Salem’s Clark, Lazzaro among new H-of-F inductees
Five area baseball players and contributors have been selected for induction into the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame at the 20th annual Hall of Fame banquet on Sunday, February 13, 2011 at the Salem Civic Center.
Sam Lazzaro
This year’s inductees are Anthony Amos, Harold Brown, Jerome “Budgy” Clark, Sam Lazzaro, and Art Price.
Clark was a standout baseball player at Salem High School and Virginia Tech. After an outstanding college career he went into the turf management business and held numerous positions in that field, including trips to Sweden, Croatia, and Italy to work on fields for the 2009 World Cup and Beijing, China for the 2008 Olympics. He has served as head groundskeeper for the Washington Nationals.
Sam Lazzaro, an original member of the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame Board of Directors, has been involved for baseball for most of his life as an administrator, author, and sportscaster. His book “More Than A Ball Game: An Inside Look at Minor League Baseball” included many anecdotes about his days as General Manager and Vice President of the local Carolina League baseball team. Sam was named Executive of the Year in both the New York-Penn League and the Carolina League and his clubs broke attendance records in 11 of 14 seasons he was on the job. Sam is now a lawyer in Salem.
Amos is a William Byrd graduate who has been active in baseball all his life as a player, coach, and administrator. He coached American Legion baseball off and on since the ‘70s and is currently the coach of the Vinton Post 80 team. In 1998 he founded and coached the first AAU team in Vinton and the first 10-and-under team in the Roanoke Valley. Amos has played a big role in bringing AAU tournaments to the valley and has coached AAU, middle school, and NABF teams.
Brown, a native of Franklin County, was a standout pitcher who went on to coach Little League ball. He was team MVP at Franklin County in 1976 and his team went on the AAA state championship game. He pitched for Chipola College in Florida, where he had a 10-0 record in ’78, and then pitched two years at Southern Illinois University. He was drafted by the Oakland A’s and Milwaukee Brewers but decided to return to Franklin County to be part of the family business. Brown passed away during the year.
Art Price has been the Director of Parks and Recreation for the town of Christiansburg since 1987. A graduate of Radford University, he has over 28 years of administrative experience and has been a big supporter of baseball in the New River area. He’s responsible for bringing many tournaments to the area and upgrading the baseball facilities.
The Hall of Fame also announced that John Montgomery has been named to receive the annual Wayne LaPierre Award for contridutions to baseball in the Hall of Fame area. John is the publisher of the monthly sports publication “Play by Play.”
Tickets for the banquet are now available from board members, including President Charlie Hammersley at 387-3626 and Vice President Gary Walthall at 540-330-4155 or 540-427-1977. A speaker for the banquet will be announced during November.
The Salem Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame opened a beautiful new building on the land behind the Salem Red Sox in July of 2009. The Hall of Fame can be viewed on request.
The Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame was founded in 1991. The Hall honores players and contributors from the counties of Roanoke, Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, and Montgomery and the independent cities located within the boundries of those counties.
