL for three different teams from 1925 -1929.

Blinco began his hockey career with the Cresent Athletic Club in Brooklyn. NY. He spent the next six years with the Hershey Bears. He was the team’s star player and captain, and then Become part of the managerial team running the then year-old Hershey Bears. He quickly became general manager of the Hershey Bears and the Arena, a position he held until 1968.
In 1963 another title was added to his position. Blinco became the general manager of Hershey Park.

Tom was a star defensive back who helped lead the Philadelphia Eagles to the 1960 National Football
League Championship. He joined the Eagles in1953 out of the University of Colorado. In training camp, he made an impression on coach Joe Trimble by knocking out the Eagles receiver their, #1 draft pick. Tom intercepted 8 passes that season and was a key contributer to the Eagles defense. Chuck Bednarik said that Brookshier was one of the toughest defensive backs of our era. He was selected All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl in 1959 and 1960. Playing seven seasons and intercepting 20 passes, his No. 40 jersey was retired. His playing career, interrupted by two-years in the Air Force, ended After he broke his leg in a game against the Bears in 1961. He began his broadcasting career with WCAU in Philadelphia and later teamed with Pat Summerall as CBS’s No.1 professional football broadcasting duo, working three Super Bowls together.

Just two days before the men’s figure skating free skate in the Moritz 1948 Olympic Winter Games. Dick Buttons successfully landed a double axel in practice. Forty- eight hours later with the bright lights shining, the eighteen-year-old Button was not about to back down; he became the first skater to land a double axel in competition, propelling him to become the first American man to win a gold medal in figure skating singles.
Four years later, at the Oslo 1952 Olympics Winter Games Button took things one rotation further – as he became the Skater to land a triple jump in competition. The judges, Unanimously, voted him the gold medal.
In addition to Olympic gold, he took home five consecutive Gold medals from the World Championship.

Paul Costello was an American Triple Olympic Gold medal winning in rowing. He was the first rower to win a gold medal in the same event, double sculls at three consecutive Olympics. He also won numerous national tiles in the single and double sculls in the 1920s. Costello won the double sculls face with his cousin John B. Kelly, also known as Jack, at the 1920 Olympics at Anttwerp, Belgium and the 1924 Olympics in Paris. France. He repeated his winning ways at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Netherlands with new partner Charles McIlvaine. Historically Costello has been overshadowed by Kelly who was also a triple Olympic gold medalist. Member United States Rowing Hall of Fame, double sculls.

Crowley’s early fame came as a one-fourth of the University of Notre Dame’s legendary “Four Horsemen” backfield where he played halfback from 1922 – 1924. After a brief period as a professional football player, he turned to coaching. He served as the head coach at Michigan State College from 1929 to 1932. Fordham University from 1933 to 1941 and at the North Carolina Pre-Flight School in 1942 compiling a career college coaching record of 86-23-11 He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1966.

Elroy Face was born on February 20, 1928 and was a big-league relief pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1955-1968). A pioneer of modern relief pitching, he was the archetype of what came to be known as the closer, and the National League's greatest reliever until the late 1960s, setting numerous league records during his career. Face was a six-time All Star. He used the “forkball,” one the rarest pitches in baseball. The forkball is known for its severe downward break as it approaches the plate. Because of the torque involved with snapping off a forkball, it can be one of the more taxing pitches to throw.
Face was the first major leaguer to save 20 games more than once, leading the league three times and finishing second three times. In 1959 he set the still-standing major league record for winning percentage (.947), and single-season wins in relief, with 18 wins against only one loss. He held the NL record for career games pitched (846) from 1967 until 1986, and the league record for career saves (193) from 1962 until 1982. Face still holds the NL record for career wins in relief (96), and he held the league mark for career innings pitched in relief (1,211⅓) until 1983. On his retirement, he ranked third in major league history in pitching appearances, behind only Hoyt Wilhelm and Cy Young, and second in saves behind Wilhelm. Nicknamed "The Baron," because of his command performances, “Little Elroy,” 5’8,” holds the Pirates franchise records for career games (802) and saves (188). During his baseball career, Face, in keeping with a family tradition extending back two generations, worked as a carpenter during the off-season. Following his retirement, this became his full-time occupation, and beginning in 1979, Face served as the carpentry foreman at Mayview State Hospital until his retirement in 1990.

After a long tenure as an assistant football coach James was named head coach and compiled a 14-year record at Cornell of 66-58-2 with four of his teams figuring in unofficial Ivy Titles. Cornell topped the circuit in 1948, ’49, ’53 and ’54. From 1948 through 1951 his Big Red teams won 29 of 36 games with an 8-1 mark in both 1948 and 1949. Other highlights were three straight triumphs over Princeton and a 20-7 Victory over Michigan, Big Ten champions and a Rose Bowl winner the year before. Coach James was a graduate of Bucknell University and was Inducted into the Bisons’ Hall of Fame as a football player.

Ralph Kiner (October 27, 1922 – February 6, 2014) was a big-league player (1946-1955) and broadcaster (1961-2013). An outfielder, Kiner played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1946-1953), Chicago Cubs, and Cleveland Indians. Following his retirement, Kiner served from 1956 through 1960 as general manager of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres. He also served as an announcer for the New York Mets from the team's inception in 1962 until the year before his death. Though injuries forced his retirement from active play after ten seasons, Kiner's tremendous slugging outpaced all of his National League contemporaries between the years 1946 and 1952. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975 with just over the necessary 75% on the 13th ballot. Many of Kiner's homers were hit into a shortened left-field and left-center-field porch at Forbes Field (originally built for Hank Greenberg and known in the press as "Greenberg Gardens"); the porch was retained for Kiner and redubbed "Kiner's Korner". Kiner would later use "Kiner's Korner" as the title of his post-game TV show on WOR-TV for the New York Mets. Kiner hit 369 home runs in his career. He was an All Star from 1948 through 1953. Greenberg tutored Kiner on the fine art of hitting home runs in the year they played together in 1947. Pirate left fielder Jim Russell was moved to center field in 1947 because, as Russell observed, both Kiner and Greenberg were “tanks’ in the outfield. Kiner was a fan favorite on some very bad Pirate teams in the early 1950s. Due to continued salary disputes with Pirate general manager Branch Rickey, Kiner was told, "We finished last with you, we can finish last without you." By 1953 Kiner, was in a Cubs uniform.

John attended the University of Pittsburgh where he Started for three seasons, playing on Jock Sutherland’s national championship teams in 1936 and 1937. He was team captain in 1937. After his college career he and Sutherland continued their relationship as a player and coach in the football Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Steelers until Sutherland’s death in 1948. Michelosen was the backfield coach on the 1946 and 1947 Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff. He served as the Steelers head coach from 1948 to 1951, compiling a record of 20-26-2. From 1955 to 1965 he was the head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh tallying a 56-49-7 record.

George Newmaster was considered one of the country’s greatest trap shooters. He excelled at every shoot he entered. A typical report of George’s skill set was recorded in this article. “George Newmaster, Lebanon’s outstanding trap shooter, shared the spot light yesterday in the Pennsylvania State target shoot at Shamokin on Friday.
Competing in the individual class shooting, the Lebanon crack shot topped a field of 89 Class A shooters to win one of eight titles decided at yesterday’s firing.”

Football: Charlie was a football standout at Lafayette College (1921-1924) and was named an end on the final Walter Camp All-American team in 1924.
was inducted in to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980. In1925-26 he starred for the Pottsville Maroons of the NFL, leading the league in scoring in 1925 with 74 points. In 1925 the Maroons played a game against college football’s best team Notre Dame. The hard fought contest got down to the end and Berry a field goal to defeat the fighting Irish 9-7.

Baseball: He started his major league career with ten games for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1925, but did not return to baseball until his football career ended. He played minor league ball in 1926-27; got called up to the Boston Red Sox (1928-32), Chicago White Sox (1932-33) and again with the Athletics (1934-36). His career stats were; batting .267, 23 home runs and 256 runs batted in 709 major league games. He became coach on Connie Mack’s staff from 1936 – 1940. During this five- year period, he was also the head football coach at Grove City College in Western Pennsylvania.

Officiating: Following his playing and coaching days, he became an Umpire in the American League from 1942 – 1962. He officiated in five World Series 1946,1950,1954, 1958,1962) and three All-Star Games (1944, 1948, 1956) He became a supervisor and returned to the field in 1970 for the American League Championship Series during an umpire’s strike.
At this same time, he was a head linesman in the NFL for 24 seasons, officiating 12 championship games including the renowned “Sudden Death” NFL Championship Game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants in 1958.He is the only man to officiate the World Series, the NFL Championship Game and the College All-Star Game in the same year.

Note: Not as hard as you might imagine because in those days baseball ended in September and football started in October.

Vic was a 1921 graduate of Gettysburg College and was one of the first men inducted Into college’s Sports Hall of Fame. He coached track at William Penn High School 1923-1953, baseball 1930-1933, basketball from 1937-1948, football 1930-1950 and cross country 1950-1954. He was honored many times for his dedication
to Central Pennsylvania Scholastic Sports.

(November 24, 1930 – February 3, 2019) Bob was a right-handed big-league pitcher between 1951 and 1966 (197-230), most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. A four-time All-Star (1956,1958, 1960), Friend was an integral member of the Pirates team that defeated the New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series. Known as a workhorse pitcher who would go nine innings, he had 1,734 career strikeouts. With Vernon Law, especially in 1960, he was considered part of the best 1-2 combination in baseball. He played for the New York Yankees and New York Mets in his final season of 1966. As of 2019, he still held Pirates records for career innings pitched and strikeouts. He is the first man to lead the league in ERA while pitching for a last place team.

One of the finest athletes of his time. Groat played shortstop for the Pirates for nine years (1952, 1955-62), sparking the team to a world championship in 1960 when he led the team in hitting with a .325 average and was named MVP. Groat posted a .286 over his 14-year major league career, batting ,300 or better four times. A graduate of Swissvale High School Dick was an All-American In Baseball and Basketball at Duke University.
A six foot Guard, he led the nation in scoring his senior season, averaging 26 points per game. He played one season in the NBA before making baseball his career.

Jack was an accomplished rower, a four- time Olympian and an Olympic medal winner. He is the son of triple Olympic gold medal winner John B, Kelly Sr. In 1947, Kelly was awarded The James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.

Duke graduated from Harrisburg High School and despite not playing in college, he had an eight-year
career (1944-1952) as an offensive lineman for the Philadelphia Eagle. He finished his football career as a minor league coach in Harrisburg.

Considered by many the greatest high school coach ever in Pennsylvania. He had a record of 574-153 at Farrell from 1949-1977, winning seven state titles and 11 WPIAL championships. He had a career record of 698 – 185, 79%. If there is an honor for such a career, he got it.

After failing three times to make his team at Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the late 1940’s. He went on to be a star at the University of Cincinnati and averaged 19 points a game in an 11-year NBA career with the Rochester/Cincinnati Royaals. He joined the Royals in 1956. Although not great friends, He became the legal guardian of teammate Maurice Stokes After stokes suffered a head injury in 1958 and was paralyzed the final final 12 years of his life.

About This Inductee:

Born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, Wall played collegiate golf at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and graduated in 1949 with a business degree. Wall won fourteen titles on the PGA Tour, including four in 1959. That year he was chosen as the PGA Player of the Year, and also won the money title and Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average.

His most notable career achievement was his victory in 1959 at the Masters Tournament. In the final round, he birdied five of his last six holes to shoot a 66 and overtake Cary Middlecoff and defending champion Arnold Palmer. He was a member of three United States Ryder Cup teams: 1957, 1959, and 1961.

Wall is also notable for sinking 45 holes-in-one in his playing career (including casual rounds), a world record for many years. Wall’s final tour win came at age 51 at the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1975, his first tour win in nine years. Since this, no older player has won on tour; the closest was Fred Funk at age 50 in 2007. The oldest remains Sam Snead, who was nearly 53 in 1965 at his 82nd and final tour win at the Greater Greensboro Open.

Wall died October 31, 2001 at age 77 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, of respiratory failure after a lengthy illness, and is buried at Glen Dyberry Cemetery in Honesdale.

Helen is a native of Gladwyne, PA. She has won more than 350 titles during her 45 year golf career She has been a 12- time Philadelphia National Champion, 5- time Pennsylvania National Champion, 2-time Women’s Eastern Amateur Champion 1952, 1953, Western Amateur Champion 1949.
Twice runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. 2-time Curtis Cup winner representing the United States. Set an amateur record low score of 296 and finished fifth At the US Open in 1965 Won the U.S. Women’s Senior Championship (over 65 Division) in 1967