Connie Newman, Ruth Richard and Dave Riddick were honored at the most recent Oldtimers Bats and Balls Association meeting at Randi’s Restaurant in Bustleton. (Tom Waring)
The Oldtimers Bats and Balls Association recently presented the William “Pickles” Kennedy Memorial Award to three individuals.
The honorees were Connie Newman, Dave Riddick and Ruth Richard. Each received a plaque.
The award is named in memory of the former Abraham Lincoln High School and Temple University basketball star who died in a car accident in Florida in 2006.
The Oldtimers is a group of former athletes and officials that meets four times a year at Randi’s Restaurant & Bar, at 1619 Grant Ave. in Bustleton.
Newman was a star baseball player at West Catholic High School and La Salle College. He pitched in the St. Louis Cardinals organization and threw batting practice for the Phillies for 12 years. He’s a member of the Delaware County Athletes Hall of Fame.
Riddick was an outstanding semi-professional basketball player for DeRuss Manufacturing.
Richard played women’s baseball from 1947–54, spending her first year as an outfielder with the Grand Rapids Chicks and the rest of her career as a catcher with the Rockford Peaches, a team that was featured in the 1992 film A League of their Own. She was billed at the time as among “The Nation’s Outstanding Feminine Baseball Stars.” She is the first woman honored by the Oldtimers.
Among those attending the luncheon were former Major League Baseball pitcher Bobby Shantz, former Temple men’s basketball coach John Chaney and former Temple basketball star Jay Norman.
Someone asked Chaney whether he had congratulated his old nemesis, John Calipari, for coaching Kentucky to the NCAA championship last month. At a news conference after a 1994 game between Temple and Massachusetts, where Calipari coached at the time, Chaney famously threatened to “kill” Calipari.
“I wrote him a letter, and I told him it’s still going to happen. I’m going to kick his a — ,” Chaney joked.
The other 2012 Oldtimers meetings will be held on Aug. 8 and Nov. 14 at noon.
For more information, call Chuck Newns (215–612–0476), Ron Fritz (215–327–9086), Jack Purdy (215–968–0404) or Ron March (609–209–0849), or visit www.batsandballs.org ••
