LONGMEADOW — The Western Massachusetts Baseball Hall of Fame forever immortalized five inductees Thursday night and also honored a man who helped document the region’s sports for decades.
The Class of 2024 was the 11th inducted into the regional Hall of Fame, established in 2014 to honor those who made lasting contributions to the game at all levels. The event was held at the Twin Hills Country Club.
The five Hall of Fame inductees were a perfectly pieced-together ensemble that consisted of three former major leaguers and two regional head coaching legends. In addition, a historic high school team out of Turners Falls defied the odds to go undefeated during the height of World War II.
Dalton’s Jeff Reardon
Former Major League Baseball World Series champion pitcher Jeff Reardon was also in attendance. To many, the Pittsfield native is also better known as “the pride of Dalton.”
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Reardon’s professional career lasted 16 seasons, during which time he laced up cleats for over seven organizations, including the New York Mets, Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees.
Reardon ended his career with 367 saves, placing him 12th all-time on the MLB saves list. He was also a four-time all-star.
“It was great,” said Reardon, reflecting on his induction into Western Massachusetts annals. “I’m from a small town, Dalton, Massachusetts, which has about 5,000 people, and even though I’m part of many Hall of Fames, this honor truly means a lot, because I am from the area.”
In 2019, 6-year-old John Hart of Wilbraham became an honorary member of the Springfield College baseball team with a special draft-day signing ceremony at the college. This is John with his mom, Michelle, and Springfield College baseball coach Mark Simeone during the ceremony. (Don Treeger / The Republican, File)
Rounding out the ensemble of inductees were Mark Simeone, who just surpassed 500 wins this past Sunday as part of his 28th season of coaching for Springfield College, Bob Taylor and Don Strange, who both have ties to professional baseball and roots in Springfield.
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Bob Taylor of Springfield played baseball for the Springfield Giants and spent the 1970 season with the San Francisco Giants. This is Taylor in his Springfield home. (Don Treeger / The Republican, File)
Taylor’s career spanned 16 seasons with multiple teams. His most notable was with the San Francisco Giants, where he shared the field with legends such as Willie Mays and Willie McCovey. Strange spent eight years in the Atlanta Braves farm system.
In 2022, Western Mass Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Patrick Strange, center, with his family. (Dave Roback / Special to The Republican, File)
In addition, legendary Turners Falls head coach Earl Lorden was inducted posthumously, along with the rest of his team, the 1942 state champions, whose spirit and legacy were kept alive by the last living member of the team, George Bush, and direct family members of other players in attendance.
Longtime Republican staffer
In 2004, Republican staffers Garry Brown, left, and Ron Chimelis. (Marla Pinsky / The Republican, File)Marla Pinsky / The Republican
Notable takeaways from the event included longtime Republican columnist Ron Chimelis being named the second recipient of the Garry Brown Award. The award is dedicated and presented in honor and legacy of the acclaimed Republican sports writer whose career spanned from the early 1950s until his passing at age 90 in early 2022.
A longtime columnist and community staple for 36 years, Chimelis’ career reflected his character and genuine nature. During this time, he had a front-row seat and witnessed the Boston Red Sox win three World Series championships in 2004, 2007 and 2013. His work has been recognized nationally and regionally as among the best in the business.
“It’s very gratifying, partly because I worked for years next to Garry at Fenway Park, along with the Springfield office,” said Chimelis after Thursday’s event.
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As recipient of the honor, Chimelis expressed gratitude for his late colleague.
“There’s a humanity to this whole thing, and it is tremendously flattering to be linked with him in any way. (Browne) gave me a big boost when he nominated me for the Baseball Writers Association in 1998. And you have to be in that to do things such as be bestowed the ability to vote for Cooperstown. But it meant more that my longtime friend nominated me for it than some of the accolades I received.”
In 2018, Ron Chimelis of The Republican during an editorial board meeting. (Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen / The Republican, File)Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen / The Republican
Chimelis’ dedication and integrity expanded well beyond the realm of sports into the later years of his career, when he wrote news, features and editorials for The Republican.
Chimelis tackled tough questions and topics, demonstrating his simple, practical, every-man approach.
“Should Sox owner Tom Yawkey’s name be kept on a street outside Fenway Park in light of his racist history?” was one query. Another: “Do the likes of Pete Rose and any number of steroid users belong in the National Baseball Hall of Fame?” Both columns still can be found on Masslive.com.
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“I think the media needs people who can connect readers with the story being told,” Chimelis said. “This approach allows me to explain the story in ways people can understand and feel comfortable with.”
Longtime colleague Cynthia Simison, Republican executive editor emerita, said she felt Chimelis was “richly deserving of this honor.”
“The poignancy of it being now named in honor of Garry Brown makes it even more special.”
Happy Tuesday! While today started off dry, we’re already looking at snow out there across the area. While this event will primarily stay as rain on the Cape and islands, it will be an icy mix of snow, ice and rain for the rest of us.
The rain/snow line will continue to advance from the south to the north as the evening progresses. Before the changeover, there will be a quick coating to 2 inches for most of our area.
The threshold between the snow and rain will feature sleet and freezing rain, leading to that icing.
For the rest of the night, there will primarily be rain with continued pockets of freezing rain, leading to increasing spotty ice accretion. Be extremely careful on roads, especially since switching between rain and freezing rain can wash off any road salt.
The rain and freezing rain will exit by 6 a.m. Wednesday, but temperatures will still be close to freezing during the morning commute, so watch out for some spotty black ice.
The rest of Wednesday will be really nice! Highs will warm up to the mid 50s with the help of ample sun.
Thursday we start off in the mid 20s and top off in the mid 40s. We’ll be partly sunny with another chance for some wintry weather Thursday night. This primarily looks like some rain and freezing rain, rather than the triple threat with snow too. We’ll keep an eye on that for you.
That will continue into Friday morning. The rest of Friday: cloudy with a chance for a spot shower and highs cooler again in the upper 30s. Saturday will be dry, breezy and cloudy but gorgeous near 50 degrees! There’s a chance for some rain showers Saturday night. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward an hour before you to go bed!
Sunday we start the day mild in the 40s and make it all the way into the upper 50s with more sun. Monday and Tuesday both look bright and in the 60s! Stay tuned.
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With a widening conflict in the Middle East after the American and Israeli attack on Iran Saturday, global markets are bracing for a shakeup in the energy supply chain.
So, here at home, what can consumers expect at the gas pump?
An increase in oil prices is almost always followed by an increase in gas prices. And the oil market has already reacted to the war. NBC News reported on Sunday that U.S. crude oil initially spiked more than 10%, while Brent, the international oil benchmark, rose as much as 13%.
Early Monday morning, reports were coming in of black smoke rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City.
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While Iran’s oil reserves supply less than an estimated 5% of global production, the main concern is the Strait of Hormuz. This maritime passageway borders Iran at the bottleneck of the Persian Gulf, and more than 20% of the world’s oil passes through. If Iran closes or restricts Hormuz, the oil market could face severe disruptions.
Gas prices rise about 2.5 cents for every dollar increase in crude oil prices. As of Sunday, U.S. crude oil prices had already increased by nearly $5 a barrel.
“I fully expect that by Monday night, you could credibly say that gas prices are being impacted by oil prices having gone up,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan told NBC News.
GasBuddy characterizes their expectations for price increases as “incremental” rather than “explosive”. The group said to anticipate a potential 10-15 cent increase over the next couple of weeks.
