Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame comes to the Valley; shines light on local stars

Longtime Philadelphia Phillies Dan Baker took the microphone Saturday night at the Delta Hotels by Marriott in Breinigsville and welcomed everyone as if they were at Game 2 of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

Baker sounded just as he has since he was the public address announcer at Veterans Stadium and would have been thrilled to be behind the microphone for another World Series game.

“That’s where I would be tonight if the Phillies won the National League and the Astros won the American League,” he explained.

But Baker, who is as much a part of the Phillies baseball tradition as players, managers and broadcasters such as Harry Kalas, Richie Asburn, By Saam and others, was thrilled to be in the Lehigh Valley as the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame held its banquet in the area for the first time.

Baker was one of the 13 inductees and while the Lehigh Valley-Pocono Chapter was the host, the area was also well-represented by the induction of several local legends including Larry Miller, Matt Millen, Dave Crowell, Nicole Levandusky, the late Billy Sheridan and East Stroudsburg University graduate Jan Hutchinson.

Here’s a closer look at each inductee:

Dan Baker: A Mount Ephraim, New Jersey, native and an Audubon High and Glassboro State graduate, Baker became MLB’s longest-tenured public address announcer after the retirement of the Yankees’ Bob Sheppard in 2009. He has worked two All-Star Games and six World Series and was also the Eagles’ PA announcer from 1985 to 2014 and worked three NFC title games. He was also radio voice of Drexel basketball for 15 years and Big Five games for 21 years and was the executive director of the Big Five from 1985-2014.

Bob Bubb: An All-American college wrestler at the University of Pittsburgh, Bubb had a successful stint as the wrestling coach at Tyrone High School from 1959-66 and then became a highly successful coach at Clarion University from 1966-92 where he posted a record of 322-121-4 and won 11 PSAC titles and five of his wrestlers combined for seven NCAA titles including two each for Wade Schalles and Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle. He coached 27 All-Americans, 29 EWL champs and 98 PSAC champs.

Frank Bolick: A 1985 Mount Carmel graduate, Bolick shined in baseball and football and went on to play baseball at Georgia Tech. He went to enjoy a 16-year career in professional baseball with seven different organizations. He concluded his career in Japan where he hit more than 100 home runs in four seasons and played in the 2000 Japanese All-Star Game.

Dave Crowell: A Corry native and Lock Haven graduate, Crowell has been named the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association coach of the year seven times through 37 seasons at Wilson, Easton and Nazareth with a career record of 569-141-1 through the 2022-23 season. His teams have won 13 state titles with five state dual meet titles and his squad finished first or second 10 titles. District 11 has honored him as coach of the year 14 times.

Russ Grimm: After earning nine varsity letters at Southmoreland High School, Grimm earned a scholarship to play at the University of Pittsburgh where he was a center on an offensive line that also included future Pro Bowlers, Mark May, Bill Fralic and Jimbo Covert. Pitt went 22-2 over Grimm’s last two seasons in 1979-80. He had a lengthy career with the “Hogs” on the Washington Redskins’ offensive line. He was a four-time all-pro and helped the team won three Super Bowls as a player another one as an assistant coach with the Steelers.

Eugene Guarilia: A 1955 graduate of Duryea High School, the late Guarilia played college basketball at Potomac State Junior College and George Washington. He finished his GW career with 1,136 points and 1,019 rebounds. He was selected 14th in the 1959 NBA Draft and played four seasons with the Boston Celtics where he won four titles. His most memorable performance came in Game 7 of the 1962 NBA Finals when he held Lakers’ legend Elgin Baylor scoreless in overtime. He then became a highly successful high school coach in Luzerne County and had the court named in his honor at Pittston Area in 2015.

Art Howe: At Shaler High School, Howe was an all-WPIAL football standout in addition to pitching his team to the WPIAL title as a a junior in 1964. He earned a football scholarship to Wyoming, but an injury ended his dreams of playing in the NFL. He did make it to the MLB and spent 11 seasons with three different teams and then became a manager with three different clubs. He finished second in the American League manager of the year voting four times and had a lengthy career as a TV/radio analyst for Astros.

Jan Hutchinson: The East Stroudsburg University graduate became a coaching legend in two sports at Bloomsburg. She coached the Huskies field hockey program from 1978-2009 and posted a record of 591-75-20 with 16 PSAC and 16 national titles and coached 52 All-Americans along the way. As Bloom’s softball coach from 1978-2010, her teams went 1,215-288-2 and made 28 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament and won the 1982 national title. She was the first coach in NCAA history to record a combined 1,000 wins.

Nicole Levandusky: An all-stater in three sports at Palmerton, Levandusky was best known for basketball as a Blue Bomber scoring 2,622 points. She went on to shine in basketball at Xavier University where she averaged 13.8 points per game and was the Atlantic 10’s defensive player of the year as a senior in 2001. She went to play for Los Angeles Sparks and helped the team win a WNBA title in her one pro season.

Matt Millen: A four-time Super Bowl champion, Millen got his start at Whitehall High and was molded by Joe Paterno at Penn State where he was an All-American and a finalist for Vince Lombardi Award as a senior. He had a 12-year career in the NFL and was a first-team all-pro selection in 1984 and ’85. He has had extensive NFL and NCAA radio and television career and was the president and CEO of the Detroit Lions from 2001-07.

Larry Miller: One of the most popular athletes ever to come out of the Lehigh Valley, Miller is considered the Valley’s Babe Ruth of high school basketball. He graduated from Catasauqua High School in 1964 with a District 11 record 2,712 points and 2,062 rebounds. He received a scholarship from the University of North Carolina where he was named the ACC tournament’s MVP and the conference’s player of the year in both 1966 and ’67. As a senior, his team lost to UCLA in the Final Four and he was a consensus first-team All-America selection along with Pete Maravich, Elvin Hayes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wes Unseld. He played pro basketball with five different ABA teams and set a league scoring record with 67 points for the Carolina Cougars in a win over Memphis in 1972.

Billy Sheridan: The late Sheridan became known as the Knute Rockne of college wrestling during a 41-year career at Lehigh University. He is recognized as one of wrestling’s founding fathers with a Lehigh career that included a record of 222-86-8 and 13 EIWA team titles and six undefeated seasons. He coached five NCAA champs, 59 EIWA titlists, five AAU winners and developed three Olympians.

C. Vivian Stringer: A German Township High graduate who went on to play four sports at Slippery Rock, Stringer became a legendary college basketball coach. She led Cheyney to the Division II national title game in 1982 and led Iowa to the Final Four in 2000 and Rutgers to the national semifinals in 2007. She was a three-time national coach of the year and finished her career as the fifth winningest coach in women’s basketball history with a record of 1,055-426. She was inducted into the Naismith National Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 in a class that included Michael Jordan, David Robinson and John Stockton.