Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame History
The first step toward organizing the Greater St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame took place in July of 1973 when Don Gabbert called upon nine men to get their reaction and to lay the groundwork for recognizing some of the long-forgotten, outstanding amateur baseball players in the Gateway City.
The first meeting of this distinguished baseball-minded group was held on August 9, 1973 at the Town Hall Restaurant in Clayton, Missouri. Present were Ed Fogarty, Walter Giesler, Gideon Elmore, Ben Hopwood, Chuck Foulke, Don Gabbert and Roger Wenzel. Leroy Hankins, Bob Burnes and Steve Raab were unable to attend.
At this initial conference, discussions centered around the qualifications necessary for induction, the awards to be given out and other items essential to the formation of the “Hall”. A target date of March, 1974 was set for the first awards banquet. Don Gabbert was elected Chairman and Greg Marecek, Raymond Owen, Thomas Dix and Leroy Engert were selected as additional directors. The Board was now well-rounded, with a representation of each decade...the directors were in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. There was youth for fresh ideas to carry on and those with experience and memories to come up with new names, dates and places.
During the course of the following months, it was established that no major league player would be nominated for the award and no director would be eligible for the first year. The board and its screening committee selected 22 inductees to present at the March banquet. Don Gabbert and Steve Raab called each inductee personally, (confirmed by certified mail the following day) informing each inductee that they had been selected to receive the long-overdue and well-deserved recognition for their days on the sandlot.
These original inductees were:
Players: Anthony (Tony) Kreft, Gus Schultehenrich, Harry W. Meyers, Harry C. Freise, Bernard Eisenbath,
Albert A. Nicolai, William Daum, Harry W. Eschenbrenner, Normal C. (Tweed) Webb, John Corcoran;
Contributors: Thos. Kutis, Paul L. Fultz, Martin L. Mathews, Mel Schaefer, Al J. Mick;
Posthumous: George Khoury, Sr., John Scully, Pete J. Fix, Edgar Loehr, Roy D. Newsom, Francis DeLong and
Vernon Sandusky.
The first meeting of this distinguished baseball-minded group was held on August 9, 1973 at the Town Hall Restaurant in Clayton, Missouri. Present were Ed Fogarty, Walter Giesler, Gideon Elmore, Ben Hopwood, Chuck Foulke, Don Gabbert and Roger Wenzel. Leroy Hankins, Bob Burnes and Steve Raab were unable to attend.
At this initial conference, discussions centered around the qualifications necessary for induction, the awards to be given out and other items essential to the formation of the “Hall”. A target date of March, 1974 was set for the first awards banquet. Don Gabbert was elected Chairman and Greg Marecek, Raymond Owen, Thomas Dix and Leroy Engert were selected as additional directors. The Board was now well-rounded, with a representation of each decade...the directors were in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. There was youth for fresh ideas to carry on and those with experience and memories to come up with new names, dates and places.
During the course of the following months, it was established that no major league player would be nominated for the award and no director would be eligible for the first year. The board and its screening committee selected 22 inductees to present at the March banquet. Don Gabbert and Steve Raab called each inductee personally, (confirmed by certified mail the following day) informing each inductee that they had been selected to receive the long-overdue and well-deserved recognition for their days on the sandlot.
These original inductees were:
Players: Anthony (Tony) Kreft, Gus Schultehenrich, Harry W. Meyers, Harry C. Freise, Bernard Eisenbath,
Albert A. Nicolai, William Daum, Harry W. Eschenbrenner, Normal C. (Tweed) Webb, John Corcoran;
Contributors: Thos. Kutis, Paul L. Fultz, Martin L. Mathews, Mel Schaefer, Al J. Mick;
Posthumous: George Khoury, Sr., John Scully, Pete J. Fix, Edgar Loehr, Roy D. Newsom, Francis DeLong and
Vernon Sandusky.