Former St. Louis Cardinal Rick Ankiel will headline the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame’s annual Baseball Luncheon presented by the Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company, set for 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 24 at the University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center in Springfield.
President & Executive Director Jerald Andrews announced the luncheon Tuesday, unveiling the latest inductees: Along with Ankiel, the Hall of Fame will enshrine the St. Louis Browns Baseball Club, late Glendale High School coach Howard Bell, longtime Centralia High School softball coach Jill Angell as well as Ozark High School baseball coach Mike Essick, plus the Ozark High School Baseball Program.
“This could be one of our most diverse lunches we’ve ever held,” Andrews said. “Every inductee has a big following of support, and for good reasons. Clearly, they made great impacts on the field.”
The Hall of Fame’s Diamond 9, a group of former high school, college and pro standouts who made positive contributions in the sport, will be announced at a later date.
Sponsorship tables of eight are $400 and include an autographed print and recognition in the printed program. A head table ticket is $100, and an individual ticket is $40 in advance, or $50 at the door. Numerous sponsorships are available, including congratulatory ads. Call 417-889-3100.
Rick Ankiel – St. Louis Cardinals
Ankiel was one of the most intriguing talents ever to walk across the sports page. Overall, he spent 17 seasons in pro baseball, with his first 12 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals organization. A left-handed pitcher, he was an 11-game winner and finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2000, when he helped St. Louis reach the National League Championship Series. Then, seven years later, Ankiel returned to the majors after never re-discovering his pitching prowess. He spent 2007-2009 with St. Louis, with his 2008 season seeing Ankiel blast 25 home runs as he joined Babe Ruth as the only two players in a single MLB season to hit 25 home runs after previously starting at least 25 games as a pitcher. He went on to play for the Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals and New York Mets and retired after the 2013 season.
St. Louis Browns Baseball Club
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball organization from 1902 to 1953, having been created at the dawn of the American League. Despite winning only 3,414 games and losing 4,465 – and winning only one AL pennant (1944) – the Browns were part of the sports fabric of Missouri. Fortunately, their story has been kept alive through the St. Louis Browns Historical Society. A 2017 book titled, “The St. Louis Browns: The Story of a Beloved Team” was ranked No. 1 among the year’s Top 50 books by Sports Collectors Digest. Additionally, a documentary film called The St. Louis Browns: The Team That Baseball Forgot recently set a record for local pledges and viewers on St. Louis’ PBS station. The Browns are intertwined into St. Louis sports history, as their ownership built Sportsman’s Park, and the club featured two batting champions in George Stone (1906) and Hall of Famer George Sisler (1920, 1922). Overall, the Browns enjoyed their best seasons between 1916 and 1936.
Howard Bell – the late Glendale High School Baseball Coach
Howard Bell will be inducted posthumously for his tremendous work in baseball. He was a standout player at Parkview High School and later for Missouri State University, where he was the 1986 Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year as a shortstop. He then coached for 29 seasons, including 19 at Glendale High School, where he served as head coach from 2006 to 2012 as his teams won four Ozark Conference championships as part of an 87-69 record. Combined, he earned more than 800 high school and American Legion victories. Bell, who also started the softball program at Glendale, previously coached at Marionville High School and several area middle schools. Sadly, Bell passed away in March 2013 at age 48 after battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Jill Angell – Centralia High School Softball Coach
A 1979 Meadville High School graduate, Jill Angell coached Centralia High School’s softball program for 19 seasons, from 1999 to 2017, building a winning program before handing it off in late 2017 when she announced her retirement. Angell compiled a record of 355-123-1 and, under her watch, the Lady Panthers won four state championships (2011, 2012, 2013, 2016), with the 2016 team finishing a program-best 29-1. Her teams also captured 11 district titles and eight conference championships. Angell was the 2012 Missouri Softball Coach of the Year, was inducted into the Missouri High School FastPitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014, was voted the Clarence Cannon Conference Coach of the Year from 2010 to 2017 and earned Coach of the Year in 2017 from The Columbia Tribune. It was quite a career for Angell, who previously coached at Centralia Middle School in the mid- to late-1990s and middle school baseball and softball in the early 1980s in her hometown.
Mike Essick – Ozark High School Baseball Coach
Mike Essick is in his 24th season as head coach of the Ozark High School baseball program and entered this spring with a 430-201 record. He has led the Tigers to four Final Fours, with the club winning two state championships – the Class 3 title in 2004 and the Class 4 title in 2008. He also led the 2002 team to a state runner-up finish, while Ozark placed fourth in 2011. Along the way, his teams have won six district championships and 14 Central Ozark Conference crowns. Essick is a 1980 graduate of Spokane High School, having helped that program finish third at the state tournament his senior year. He went on to become an NAIA All-American and the 1984 District 16 Player of the Year for College of the Ozarks, which later inducted him into its hall of fame. Essick has received numerous awards, including two Coach of the Year honors in 2004 – from the National High School Baseball Coaches Association District 5 and the Greater Midwest Professional Baseball Scouts Association. He also was inducted into the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association in 2014.
Ozark High School Baseball Program
The Ozark High School Baseball Program has been among the state’s best since the 1970s, with the coaching lineage tracing back to Jim Nichols in the late 1970s followed by Wayne France, Terry Writer, Mark Wheeler and Mike Essick. Overall, the Tigers have reached the state playoffs 10 times and advanced to seven Final Fours. Ozark won state championships in 2004 in Class 3 and in 2008 in Class 4 and has finished as state runners-up twice (1979, 1981), third twice (1990, 2002) and then fourth in 2011. Additionally, Ozark has won 10 district titles and 18 Central Ozark Conference championships.
