The National College Baseball Hall of Fame has announced the Class of 2020.  Die to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony will be held virtually later this month.

The new inductees are:

Doug Ault, Panola Junior College & Texas Tech, 1969-72, First Base & Pitcher:  Ault was a two-time NJCAA All-American, and he was the MVP of the 1969 NJCAA World Series where he recorded three wins on the mound and batted .318.  With Texas Tech, he was the Co-MVP of the Southwest Conference in 1972, and he batted .475 that year.  Ault would later play in the Majors with the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays.

Pete Barnes, Southern, 1964-67, Outfield:  Barnes was a four-time All-Southwestern Athletic Conference and two-time First Team NAIA All-American.  Playing at Outfield, he won the NAIA Batting Title (.506) in 1965, and he would take Southern to the NAIA World Series in 1966.  Also, a two-time All-American in Football, Barnes would play 11 seasons at Linebacker with stops in Houston, San Diego, St. Louis and New England.

Everett “Eppy” Barnes, Player, Coach, Athletic Director and ABCA Founding Father 1922-68:  Barnes is inducted as a contributor, and was pivotal in the creation of the College World Series. Barnes also helped to establish the College All-Star Game, and he also served as a member of the United States Olympic Committee.  

Rick Cerone, Seton Hall, 1973-75, Catcher:  Cerone was an All-American in 1975, and he took the Pirates to back-to-back College World Series appearances while becoming an All-College World Series Team Selection in 1975.  He left Seton Hall as their all-time leader in Batting Average (.363) and Home Runs (26). Cerone went on to have a long career in the Majors, playing for Cleveland, Toronto, New York (AL), Atlanta, Milwaukee, Boston, New York (NL), and Montreal.

John Deutsch, Montclair State, 1986-89, Outfield & First Base:  Montclair is a three-time NCAA Division III First Team All-American, and he was the Division III National Player of the Year in 1989.  Deutsch, who hit 58 career Home Runs and 236 Runs Batted In, would take Montclair State to the National Title, and he was the MVP of the series.

Gary Gentry, Phoenix College & Arizona State, 1965-1967, Pitcher: Gentry took Phoenix College to a National Championship in 1965, and Arizona State to one in 1967.  In the latter year, he struck out 227 batters, with a 17-1 Record and a 1.14 ERA.  An All-American that year, he had two wins with a 0.78 ERA over 23 Innings in that World Series.

Jim Gideon, Texas, 1973-75, Pitcher:  Gideon was a First Team All-American in 1974 and 1975, and he took the Longhorns to a College World Series win in 1975.  In both 1974 and 1975, he led the Nation in wins.  He would later play one Game for the Texas Rangers in 1975.

Roy Lee Jackson, Tuskegee, 1973-75, Pitcher and Designated Hitter:  

A three-time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Selection (1973-75), Jackson went 22-9 and had 0.98 ERA and 160 Strikeouts in 1975.  He would also bat over .400 twice.  Jackson would later pitch for New York (NL), Toronto, San Diego and Minnesota

Paul Molitor, Minnesota, 1975-77, Shortstop:  Molitor was a two-time First Team All-American, and First Team Big Ten Selection.  In 1977, Molitor took the Golden Gophers to the College World Series, and he had a college Batting Average of .350 with 18 Home Runs and 52 Stolen Bases.  Molitor would later collect over 3,000 Hits, was a seven-time All-Star, and won the World Series with Toronto in 1993.  Molitor entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004.

Jim Morris, Coach, DeKalb College 1976-79, Georgia Tech 1982-93 & Miami 1994-2018:  Morris is one of 12 coaches in College Baseball to have won over 1,500 Games and he took 13 teams to the College World Series, winning it all in 1999 and 2001 at Miami.

John Scolinos, Coach, Pepperdine 1946-60, Cal Poly Pomona 1962-91:  Scolinos led Pomona to three Division II National Championships (1976, 1980 & 1983), and was also a three-time Division II Coach of the Year.

Jason Varitek, Georgia Tech, 1991-94, Catcher:  Varitek is the only player to be a First Team All-American three times, and in 1994, he won the Howser Trophy, Smith Award, Golden Spikes Award, and the National Player of the Year.  He later played professionally for the Boston Red Sox, where he would go to three All-Star Games and was a two-time World Series Champion.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest and impending members of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB. Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  Eventually, we are going to look at the major colleges for how to they honor their former athletes.  As such it is huge news that Houston Astros have announced their Rutgers University has announced their latest Hall of Fame Class.

The Class of 2020 consists of five former student-athletes.

Eric LeGrand (Football):  LeGrand’s football career at Rutgers began in 2008, but ended tragically in 2010.  A collision during a game against Army led to a spinal cord injury resulting in paralysis from the neck down.  Rather than be depressed, LeGrand exemplified tremendous courage and works a motivational speaker and fundraiser.  Le LeGrand’s number 52 is the only jersey retired in the program’s history.

Essence Carson (Women’s Basketball):  Carson was a star on the 2007 NCAA Championship Team and she would score 1,262 Points with 707 Rebounds.  A three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, Carson would later win a WNBA Championship with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016, and she currently plays for the Washington Mystics.

Alexis Gunzelman (Women’s Gymnastics):  Gunzelman was a walk-on who participated in 51 meets and is the only female gymnast to have qualified to compete in the Nationals in the all-around.

Jonelle Filigno-Hopkins (Women’s Soccer):  From Canada, Filigno-Hopkins scored 33 Goals with 16 of them being game-winners for Rutgers, while taking them four NCAA Tournaments. Internationally, she represented Canada in two Olympics and two World Cups.

James Ford (Men’s Lacrosse):  Playing for the Scarlet Knights from 1976 to 1980, Ford was the first African-American Captain in program history.  He scored 70 Goals and is the all-time school leader in Assists (131).

Due to the pandemic, there is no current timetable as to when and where the induction ceremony will take place.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the Rutgers Athletic Hall of Fame

Our apologies, as we should have discussed this earlier.

Dominican Shortstop, Jose Reyes, has announced his official retirement from baseball.  Although, he last played in the Majors in 2018, he has not yet retired publicly.

Playing most of his career with the New York Mets, Reyes would be named to four All-Star Games, was a Silver Slugger (2006), and won the Batting Title in 2011.  Reyes would exhibit blistering speed, which he showcased by leading the NL in Tripled four times and Stolen Bases three times.  In terms of thievery on the base paths, he was in the top ten six other times. 

In addition to the Mets, Reyes played for Miami, Toronto, and Colorado, and fittingly he finished his career in the Big Apple. Reyes would collect just over 2,000 Hits in his career with 517 Stolen Bases.

Reyes is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024, and when our section of the 2024 Baseball futures are up, he will be featured.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com wish Jose Reyes the best in his post-playing career.

It was announced today that British wrestling legend, Mark “Rollerball” Rocco, passed away at the age of 69.  

Born Mark Hussey in 1951, Rocco is believed to have made his pro wrestling debut in 1970, and he competed mostly in the United Kingdom through the decade.  Rocco, who was a lighter-weight competitor in Britain, was contacted by New Japan Pro Wrestling to wrestle for them.  

Rocco was packaged as “Black Tiger”, a character designed to feud with the original Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama), and he would win the WWF Junior Heavyweight Title.  He returned back to England, performing mostly for All-Star Wrestling.

Rocco was a precursor to much of the high-flying style that is part of pro wrestling today.  In our latest list of those to consider for the WWE Hall of Fame, Rocco was ranked at #355.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, fans and family of Mark Rocco.