Rocket-ing to the Hall

Hank Aaron. Willie Mays. Satchel Paige. Whitey Herzog. Connie Mack. Pete Rose. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.
To most baseball fans, those are household names.
But Heath Williams? Mitch Waters?
Only those familiar with the Portland Rockets may recognize them.
And come Saturday, those nine players will have something in common — they’ll be enshrined in the hall of fame.
(Yes, Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson will be hall of famers.)
Williams and Waters highlight a contingent of more than a dozen current and former Portland Rockets players who will be inducted into the National Semi Pro Baseball Hall of Fame.
Also being inducted are the seven aforementioned guys who forged successful careers in the professional ranks.
“Obviously that’s really cool to be mentioned with those guys, but I’ll take it for what it’s worth,” Waters said jokingly. “I know I wasn’t Pete Rose or any of those guys. It’s still pretty cool.”
In 2002, Tim Turpin created the National Semi Pro Baseball Association online magazine. Four years later, he started an online Hall of Fame, and longtime Portland Rocket coach and founder Ray Miller was in the class of 2007. After a couple more years, Turpin decided to expand it to the national level.
Because of its growth, more than 700 members will be inducted on Saturday, and Turpin said he expects the number to rise next year to make up for lost time.
“Over 3 million people have played, coached, sponsored or umpired semi-professional baseball,” he said. “That’s why there is an exceptionally big class.”
Other than Williams and Waters, the list of Rockets includes Larry Chittum, Mike and Ron Dull, Mark Flueckiger, Jim Geeslin, Scott Hall, Joe and Matt Luce, Tommy Pearce, Merv Rettemund and Steve Takats.
“Some players are just impact players,” current manager and 2011 inductee Randy Miller said of the 13 Rockets, adding it was a difficult process trying to condense more than six decades of history into a 13-man roster. “These are the guys that get others to come around. They recruit, they inspire and they go the extra mile.”
“(Being honored) means something to them because they know they played baseball for the love of the game. They should be acknowledged in some way and we finally found a way to do it.”
Other players from this year’s class who went on to play in the Major Leagues include Joe Girardi, Curtis Granderson, Torii Hunter and Jim Thome.
With names like those, Turpin said “it just goes to show the level of talent,” in the semi professional leagues, adding that the DELCO league in Philadelphia — home to Connie Mack — has had 150 players reach the Major Leagues, including 10 that have reached the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Waters, a 2002 Jay County High School graduate who played professionally in Italy, is grateful to be in the first group of Rockets to be recognized.
“There have been a lot of great players in Portland,” he added. “To be part of that group is a great honor that I feel good to be a part of.
“To be a hometown kid, I think it means more because I grew up watching them play. It’s kind of surreal that I’m playing still.”
For Waters, though, his time with the Rockets has been about more than just baseball.
“It’s the relationships that you build,” he said. “Playing pro ball I didn’t get the same relationships I got through the Rockets. That’s what keeps people coming back to that. It feels like a family. You’re part of a club that never ends.”
As this will be the first year there will actually be an induction ceremony, Turpin has invited all of those who were previously named to attend the banquet.
“Bottom line is they’re going to be officially inducted,” said Turpin, who is in the process of securing land in Evansville to build a 5,500-square-foot facility. “We’re trying to show these guys we want to honor them.”
Miller, who will be attending the banquet with Waters, said he is humbled to be an inductee.
“I take it with a grain of salt,” he said. “If you stick around long enough you might get recognition. I don’t claim to be a hall of famer. I have been a coordinator, I have been a recruiter, I’ve given my time, effort and dollars for these guys.
“I am about what these guys represent. It’s passion, family, tradition. It’s brotherhood. It’s about giving oneself to a greater goal.”
And for Miller, it’s about the city of Portland, too.
“Portland is small, but still a factor in the Midwest baseball picture,” he added. “The fact that we still have a team in Portland when they’re dying off is special.”
Saturday, the city and a roster full of Rockets will forever be enshrined in semi professional baseball history.