The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Polk Selected For College Baseball Foundation Hall Of Fame
3/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 25, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The College Baseball Foundation announced its 2009 induction class Tuesday, and included in the list of 10 inductees is current UAB volunteer assistant coach Ron Polk.
Polk, who came to UAB last summer after completing a 35-year head coaching career, is part of the CBF Hall of Fame's fourth induction class.
"This is an exciting day for the Hall of Fame every year," said Mike Gustafson, co-chair of the Hall of Fame and member of the CBF Board of Trustees. "It's another remarkable class."
Polk is joined in the class by one of his former players at Mississippi State in Rafael Palmeiro. Other inductees include Joe Carter and Darren Dreifort of Wichita State, Kirk Dressendorfer and Keith Moreland of Texas, Barry Larkin of Michigan and Todd Walker of LSU, along with former coaches Branch Rickey of Ohio Wesleyan and Gordie Gillespie of Lewis and St. Francis.
"I'm honored to be selected as a part of this group," Polk said, "and I'm very happy to be going in with one of my players in Rafael Palmeiro."
In addition to his 29 seasons at Mississippi State, Polk also spent time as the head coach at both Georgia Southern and Georgia, compiling a career record of 1,373-700-2. The seventh all-time winningest coach in Division I history, he is one of only three coaches to take three different schools to the College World Series. His teams made eight CWS appearances, won five SEC championships and appeared in 23 NCAA Regionals.
Polk was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1995. He is also a member of the Georgia Southern University Hall of Fame, the Mississippi State University Sports Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
Polk has mentored numerous coaches in the game of baseball, including current UAB head coach Brian Shoop when Shoop was on his staff at Mississippi State from 1983-89.
Hall of Fame inductees are chosen based on the votes of more than 110 representatives from coast to coast. Voters include retired and active coaches, media members and previous inductees.
The 2009 inductees will be honored on July 3 as part of the College Baseball Foundation's annual celebration of both the past and present of college baseball from July 2-4 in Lubbock, Texas.
