Valdosta's Wall of Excellence

[Alan T]

[Alan T]

9/22/69

Today Valdosta announced the first member of the Wall of Excellence with the retiring of SP Bryan Hughes. Hughes played in FOOL since the league's inception and in eight seasons was a very large part of the success of the Valdosta Peanuts and the Gary Bluecollars, helping lead the teams to the postseason in both 1961 and 1967. In his time in the league, Hughes was a six time allstar and won the Pitcher of the Year award in 1961.

Hughes retires third all time in Career wins with 126 and finishes with a career ERA of 3.37. His best seasons were in his Pitcher of the year season 1961 with a 19-9 record and a 2.58 ERA and then later in 1967 when Hughes went 21-7 with a 2.91 ERA.

Bryan Hughes will be remembered always in Valdosta as his number 21 will never be worn again, and instead placed upon the Right Field Wall of Excellence for future generations to see.

[muns]

nice work alan

[Alan T]

Thanks DC, I took what you did and grabbed the color code from it to modify mine a bit. I think I want to keep it a bit simpler where it just shows the numbers similar to oldtime ballparks.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Thanks DC, I took what you did and grabbed the color code from it to modify mine a bit. I think I want to keep it a bit simpler where it just shows the numbers similar to oldtime ballparks.

I forgot you're an old school guy.

[Alan T]

9/16/72

Valdosta announces the retirement of long time closer Matt Wood. Wood was a part of the Valdosta franchise back from their days in Gary starting in 1961 and made it to the postseason with the team in 1961, 1967 and the FOOL Championship team of 1970.

Matt Wood, a local boy from Statesboro, GA was perhaps one of the happiest when the franchise announced it's move to Valdosta in the early 1960s. He was a 5 time all star, and finished in the top 10 in saves all nine seasons as a closer. His career record was 46-44 with a 2.42 ERA and 267 saves which is third all time in the history of FOOL.

[Alan T]

10/4/74

Valdosta today announced the retirement of long time first baseman Heath Palmer. Palmer was the premiere contact hitter at the start of FOOL's history including records that still stand today. His 217 hits in a single season, as well as his 170 singles from the same 1961 season have not been duplicated ever in the history of FOOL.

Heath Palmer, a 7 time all star, led the league in both hits and batting average 5 times, and holds a career batting average of .313 which ranks 8th all time. Palmer's best season was the 1966 season with Valdosta where he hit .343/.417/.509 and won the RL Most Valuable Player award prior to the team's moving to the CL the following year.

Heath Palmer reached the postseason twice with the Valdosta franchise, the first in 1961 when the team was still in Gary and a second time in 1967 when Valdosta lost in the FOOL Classic. Palmer left the Peanuts in the 1968-1969 offseason to test the free agent market but was never unfortunately the same as he was later surpassed by a new generation of vitamin enhanced player.

Heath Palmer will from this day forward, always be a Peanut as his number 24 will be hung from Valdosta's Wall of Excellence.