The top vote earner this year was 2003 Hagerstown Sun and current San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain. Cain was the first person from the Giants' era in Hagerstown to receive induction, and become one of the two players from the period following the Toronto Blue Jays affiliation to be enshrined.
Joining Cain in that group was fellow Major Leaguers Shannon Stewart, Steve Finley and Steve Lombardozzi. Finley, a member of the 1987 and '88 Suns, played 19 seasons in the Major Leagues, hitting over 300 homeruns and compiling over 2500 hits.
Stewart meanwhile was a member of the 1994 Suns and made his Major League debut the following season. During his Major League career, he had a .297 average and finished with a .790 OPS.
Lombardozzi, a member of the 2009 Suns, garnered induction on his first ballot. In his first full season last year, Lombardozzi batted .273 as the Washington Nationals made their run towards the National League East crown. He is the first player from the Nationals' affiliation to be selected for the Fan Club's Hall of Fame.
Rounding out the group was 1981 Sun Dane Anthony. Anthony, who was a player supplied to Hagerstown by the Cleveland Indians as part of their co-op affiliation, was an All-Star for the Suns that season and was instrumental in their run to the First Half Title, which led to their Carolina League championship. Furthermore, he started the first game in Hagerstown Suns' history on April 10, 1981, throwing a complete game shutout to give the franchise its first victory .
In the coming weeks, we will post full biographies for each player in this class. They join the Fan Club's Class of 2012, which included eight individuals.
The Fan Club's Hall of Fame is exclusively featured on this webpage.
Dane Anthony gave a wonderful induction speech at the 2013 induction dinner not knowing he was going to be inducted.
ReplyDeleteDane certainly enjoyed his baseball career and now enjoys his law enforcement career.
Dane was a great choice for the Suns HOF.