• Thursday, January 27th, 2011
BIO:
When Pat Shanks led a USSSA “B” team, J. R. Express, to a stunning ASA Major Metro Crown in 1992 at the age of 32 and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, no one could have predicted that that bulk of his career accomplishments were yet to come. Two years later he joined Watanabe Optical, and, for the next seven years, helped power them to a pair of Major Metro titles, and earn a top ten finish in the ASA Major Nationals three consecutive seasons. During the 1999 season, Pat was the inaugural recipient of the John Earls Memorial Award as a tribute to his exemplary sportsmanship and character. In 2001 at the age of 41, he joined Perkins Roofing, and led them to two Metro titles and a coveted trip to the USSSA World Series in 2002. Yet a sixth Metro title came with EMR in 2004. Pat was known as the complete package, possessing great speed, a great arm and extraordinary defensive skills in the outfield to compliment his lifetime batting average of .625 and 1500 career home runs. He was named to the Men’s Major All-City team fifteen consecutive seasons and was named to the All-Decade team in both 2000 and 2010.
• Thursday, January 27th, 2011
BIO:
Jim Wessel was the legendary centerfielder for Wilsman Trucking of Hamilton for 14 years. He played in his first ASA Open Major National Tournament at the age of 18 in 1955. Over the next 14 seasons, Wilsman won 10 Ohio State championships, and was State runner-up 3 times. Jim was named to 9 All-State teams and was State Tournament Most Valuable Player 3 times. He possessed blazing speed and was a pioneer in the use of the three-man outfield. Jim’s success in the Open Major program earned him inductions into four local and state Halls of Fame. After a 16-year hiatus from the game, he came out of retirement in 1992 to spend 13 years leading 7 different teams to a dozen Senior Softball National titles, including several Greater Cincinnati teams. Along the way, Jim was named to 14 All-American teams, won two national home run titles, and a national tournament Most Valuable Player award. Sandwiched between first place national titles with Joseph Chevrolet in 1992 and 2004, he captured championships with Miami Valley Merchants, Nothdurft, Wopac, Papa John’s and Florida Investment Properties. For these accomplishments, Jim became a charter member of the Senior Softball National Hall of Fame in 1996.
• Friday, January 29th, 2010
BIO:
Marvin Doyle was the pre-eminent 3rd baseman in Greater Cincinnati during the ‘90’s and early 2000’s with teams like Backstop, Watanabe/TPS, EMR and Cooper Sports. On the field he presented the complete package with a lofty .673 lifetime batting average, home run power and solid defensive skills. He led his teams to two Major Metro titles, a USSSA A-AA state championship, and an NSA B State and Regional crown. During his career he was named to seven Major Metro All-Tournament teams, and won fourteen All-Tournament selections in USSSA NIT’s. He was a seven-time “Open” All-City selection, and hit over 100 home runs five out of six seasons from 1997 through 2002. He was runner-up “Player of the Year” in 1997 and 2002, and was selected Greater Cincinnati “Player of the Year” in 2001. In 2000, he was named first team All-Decade for the nineties, and to the Greater Cincinnati All-Century team.
• Friday, January 29th, 2010
BIO:
Tim Barker’s career can probably best be summed up in three words: longevity, consistency and successful. Still an active player at the USSSA “C’ level and in the senior program after 40 years, he has built a reputation as the consummate leadoff hitter, utilizing his lifetime batting average of .600-plus, ability to hit to all fields and outstanding speed. His teams have captured two Metro Tournaments, six State Championships, eight National Invitationals, and one National Tournament, plus four World Tournaments in the Senior Division. Some of his individual honors include 29 All-Tournament team selections in State, National Invitational and World Tournaments, and seven Most Valuable Player awards. And he’s been selected to the All-Northern Kentucky first team ten times, including 1979, when he was named “Player of the Year.” He has been a fixture in the lineup of the top ranked teams in Northern Kentucky since he was a teenager, including Log Cabin, Taylor Brothers and Rockcastle Olds at the “A” level.
• Friday, January 29th, 2010
BIO:
Ron “Pee Wee” Garnett is arguably Greater Cincinnati’s most successful senior player of all time with approximately 50 World Championships under his belt. Following a successful ten-year career in the masters program during which his Newport Steel team captured five 35-over Kentucky State titles, his success skyrocketed in 1990 when he became a participant in the senior program. After participating initially with local teams like Cane Run, Joseph Chevrolet and Miami Valley Merchants, then barnstorming the country with powerhouses like Nothdorf, WOPAC, Florida Investment and Stafford Sales, he captured an unrivaled number of national titles in a variety of senior organizations. Over the last 18 years, he has earned All-American honors 18 times and been named Most Valuable Player four times. A 1996 inductee into the National Senior Players Hall of Fame, he is a versatile infielder equally comfortable playing short, 2nd, 3rd or middle infield, and boasts a .650 lifetime batting average.
• Friday, January 29th, 2010
BIO:
Pat Wright was the 2nd baseman for Greater Cincinnati’s pre-eminent team of the early seventies, Century Tire. Considered to be the best fielding 2nd baseman of his era, he was also a great line drive hitter who batted at the top of the line-up for several of the tri-state’s top ranked teams of the sixties and seventies, including the Buckeye Merchants, Dick Luken Volkswagen, Eddie’s Cafe, Century Tire and Stan’s Roofing. Before retiring in 1976 after a fifteen year career, he earned Most Valuable Player honors in five tournaments, captured over 20 league and 25 tournament titles, won three ASA Metro championships and five Metro runner-up finishes, and finished in the top five in four ASA National Championships. In 2000, he was named to the Greater Cincinnati All-Century team.
• Thursday, January 28th, 2010
BIO:
Billy Carter’s legacy was not built on hitting home runs, nor his legendary ability for hitting line drives to all fields. For it was his pitching and defense that defined his career, during which he helped underdog teams like Hal Manufacturing, Bohemian Lounge, Hauck’s Cafe and Simpson’s Cafe play spoiler against established powerhouses like Century Tire, a team Hauck’s Cafe upset in the 1972 ASA City Tournament finals. He also pitched Simpson’s Cafe to a Metro title in 1976 to earn his second trip to the ASA National Tournament. Two of his most notable accomplishments came in back-to-back seasons while competing in the White Oak Major League when he won Most Valuable Player honors in 1973 and the batting title in 1974. He was named to several All-City teams during his career, and was named to the Greater Cincinnati “All-Century” in 2000.
