Birmingham Barons Hall of Fame

The Birmingham Barons Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors former players, managers, owners and others associated with the Birmingham Barons, Birmingham A's, and Birmingham Black Barons.

The first "Baron Hall of Fame" [sic] was established in 1943 by Birmingham News sport editor Zipp Newman to honor "players of former years who had made a place for themselves in the hearts of Baronial fans." He conducted a poll through the newspaper and had photographs of the chosen players displayed at the entrance of Rickwood Field. His poll only included players, and only from the white Barons teams.

The Hall of Fame was reinstituted in 2005 to honor notable former Birmingham Barons/Birmingham A's and Birmingham Black Barons as well as executives and media professionals associated with those teams. New inductees are usually announced at each year's Rickwood Classic at Rickwood Field.

Class of 1943

Catchers: Yam Yaryan, Johnny Gooch, Ray Berres
Pitchers: Irving Wilhelm, Eddie Wells, Ray Caldwell, Whitey Glazner, Robert Hasty, Burleigh Grimes, John Dewey Morrison
First Base: Flip Neun
Second Base: Stuffy Stewart
Third Base: Brute Pickering
Left Field: Arthur Weis
Center Field: Jimmy Johnston, Sammy West
Right Field: Eliott Bigelow, Billy Southworth
Manager: Johnny Dobbs

Class of 2005

Piper Davis (Black Barons, 1942-1950)
Willie Mays (Black Barons, 1948-1950)
Carlton Molesworth (Barons manager, 1908-1922)
Rick Woodward (Barons owner, 1910-1938)

Class of 2006

Art Clarkson, (Barons owner, 1981-1990)
Terry Francona, (Barons manager 1993-1995)
Wayne Martin, (Birmingham News Barons beat 1971-1996)
Randal Rollin, (Barons, 1985-1987)

Class of 2007

Joe Drake, (Barons office staff, 1953-present)
Walt Dropo, (Barons, 1948)
Reggie Jackson, (Barons, 1967)
Norm Zauchin, (Barons, 1950)

Class of 2008

Rollie Fingers, (A's, 1967-1968)
Rubin E. Grant, (Birmingham Post-Herald Barons beat 1982-2004)
Burleigh Grimes, (Barons, 1914-1916)
Satchel Paige, (Black Barons, 1927-1930)

Class of 2009

Sam Hairston, (Black Barons 1944, Barons coach 1985-1997)
Zipp Newman, (Birmingham News sports editor, Southern League official scorer)
Pie Traynor, (Barons, 1921)
Glynn West, (Rickwood Field general manager, Baron's manager 1964-1965, A's manager 1968)

Class of 2010

Class of 2011

Class of 2012

Class of 2013

Class of 2014

Mike Cameron, outfielder for 1995 & 1996 Birmingham Barons
Joe Grzenda, pitcher for five seasons between 1952 Birmingham Barons and 1967
Johnny Dobbs, manager for 1925-1929 Birmingham Barons
Gabby Bell, broadcaster 1948-50s

Class of 2015

Bill Greason, pitcher for the 1948-1951 Birmingham Black Barons and 1954 St Louis Cardinals
John McNamara, manager of the 1965 Birmingham Barons and 1967 Birmingham Athletics who went on to a 19-year career as a Major League manager
Doug Segrest, reporter for the Birmingham News covering the Barons from 1999 to 2012.
Bo Landreth, full-time bat boy for the 1991 to 1995 Birmingham Barons teams, and part time bat boy through the 2000 season. He also worked as a bat boy for the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox during Terry Francona's tenure with those clubs.