2011 Irish American Baseball HOF Nominees

Earlier this week, the nominations were made public by Foley's NY Pub and Restaurant for the 2011 Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame, and what better day than St. Patrick's Day to put up a post about it?

Here is the complete list of those being considered for the Class of 2011, the Hall's fourth ever induction:

HALL OF FAMERS and LEGENDS
Big Ed Walsh
Baseball’s All-Time ERA Leader

Wee Willie Keeler
A .341 lifetime hitter who shares the longest ever NL hitting streak (44 games) with Pete Rose

Mighty Casey of the “Mudville Nine”
Character in Ernest Thayer’s famous poem

CURRENT LIVING EX-PLAYERS
Nolan Ryan
Baseball’s All-Time Strikeout Leader, now president of the Texas Rangers

“Super Joe” McEwing
Popular versatile player, now a White Sox minor league manager

Jeff Nelson
Four-time World Series champion, now a broadcaster with MLB Network

MANAGERS
John McGraw
Legendary New York Giants manager

Tom Kelly
Minnesota Twins two-time World Series champion manager

“Walpole Joe” Morgan
Former Boston Red Sox manager

TEAM EXECUTIVES
Gene Monahan and Steve Donohue
Longtime New York Yankees trainers

Mike Kindle
President of Baseball Ireland (Dublin)

ENTERTAINERS
John Fogerty
Writer/Singer of “Centerfield”

Terry Cashman
Writer/Singer of “Talking Baseball”

John Fitzgerald
Filmmaker of “The Emerald Diamond”

I'm really pulling for John Fitzgerald, who I met many years ago at a screening of "The Emerald Diamond", which is an excellent film about baseball and its growth in Ireland. And of course, I also have to pull for Joe Morgan, he of the "Morgan Magic" Red Sox, who took over the Sox at the 1988 All-Star break and led the team to the AL East crown that year. And Joe McEwing too, as he was one of those "everyman" type of ballplayers: not a lot of great talent but a utility guy who always gave 150% every day.

And how could I not root for John Fogerty, as I'm a huge Creedence Clearwater Revival fan, and "Centerfield" is one of my favorite baseball songs (with a great old time baseball video as well).

Anyway, the inductees will be announced during the 2011 season. I'll have a post up on my blog when they are announced. For more info, check out the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame's web site.

Good luck to all the nominees!