The Post-Dispatch called that first ceremony “a smashing success.” More than 900 people attended the banquet to pay tribute to the first inductees into the new Hall of Fame. Don Gabbert summoned up the turnout by saying, “It just goes to show that this is a tremendous baseball town...It’s a tremendous sellout, that's all.” The Master of Ceremonies that night was Bob Burnes, sports editor of the St. Louis Globe Democrat, alongside two other guest speakers Bob Buck of KMOX-TV and France Laux, the former voice of the Browns and Cardinals. From its inception, the induction dinner has always been a very special, well attended, and formal evening.
Honored in the first class of inductees were 22 men whose contributions distinguish themselves above all others. While having played, coached, or umpired decades ago, we publish this original class so as not to forget their legacy and what it meant to our region. These are the men that set the bar for all those who would later be inducted into the Greater St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame:
∙ Tony Kreft a second baseman and shortstop that played on three St. Louis city championship teams and was president of the Heine Meine League.
∙ Gus Schultehenrich a triple hitting first baseman who played for Wentzville and managed the first St. Charles American Legion team.
∙ Harry Meyers pitched in national amateur baseball from 1929 through 1939 and managed at Fairgrounds Park and in the Khoury League through 1957.
∙ Harry Freise was a third baseman named to three Muny League all-star teams after it was organized in 1913 and also played with the Ben Millers of the Trolley League.
∙ Bernard (Boobie) Eisenbath was a shortstop second baseman who spent thirty-one years in amateur baseball including the 1930 and 1931 seasons playing with the House of David team as it toured across the country and even played against Babe Ruth’s and Lou Gehrig’s New York Yankees.
∙ Al Nicolai was an infielder and pioneer in the early years of the Muny League with the Yucatan Chewing Gum team before managing the Monsanto team for nine years.
∙ Bill Daum was a second baseman who began his over 50 years in amateur baseball with a team in Centralia, Illinois and was the Khoury Manager of the Year in 1962 for leading the Khoury senior team and the Kutis team in the Ban Johnson League to pennants.
∙ Hap Eschenbrenner was an infielder on seven County League championships (six in Ballwin and one at Manchester) and helped organize the Eastern Missouri Night Baseball League in the 1950s as well as the Ballwin and Manchester Athletic organizations.
∙ Tweedy Webb was an infielder who played on the Tandy League’s St. Louis Black Sox, Broomers, and Pullman Shop teams as well as being the area’s leading African American baseball historian.
∙ John Corcoran was a shortstop and third baseman that spent eighteen years with the Hellrung and Grims team which competed three times in the national amateur tournament.
In addition to these players in attendance, the following received Sponsors Awards:
∙ Thomas Kutis began picking up the tab for amateur sports in 1930. Today he sponsors sports teams in eight sports.
∙ Paul Fultz managed the Southwest Pros, who traveled more than 10,000 miles across the country playing a challenging 80 game schedule.
∙ Martin Mathews a former amateur baseball star, he formed the Mathews-Dickey Boys Club in 1960.
∙ Al Mick managed 14 years in the Muny League, 12 years in the Heine Meine League and won three pennants and two championships.
∙ Mel Schaefer a player for 17 years, he is a member of the board of directors of the ABC League in St. Louis County and headed a fund drive to raise money for St. Louis University’s baseball program.
Posthumously inducted were:
∙ George Khoury Sr. who founded the Khoury League in 1936 with eight teams. At his death in 1967, the Khoury Association had grown to 50,000 baseball teams, 700 girls softball teams, and 276. Total participants were close to 1,000,000 players.
∙ John Scully a druggist by trade, he devoted his life to coaching young players in the Muny League and the American Legion.
∙ Pete Fix President of the Muny Association and won acclaim as a manager in 1932 when he guided Muny champion Sentinel De Molay to second place in the national tournament.
∙ Edgar Loehr played amateur baseball and later helped organize a team and helped build a field in Ballwin.
∙ Roy Newsom a catcher and a member of the Schenberg Market championship teams of 1922-23-24, while also playing for Frank Smith’s Market Championship team in 1925.
∙ Francis (Pete) DeLong one of the most admired and respected umpires in St. Louis amateur baseball history.
∙ Vernon Sandusky an active umpire from 1922-55, he was known as the dean of umpires in St. Louis. He was the director of the Columbus Playgrounds at Tenth and Carr Streets.