If you love baseball, the ballroom of the Genetti Hotel in downtown Williamsport was the place to be on Wednesday, January 15. Attendees were regaled with baseball talk from such luminaries as legendary Phillies slugger Greg ‘the Bull’ Luzinski, Phillies Assistant General Manager, Bryan Minniti, ESPN commentator, Tim Kurkjian and Cutters’ manager, Pat Borders, as well as remarks from the Crosscutters’ principal owner, Peter Freund.

Speaking of Borders, the biggest news of the night was about him. It was learned that the Phils announced last week that he would not be returning to the Cutters for a sixth season, instead he was named skipper of the Phils’ Clearwater Threshers club.

According to Crosscutters’ Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations, Gabe Sinicropi, the news was “bittersweet.” While it is good to see Borders continue to advance in the Phillies organization, it is sad for the Cutters’ staff and fans to see him go. In his five seasons here he became the winningest manager in Cutters’ history and leaves behind a legacy of goodwill and excellent baseball.

As a nod to Borders’ achievements here, it was announced that Borders’ uniform number 10 would be permanently retired and placed on what has become the “Wall of Fame” on Bowman Field’s outfield fence, joining, Geremi Gonzales’ “41”, Dave Williams’ “36,” Dave Bresnahan’s “59” and Jackie Robinson’s “42.”

Before the banquet, at a gathering for the media, I was able to speak to ESPN reporter and commentator, Tim Kurkjian, and I asked him about the chances of the former Williamsport Gray, Dick Allen’s chances of being chosen for the Baseball Hall of Fame when the Veterans Committee meets this coming December to consider candidates from the Golden and Early Baseball Era.

“I think Dick is a borderline candidate, but I would vote for him and believe he warrants induction into the Hall of Fame,” Kurkjian told me. “I think he was once the most feared sluggers of his time and I never saw anyone hit the ball as hard as he did.”

He continued, “Dick excelled during a time when pitching was at a level in which it was some of the best that there ever was. Averages and production by hitters was greatly decreased and as result they even had to change the height of the mound following the 1968 season. I think with today’s sabermetrics and analytics it makes Allen have an even more compelling case for his induction.”

Slugger, Greg Lewinski, who was Allen’s teammate with the Phillies in 1975 and 1976, echoes these sentiments.

“I think Dick most certainly should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I think he has the numbers and the career that qualifies him,” Luzinski said. “Dick was a good teammate, but he was also a very awesome hitter that was a very dominant player, including being Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and several All-Star appearances. Dick was a very intimidating hitter that scared many a pitcher.”

Kurkjian and Luzinski were asked the same question during the banquet’s question and answer period and said basically the same thing about Allen.

Turning to other matters, Luzinski was asked about former Williamsport Grays skipper and his manager for a short period of time with the Phillies, Frank Lucchesi.

“Frank was a great guy. He was a player’s manager,” Luzinski said. “He would always go to the wall for you. Larry Bowa really liked him. Unfortunately, I did not get to play for him that long at Philadelphia. He was almost my manager at Eugene, Oregon, but we had just gotten Willie Montanez and I was then redirected to Reading, where I had a great season.”

Tim Kurkjian was asked about the proposed reduction of minor league teams that could potentially eliminate the Crosscutters.

“I think it is a bad idea,” Kurkjian said. “The minor leagues are one of the most important components to baseball. It is how to develop the talent to play in the major leagues. The commissioner said he wants baseball to grow and to encourage young people to embrace the sport, well something like this I think undermines this. Minor league baseball is very important to the life of the cities that have teams. It is part of the fabric of those places. Here in Williamsport is a good example of that. I hope that cooler heads will prevail. The idea for this came from Jeff Luhnow, the disgraced and fired former general manager of the Astros, maybe that will also help to kill the idea as well.”

Additional highlights included the induction of Rob Thomas into the Bowman Field Hall of Fame and Navy quarterback Hal Spooner’s induction to the Williamsport Sports Walk.

Thomas has been the public address announcer at Cutters home games for the past 20 seasons. Spooner, a Williamsport native helped lead the 1960 Navy Midshipmen to a 9-1 regular season record and a trip to the Orange Bowl.

More than $6,700 was raised for the Hot Stove League Banquet’s designated charity, the West Christian Community Center.