Southern League Hall of Fame


The Southern League Hall of Fame is an American baseball hall of fame which honors players, managers, coaches, umpires, owners, executives, and media personnel of the Southern League of Minor League Baseball for their accomplishments and/or contributions to the league and its teams. The Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 2014. Through the elections for 2020, a total of 45 people have been inducted.
In July 2013, the Southern League Board of Directors met to determine the first members of the league's Hall of Fame, which was to be celebrated in 2014 in conjunction with the league's 50th anniversary. They unanimously selected former league presidents Billy Hitchcock, Jim Bragan, and Don Mincher. They and ten others, one chosen by each of the league's ten teams, were recognized as the inaugural Hall of Fame class at the 2014 All-Star Game in Chattanooga.
For the 2015 class, each team nominated up to three individuals for consideration. A 31-person voting committee of Southern League and Minor League Baseball personnel then narrowed the list to just ten inductees, selecting one from each organization. A tie vote for the Birmingham Barons' nominations resulted in the election of both Rollie Fingers and Frank Thomas. A Special Consideration Ballot was introduced that year, which allows teams to nominate anyone who has made significant contributions to teams from the league's predecessors: the original Southern League and Southern Association. Harmon Killebrew became the first inductee to be elected via the Special Consideration Ballot in 2015. A similar format was assumed in 2016, wherein each team submitted nominations but only the top three were chosen for induction by a 30-member voting committee. The size of the voting panel has since fluctuated: 20 members in 2017, 23 in 2018, and 34 in 2019. For 2020, the Hall of Fame committee endorsed a special proposal by league president Lori Webb to induct Frances Crockett Ringley, baseball's first female general manager, in addition to three regular inductees and a Special Consideration Ballot Hall of Famer.
Sixteen Southern League Hall of Famers have also been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. These are Sparky Anderson, Rollie Fingers, Tom Glavine, Roy Halladay, Trevor Hoffman, Reggie Jackson, Randy Johnson, Chipper Jones, Harmon Killebrew, Tony La Russa, Edgar Martínez, Willie Mays, Ryne Sandberg, Frank Thomas, Alan Trammell, and Larry Walker.

Table key

Inductees

YearNamePositionTeamCareer
2020ManagerAsheville Tourists1968
2018BroadcasterHuntsville Stars/Birmingham Barons1991–present
2014League presidentSouthern League1981–1994
2016Team president/general manager/ownerJacksonville Suns1985–2015
2014Team president/ownerJacksonville Suns1984–2012
2015Second baseman/shortstopHuntsville Stars1989–1990
2014Team general manager/ownerChattanooga Lookouts1995–2014
2014OutfielderMobile BayBears1998
2015CatcherKnoxville Smokies1993
2019Team presidentChattanooga Lookouts1929–1965
2015PitcherBirmingham A's1967–1968
2018Outfielder/managerMemphis Chicks/Birmingham Barons1980–1981, 1993–1995
2018First basemanJacksonville Suns1984
2017PitcherGreenville Braves1986
2019PitcherKnoxville Smokies/Tennessee Smokies1997, 2001
2014League presidentSouthern League1971–1980
2015PitcherChattanooga Lookouts1991–1992
2014Team executiveHuntsville Stars1985–2014
2014OutfielderMemphis Chicks1986
2014OutfielderBirmingham A's1967
2015PitcherJacksonville Expos1987
2015ShortstopGreenville Braves1992
2017OutfielderJacksonville Suns1998
2015CatcherCarolina Mudcats1994–1995
2015Third basemanChattanooga Lookouts1957–1958
2017Second baseman/managerBirmingham Barons/Mobile A's/Knoxville Sox1965–1967, 1978
2020Third basemanChattanooga Lookouts1985–1986
2018OutfielderBirmingham Black Barons1948–1950
2014Team executive/owner/league presidentHuntsville Stars/Southern League1985–2011
2014CatcherSavannah Braves1976
2019First baseman/ManagerChattanooga Lookouts/Memphis Chicks1978–1982, 1987–1988
2020Team general manager/ownerCharlotte O's1976–1987
2014ManagerTennessee Smokies2009
2016Team president/ownerNashville Sounds/Huntsville Stars1978–1996
2015First baseman/managerMemphis Chicks/Birmingham Barons/Chattanooga Lookouts1981–1983, 2004–2005, 2014
2016ManagerJacksonville Suns2001, 2005–2008
2020ManagerGreenville Braves/Mississippi Braves2002–2005
2015First basemanBirmingham Barons1990
2014ShortstopMontgomery Rebels1976–1977
2020BatboyMobile BayBears1997–2019
2015ManagerMobile BayBears2011–2012
2014PitcherCarolina Mudcats1991
2019OutfielderJacksonville Expos1987
2016BroadcasterChattanooga Lookouts1989–present
2015Second basemanMontgomery Rebels1977