{"id":1338,"date":"2009-07-04T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2009-07-04T13:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/04\/irish-american-hall-of-fame-to-honor-walter-omalley-five-others\/"},"modified":"2009-07-04T06:01:33","modified_gmt":"2009-07-04T13:01:33","slug":"irish-american-hall-of-fame-to-honor-walter-omalley-five-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/04\/irish-american-hall-of-fame-to-honor-walter-omalley-five-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish American Hall of Fame to Honor Walter O’Malley, Five Others"},"content":{"rendered":"

My friend John Mooney asked me to pass this along<\/em>:<\/p>\n

When the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame inducts Walter O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Malley on Tuesday, July 7, 2009, it will become the first New York City-based organization to honor the longtime Dodgers owner (the man who moved the team out of Brooklyn to Los Angeles ) in more than 50 years.<\/p>\n

O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Malley is being recognized for his impact on the game, including pioneering baseball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s western expansion and for being co-owner and legal counsel of the Dodgers when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. (This part of his resume had as much impact on the game as any of his other accomplishments.) Peter O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Malley, also a former Dodgers owner, will be accepting the plaque on his father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behalf. Walter O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Malley will be inducted on July 7 at Noon along with sluggers Steve Garvey and Paul O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Neill, longtime umpire Jim Joyce, veteran sportscaster Vin Scully and Ed Lucas, a blind reporter who has covered the Yankees and Mets for more than 40 years.<\/p>\n

Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame to Become the First NYC Organization in Over 50 Years to Honor Walter O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Malley, The Man Who Moved The Dodgers Out of Brooklyn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hall Inducts Longtime Dodgers Owner, Sluggers Steve Garvey and Paul O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Neill, Broadcaster Vin Scully, Blind Journalist Ed Lucas, and Umpire Jim Joyce<\/p>\n

Foley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s NY Pub & Restaurant Recognizes Baseball Players, Execs, Umpires, Journalists and Entertainers of Irish Descent on Tues, July 7, 2009<\/em><\/p>\n

New York, NY<\/strong> (July 1, 2009) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Longtime Brooklyn and LA Dodgers owner Walter O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Malley<\/strong>, sluggers Steve Garvey<\/strong> and Paul O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Neill<\/strong>, longtime umpire Jim Joyce<\/strong>, veteran sportscaster Vin Scully<\/strong> and Ed Lucas<\/strong>, a blind reporter who has covered the Yankees and Mets for more than 40 years, will be inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at Noon.<\/p>\n

The Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame is housed at Foley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s NY Pub & Restaurant ( 18 W. 33rd St. ) in Manhattan and, with a blessing from Cooperstown , recognizes current and former players, managers, executives, journalists and entertainers of Irish descent.<\/p>\n

The game of baseball has welcomed immigrants from its earliest days — when an estimated 30 percent of players claimed Irish heritage — up to today as major league teams regularly sign players born in Latin America, Japan , Canada , and elsewhere. Honorees are chosen based on a combination of factors: impact on the game, popularity, contributions to the community, and, of course, ancestry.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our goal is to celebrate the contributions of Irish Americans to the game of baseball, both on and off the field,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Shaun Clancy, founder of the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame and owner of Foley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s NY Pub & Restaurant, where it is housed. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re honored that Steve Garvey and Peter O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Malley, who will represent his father and the O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Malley family, are flying in to attend the ceremony.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame is the first New York City organization in the past half-century to honor Walter O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Malley. His Dodger teams won four World Series and 11 N.L. Pennants during his years of ownership,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Clancy continued. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Significantly, he was co-owner and legal counsel for the Dodgers when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. This part of his resume had as much impact on the game as any of his other accomplishments, which also include his team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s legendary World Series victory in 1955.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is a great honor,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said former Dodger great Steve Garvey, one of the most popular players of the 1970s and early 80s. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m as proud of my Irish roots as I am my accomplishments on the baseball field.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My father was most proud of his Irish heritage and would have loved this honor, particularly since it is in New York , where he was born,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Peter O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Malley, son of the longtime Dodgers owner and a former president and owner of the team.<\/p>\n

Many of baseball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s biggest stars at the turn of the 20th century were Irish immigrants or their descendants, including Michael \u00e2\u20ac\u0153King\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kelly, Roger Connor (the home run king before Babe Ruth), all-time ERA leader Big Ed Walsh and NY Giants manager John McGraw. In fact, the large 1945 class of inductees enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame included nine Irish Americans: Roger Bresnahan, Dan Brouthers, Fred Clarke, Jimmy Collins, Ed Delahanty, Hugh Duffy, Hughie Jennings, King Kelly, and Jim O’Rourke.<\/p>\n

Shaun Clancy, an amateur baseball historian, created the Hall after learning about the rich heritage of Irish Americans in the sport dating from its infancy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a legacy that has been overshadowed in recent years by other ethnicities. He decided to celebrate his roots and those who helped make the game great by creating a shrine to Irish Americans in baseball in 2008. Inductees include players, managers, team executives, umpires, journalists, broadcasters, entertainers. In addition to giving each inductee a copy of his plaque, Foley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s will make a donation to Umps Care and Ed Randall\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Bat For The Cure in their names.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153As an immigrant myself, I am so proud of the positive response to the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame from both the inductees and visitors. Learning the game helped me fall in love with America \u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national past time and my adopted homeland,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Shaun Clancy, owner of Foley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, which features one of the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most extensive public displays of baseball memorabilia outside of Cooperstown . \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re thrilled to host and celebrate the honorees here today and celebrate their impact on the game and the community.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The 7×9 inch brass plaques feature the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame logo, an image of each inductee with a brief list of career and personal accomplishments, as well as Irish roots and\/or connections and the date of induction. The plaques were designed by engravers Ashburns, Inc.<\/p>\n

The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Starting Nine\u00e2\u20ac\u009d inductees last year were: the late Mets and Phillies reliever Tug McGraw, Yankee announcer John Flaherty, sportswriter Jeff Horrigan, NY Mets groundskeeper Pete Flynn, retired sluggers Mark McGwire and Sean \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Mayor\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Casey, Kevin Costner, star of Field of Dreams<\/em> and Bull Durham<\/em>, legendary owner\/manager Connie Mack, and longtime official scorer and columnist Red Foley.<\/p>\n

About Foley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s NY Pub & Restaurant<\/strong><\/p>\n

A popular destination among baseball players, executives, umpires and fans, Foley’s NY Pub & Restaurant (www.foleysny.com<\/a>) is located on 18 W. 33rd St. , across the street from the Empire State Building . The “Irish bar with a baseball attitude” features walls adorned with 2,000 autographed baseballs, hundreds of bobbleheads, game-worn jerseys, stadium seats and other artifacts that make Foley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best baseball bar in New York and one of the best sports bars in America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My friend John Mooney asked me to pass this along: When the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame inducts Walter O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Malley on Tuesday, July 7, 2009, it will become the first New York City-based organization to honor the longtime Dodgers owner (the man who moved the team out of Brooklyn to Los Angeles ) in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}