Wednesday’s Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame Summer Reunion was as much a joyful history lesson as chowing down on pizza and Cincinnati-style chili.
Six sports legends were honored at The Gardens of Park Hills: former Covington mayor and City Commissioner Denny Bowman (Bill Cappel Volunteerism Award), the late Derrick Rhoden (Thomas Fricke Service Award), Pam Kordenbrock Hart (Pat Scott Lifetime Achievement Award), Kenny Goodhew (James “Tiny” Steffen Award), Dr. Raymond Hebert (Dr. James Claypool Pioneer Award), and Joe Brennan (Joseph Brennan Leadership Award).
Hart played basketball and volleyball and ran track at Dixie Heights (she graduated in 1975) and went on to Western Kentucky University and a career in education at Lincoln County in Stanford. It was a time when there weren’t many choices in sports for girls and women.
What was more, Hart was the first woman in Kentucky to receive a full athletic scholarship.
“We were the pioneers, really and truly, even before the official advent of Title IX in 1972,” Hart said. “Northern Kentucky was far ahead in the athletic curve as far as providing opportunities for females to compete and organize at the school level and the recreational level as well.”
Bowman remembered working for Cappel in the 1970s at what is now Frank’s On Pike, a clothing store on West Pike Street that’s been around since 1918.
“Bill used to walk from his home, which was in West Covington, the west side, he’d walk all the way down through Covington, all the way up Madison Avenue to Meinken Field,” Bowman said. “I knew Bill Cappel real well. He used to carry his water bucket, he’d water the infield, the pitchers down to home plate before the girls, women’s (softball) leagues would get there.”
Rhoden, who passed away in December, scored 854 points at Bishop Brossart from 2000-2004. His brother, Alexandria Police Officer Nick Rhoden, and mother Martie Rhoden Bessler, accepted the award.
Nick Rhoden said his brother was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder at age 16. He advocates for mental health issues, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) chapter in Newport.
“(Derrick) was very kind, just a real joy to talk to,” Nick Rhoden said Thursday. “People really don’t talk about (mental health issues); we need to.”
Goodhew played football at Holmes from 1955-59 and later at Eastern Kentucky University, where he earned Ohio Valley Conference and national All-American honors. He was inducted into the NKYSHOF in 2002 and has organized numerous golf fundraisers.
“I’m honored to be in the presence of these elite people,” Goodhew said.
‘We love Joe’
Brennan, a Holmes High graduate, served 20 years as NKYSHOF president. He also was a Covington city commissioner in the 1970s.
Laurie Risch, executive director of the Behringer-Crawford Museum in Covington, said it was Brennan’s vote that allowed the museum to form an independent board of trustees.
“A lot of interest was lost as far as keeping the museum,” Risch said Thursday. “The city did not want to operate the museum, No. 1 … Joe’s vote topped it to where we are today. We love Joe. He doesn’t stop supporting the museum or the community.”
Hebert taught history at Thomas More University for 46 years.
“I am also what they call the university historian,” Hebert said. “I was the internal editor for the (Thomas More) centennial history and a book about athletics. I’ve known Jim Claypool for decades. I arrived right after (Northern Kentucky University) opened in ‘72 on campus.
‘A little strange’
Wednesday was also a chance to relive one of most memorable plays in Major League Baseball history – the eighth inning of Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. The Red Sox ultimately won the seventh game – becoming the first team to come from an 0-3 deficit to win a series. (The Red Sox eventually swept the St. Louis Cardinals to win their first World Series crown since 1918.)
Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame pitcher Bronson Arroyo (who sang and spoke Wednesday) and former Major League Umpire Randy Marsh were in Yankee Stadium Oct. 19, 2004.
The Red Sox were ahead, 4-1, when Arroyo came went to the mound in the eighth inning. He gave up a double to the Yankees’ Miguel Cairo followed by Derek Jeter’s run-scoring single, which cut Boston’s lead to 4-2.
The Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez then grounded to Arroyo and attempted to tag Rodriguez but lost the ball when Rodriguez slapped the ball out of his glove. While the ball went to right field, Jeter scored and Rodriguez went to second.
Marsh, the crew chief, was the first base umpire. He didn’t see Rodriguez slap Arroyo’s arm before calling him safe, but after a lengthy conference with home plate umpire Joe West and right field line ump Jeff Kellogg called Rodriguez out for interference and ordered Jeter back to first.
“So I said, ‘All right, I’m going to change this. Get ready, ‘cause this place is gonna go nuts’,” Marsh said.
It did – irate Yankees fans littered the field with baseballs, beer bottles and other debris. MLB security director Kevin Hallinan ordered NYPD Academy cadets to line the field.
“We understood (Yankees owner George Steinbrenner) went absolutely bonkers because they did that,” Marsh said. “The media backed us completely because we took the time to get together and get the play right.”
Arroyo and Marsh still reminisce about the play.
“(Marsh) was saying that was the beginning of umpires realizing that maybe we do need some video footage to get things right,” Arroyo said. “A couple of things happened in that series needed some review; luckily they both went our way.”
Marsh also likes MLB’s pitch clock and banning shifts. “It keeps the game moving,” he said. “It just keeps the pace of the game better than it was before.”
The Bronson Arroyo Band and the Huff/Lindsay Band will perform at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Washington Opera House on West Second Street in Maysville. There’s one thing the 47-year-old Arroyo hasn’t done.
“To stand on the stage and kind of look around and see Pete Rose and Johnny Bench and to realize what a legacy is left inside that hall of fame, for me to be part of it is very odd at my young age,” Arroyo said. “I still haven’t gone inside to see my face in bronze yet. It’s a little strange to think about.”