Tri-Co adds six to baseball Hall of Fame

Class of 2001 has four infielders, two pitchers and a ton of offense.


From Morning Call Staff Reports

 

The Tri-County League has added six former players to its baseball Hall of Fame.

Luther "Sam" Labar, Harold Sandercock, Dale Weiss, Randy Remaly, Tom Hartman and Bob Drumbore were inducted during ceremonies held in October at the Woodlawn Fire Company in South Whitehall Township.

Following are sketches of the 2001 inductees.

Labar played in the Tri-County League from 1954 through 1962. He was an infielder who was among the league leaders in every offensive category, never hitting less than .350. He played with Spring Valley and Hellertown and was with Spring Valley during its 1954 and '55 championship seasons. In his final season he hit .402. Labar was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals the same year that former Tri-Co commissioner and major-leaguer Jim Schaffer was drafted by the Cardinals.

Sandercock was in Tri-Co baseball in the late 1950s through 1966 as a player-manager for Bingen. He mostly played second base and catcher. He was a good contact hitter and always had a high on-base percentage. He played his last Tri-Co game at age 47 on May 29, 1966, the infamous game where Terry Musselman struck out 20 and threw a one- hitter. Sandercock had the only hit of that game, a sharp single to left. He also played in the Boston Red Sox organization.

Weiss played 19 seasons and is probably the best shortstop in the Hall from the modern era. He played for Mountainville for four years, Limeport for four years and 11 years for Stahley's. Weiss is among the top five in career leaders in almost every offensive category and had a career batting average of .355. His best year was 1988, his first with Stahley's, which then was called the Allentown Angels. Weiss hit .432 with 10 doubles, nine home runs, 78 total bases, 36 RBIs and a slugging average of .821. He won a championship in 1991 with the Angels.

Remaly is one of the best shortstop/leadoff hitters in the Hall from the modern era. He was a line-drive hitter who rarely struck out on offense and was known on defense as a friendly opponent to runners who reached second base. He knocked in a lot of runs as a leadoff hitter because he was basically a No. 3 hitter in the leadoff spot. He finished with a career .332 batting average and is among the career leaders in runs, hits, total bases and at-bats. His best year was 1988 when he hit .434 with 32 runs scored. He won a championship with Coplay in '88.

Hartman, who was known for wearing tie-dye shirts while warming up before games, had one of the best curveballs the league has ever seen. He posted a 53-15 record over nine years. He was among the leaders in almost every pitching category from 1987-93. He had a 1.54 ERA in 1990 to lead the league and won championships with Gilbertsville in 1992 and '93.

Drumbore might be the best player in the Hall from any era because of his prowess in pitching and hitting. As a pitcher he was among the league leaders for nine straight years and is the only person to have won three ERA titles, in 1991, '97 and '98. As a hitter he won the batting championship with a .492 average and had the highest slugging average in his rookie season of 1987. He was among league leaders as a hitter every year he played and finished his 12-year stint among career leaders in almost every category; he is second all-time in career batting average. Drumbore won championships with Gabelsville in 1992, '93 and '95.



  

From The Morning Call -- January 24, 2002

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