Hall Of Fame

Don SuttonBorn: Donald Howard Sutton on April 2, 1945, in Clio, Ala.Highlights: Went 324-256, tied with Nolan Ryan for 12th place on the career victory list. Struck out 3,574, ranking fifth lifetime. Key member of Dodgers staff from 1966 to 1980. Pitched in rotation with Sandy Koufax and Fernando Valenzuela. Only player elected by Baseball Writers' Association of America in January. Received 81.6 percent of vote after falling just nine votes short of required 75 percent the previous year.

Late Ravens owner Art Modell might face an easier path to the Pro Football Hall of Fame if the museum follows through on tentative discussions of putting "contributors" in a different voting pool than players. Modell, who brought pro football back to Baltimore, made a list of 15 finalists for the 2013 class, the first time he had gotten that far in the voting since 2001. Modell's death last September at age 87 seemed to spur a reconsideration of his candidacy, which has always been divisive because he moved his franchise from Cleveland.

*TC It was at a national sporting goods convention in New York in 1968 that Jim Ports was introduced to a sport that would soon become his passion.Now, after 26 years of devotion to slo-pitch softball, Ports tomorrow will become the first Marylander inducted into the U.S. Slo-Pitch Softball Association's Hall of Fame during its convention in Chandler, Ariz.Ports, 58, a Perry Hall resident and businessman and the USSSA Maryland state director since 1968, is being recognized for his accomplishments as a player, coach, sponsor and administrator.

Gary Stevens became the oldest jockey to win the Preakness on Saturday, and the 50-year-old Hall of Famer has Clark Masterson to thank. Masterson, a personal trainer based in Bellevue, Wash., helped the 50-year-old jockey lose 25 pounds and nearly 8 percent body fat during two months of workouts last year. It allowed Stevens to come out of retirement after seven years and resume a riding career that produced eight Triple Crown victories and nearly 5,000 other victories.Running in his 17th Preakness, Stevens rode Oxbow to his third win. Stevens also won the race in 1997 (aboard Silver Charm)

WESTMINSTER - Western Maryland College's second-leading career football rusher and one of the school's finest gridiron coaches were just two of five Green Terror athletic greats expected to be inducted into the college's Sports Hall of Fame yesterday.Joe Brockmeyer of Anne Arundel County, who gained 3,022 yards in his playing days, and Dr. Robert J. Waldorf of Alexandria, Va., who directed the Western Maryland football squad to conference titles four years in a row, will be joined by Allen Jacobson of Livingston, N.J., Lester J. Knepp of Augusta, Ga., and John M. Robinson of Severna Park in the hall's Class of 1990.

ARCADIA, Calif. -- Eddie Delahoussaye has been elected to thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame.Delahoussaye, 41, is one of 14 jockeys to win 5,000 races, seven to ride earners of more than $100 million, and four to win back-to-back Kentucky Derbys.Delahoussaye, who has been on the Hall of Fame ballot the last few years, was elected by a panel of 100 turf writers, who chose him from among five jockeys, including Steve Cauthen.Tom J. Kelly, who developed 63 stakes-winning horses in the East, was elected this year's Hall of Fame trainer.

The Rotary Club of Westminster, chartered for nearly 75 years, is creating a Carroll County Sports Hall of Fame to be housed at Carroll Community College.The Hall of Fame will consist of plaques honoring the inductees.On Jan. 19, five charter members, chosen by a committee of local residents, will be inducted into the hall at a banquet in the atrium at Carroll Community College.The Sports Hall of Fame is one of many projects the Rotary Club has established. Others include the first city playground, Little League baseball, initiating Westminster High School scholarships and sponsoring foreign exchange students.

Next weekend Who: Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn are inducted. In addition, Rick Hummel will receive the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing and Denny Matthews will get the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting. When: Next Sunday, 1:30 p.m. Where: Cooperstown, N.Y., on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center at 124 Susquehanna Ave., a mile south of the Hall of Fame. Cost: Seating free and unlimited. A blanket or lawn chair is recommended. TV: 1:30-4:30 p.m. next Sunday, ESPN Classic (taped coverage, 8-9 p.m. Monday, ESPN2)

Pete Rose has asked baseball writers not to use the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in July as a vehicle for protesting changes in the balloting procedure.In a letter to Jack Lang, secretary of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Rose also asked the writers not to boycott the voting."Election to the Hall of Fame is the ultimate honor a baseball player can receive," Rose wrote in a letter dated May 17 and received by Lang yesterday. "I would hate to see the action taken by the Board of the Hall of Fame because of me somehow dampen the induction festivities in July for my friends Gaylord Perry, Rod Carew and Ferguson Jenkins."

The Carroll County Volunteer Emergency Services Association was to induct the third member of the Baker family and the second member of the Nott family into its Hall of Fame at yesterday's annual convention. E. Richard "Ricky" Baker Jr., outgoing CCVESA president, was to join his father, E. Richard "Dick" Baker Sr., and great-uncle, C. Oscar Baker, in the Hall of Fame. Also scheduled to be inducted were Donald L. Nott Jr. from Manchester Fire Engine and Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, who joins his uncle, Harvey H. Nott Sr., and Dennis Wayne Brothers from Gamber & Community Fire Company.

In today's Baltimore Sun, I wrote a story on the Orioles' efforts to convert minor league pitchers Zach Clark and Eddie Gamboa into knuckleballers. Clark and Gamboa are working with Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil Niekro, who won 318 games and revolutionized the knuckleball, while both pitchers are at Double-A Bowie. In speaking with the 74-year-old Niekro this week, you can tell he's still very passionate in teaching the knuckleball to young pitchers. He realizes that, in some ways, it can make a difference in helping a pitcher break into the majors.

The top local entrant for Friday's 89th running of the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico took one wrong step on Thursday and had to be scratched. Walkwithapurpose, a Maryland-bred owned by Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, was expected to be one of the top contenders in the $500,000 Grade II race run at a mile and one-eighth for 3-year-old-fillies. Thursday afternoon, however, the Sagamore Farm filly had to drop out of the race after bruising her foot earlier in the day during her final gallop on the track at Pimlico in preparation for Friday's race.

The first class of the Maryland-Bred Hall of Fame will be introduced Saturday at Pimlico. The 12 original members are: Broad Brush, Challedon, Cigar, Find, Gallorette, Jameela, Politely, Safely Kept, Twixt and Vertex and steeplechasers Elkridge and Jay Trump. The hall is a collaboration between the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and the Maryland Racing Media Association. It will eventually have a physical home, MHBA executive director Crickett Goodall said, but for now it resides at www.mdthoroughbredhalloffame.com . Connections for all of the horses have been invited to Pimlico, and will gather in the winner's circle for a ceremony at about 12:15, Goodall said.

Former second baseman Roberto Alomar isn't positive that 1996 was his greatest season as a big leaguer, but he knows that first year as an Oriole had to be among the highlights of his Hall of Fame career. “Numbers-wise, I can maybe say yes, but I had some great numbers, too, with the Cleveland Indians. But I think I had a great year,” said Alomar, who in 1996 hit .328 with 22 homers, 17 steals and a franchise record 132 runs scored. “I was doing everything that I could to bring a championship to the city of Baltimore.

Horse racing Retired Hall of Fame trainer Kelly dead at 93 Hall of Fame trainer Thomas J. Kelly died Friday morning at St. Catherine's West Rehabilitation Hospital in Hialeah, Fla., after a brief illness, according to his son, Timothy D. Kelly . He was 93. Kelly, who was born in Pikesville, conditioned 65 stakes winners, including Plugged Nickle, 1980's champion sprinter who won that year's Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Racetrack,...

Radio host Ron Smith will be honored later this month with a posthumous induction into the Maryland DC Delaware Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. The Maryland-District of Columbia-Delaware Broadcasters Association decided to present WBAL's longtime “Voice of Reason” with the tribute at their annual convention April 22 in Ellicott City. The organization called him “passionate,” “curious” and “a force on radio and television.” “Ron was thoughtful - never just accepting the word of a spokesperson or a headline,” the organization said in a release, adding that he “relentlessly pursued and sought to tell the truth.” Smith died in 2011 of pancreatic cancer, captivating listeners with his fight against the disease until just weeks before his death.

The inaugural class of the Towson High School Athletics Hall of Fame, featuring Michael Phelps (2003), Randy Dase (1972), Sue Beeler (1958), Billy Jones (1964), Jaimee Reynolds (1998) and Jack Thomas (1970), will be honored April 19 at halftime of the Hereford-Towson boys lacrosse game. At 5:15 p.m., five minutes before the opening faceoff of the varsity game, a flagpole and plaque will be dedicated to Mike Godzik (1965), who died in 2008 and in whose name an annual award is given to a boys lacrosse player.

Fans inside Madison Square Garden witnessed something many thought would never come. There he was, the last to be inducted. With years of bitter feelings brushed aside, the crown jewel of the WWE Hall of Fame was introduced by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Living legend, the man who held the WWWF title for over 4,000 days, Bruno Sammartino. He delivered his speech in his trademark even-keel and steady speech, passionate about his words and the stories he told. The speech felt very much like an abridged documentary about his life -- or perhaps an upcoming WWE DVD documentary.