HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSS!!!!

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Private Newton T. Gould (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on May 22, 1863, at Vicksburg, Mississippi. His citation reads:

Gallantry in the charge of the "volunteer storming party."

Captain/aide-de-camp George E. Gouraud (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on November 30, 1864, at Honey Hill, South Carolina. His citation reads:

While under severe fire of the enemy, which drove back the command, rendered valuable assistance in rallying the men.

Boatswain’s Mate William Henry Gowan (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on January 20, 1909, in Coquimbo, Chile. His citation reads:

For bravery and extraordinary heroism displayed by him during a conflagration in Coquimbo, Chile, 20 January 1909.


Happy Birthday to my dear friend Ross! If my math is correct, my little buddy turns 30 today. I tell you, they grow up so fast… it feels like it was just yesterday that he was 29.

Happy Birthday also to Mr. Tony Kornheiser! He brings me so much joy from his radio show that I listen to old shows when he is on vacation (as he is now). I know he probably won’t see this, but I still had to wish him a happy birthday.

Daniel seems to be getting better… but now Susie is sick. Poor Susie…

Kudos to TV Guide for their tribute to Andy Griffith. For my money, I could sit and watch old clips of Andy Griffith and Don Knotts working together all day long.

If you’re looking for a good book to read, check out The Danny Ford Years at Clemson: Romping and Stomping, by Larry Williams. It’s got the good and the bad from that time in Clemson football history… so there’s something for Clemson and USC fans.

Before I forget, voting has started for the Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame. Click here to read about it and to find out how to vote. While I would never tell you who to vote for, I would ask that you vote for the same people I do. You get three votes… the three people I voted for are my former coach Tom Hatley, Sonny’s former high school teammate Gettys Glaze and former Citadel pitcher Britt Reams. Here’s a little bit about each one:

Tom Hatley: Longtime (24 years) James Island High baseball coach led the Trojans to AAA state titles in 1994 and 1996 (Lower state champs in '99); nine region championships; also served as an assistant coach to Citadel coach Chal Port (1981-83, 89-91); continues to coach at James Island Charter High where he has more than 453 wins; overall state coach of the year (1996 & '99); Class AAAA coach of the year twice and twice the Class AAA coach of the year; past president of SC High School Baseball Coaches Association.

Gettys Glaze: James Island native who was a standout on The Citadel's 1990 College World Series team; one of the few players ever to pitch and catch in the same game of the CWS; was a 15th round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 1992; inducted in 2007 as a member of The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame.

Britt Reames: A hard-throwing right-hander who finished his Citadel career with an 18-7 record and 2.03 ERA; native of Hanahan; after his senior season, was second in school history with 296 career strikeouts, having established the mark for strikeouts in a season (135 in '94) and game (18, vs. Marshall in '95 during the SoCon Tournament); a two-time All-SoCon performer (first team in '95; second team in '94); in '94 he had the best league ERA (2.16) and in '95 was tops in the league in strikeouts per 9 innings (11.3); played on two SoCon Tournament championship teams; drafted in the 17th round by the Cardinals and in 2000 pitched for them in the NLDS against Atlanta and the NLCS against New York; played six years in the majors for the Cardinals, Expos, Athletics and Pirates; inducted in The Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.


The I’m just sayin… Know Your South Carolina Athlete

The SC Athlete you should know this week is former Stratford and Citadel baseball standout David Beckley. Honestly, I don’t know much about his time at Stratford except that he was good enough to get a call from The Citadel. Anyway, Beckley finished his illustrious Bulldog career as the Southern Conference’s all-time leader in stolen bases with 104 swipes. The 1996 graduate of The Citadel also finished his career as the school’s all-time leader in stolen bases, games played, at bats, runs, hits, triples, and walks.

Beckley just completed his 11th season overall with the Bulldogs, his second as associate head coach and his sixth as the recruiting coordinator. He works with the infielders and base runners. Before going back to The Citadel as an assistant coach, David served as an assistant coach at James Island, head coach at Berkeley and assistant coach at Barnwell. His one year at James Island was my senior year. The coach he was replacing was my old JV coach/position coach who I had grown close to (he was one of the reasons I went to Winthrop)… so I wasn’t really looking forward to having a new position coach my last year of high school. But Coach Beckley came in and we hit it off right away. I thought he was a great coach and enjoyed learning from him. He was also the JV coach that season… he let me help him out (sometimes running the scoreboard, sometimes coaching first base, sometimes calling pitches – with his approval, of course). My hope for him is that one day he will get to be the head coach at The Citadel. I know he would do a great job.

Anyway, David Beckley is the South Carolina athlete you should know.