The first Saturday of February each year is known as Induction Day at the Ted Williams Museum. Founded in 1993, now located at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.
This year marked the 23rd annual induction.
Inductees for 2016 included New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez, Colorado Rockies outfielder Dante Bichette, two time Cy Young winner and eight-time all-star Roy Halliday, Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell, and Billy Wagner with the Pitching Wall of Great Achievement.
This year’s event was a huge success thanks to Executive Director David McCarthy and Claudia Williams, daughter of Ted Williams.
The first person to be honored next year with the Lifetime Achievement Induction will be Tom Giordano, also known as T-Bone in baseball circles. At 90, the senior active scout and special assistant to Atlanta Braves President John Hart, will be the second scout to be inducted since Gene Michael in 2015.
Giordano like Gene Michael has worked very closely with owners and general managers throughout the years and has made each organization that he has been with that much better.
Braves President John Hart was the first to be informed about Giordano and will be presenting the award next year to honor Giordano and to make what will be a very popular event.
What this Museum is all about is best described in Ted’s own words, “Through the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame, we hope to build a lasting monument, an architectural tribute to what I think is the single most difficult thing in all of sports: hitting a baseball. We hope the museum will become a place millions of baseball fans will visit and enjoy for generations to come. I hope you’ll join us as we transform our dreams into reality.”
Ray Negron is a sports executive with over 40 years of experience in baseball. His first job came from a chance encounter with George Steinbrenner as a youth. He has become an American film producer, a best-selling author, and a philanthropist. His memoir is entitled, “Yankee Miracles: Life with the Boss and the Bronx Bombers.” For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
