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The Associated Press
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. Frank Thomaschoked back tears, Joe Torre
apologized forleaving people out of his speech and TonyLa Russa
said he felt uneasy.
Being enshrined in the Hall of Fame canhave those effects, even
on the greats.
Thomas, pitchers Tom Glavine and GregMaddux, and managers Bobby
Cox, Torreand La Russa were in-ducted into the baseballshrine
Sunday, and allpaid special tribute totheir families before
anadoring crowd of nearly50,000.
Im speechless.Thanks for having me in your club, Thomas
said,getting emotional as heremembered his late fa-ther. Frank Sr.,
I know youre watching. Without you, I know 100 percent I wouldnt
behere in Cooperstown today. You al- ways preached to me, You can
besomeone special if you really work atit. I took that to heart,
Pop.
Mom, I thank you for all the moth-erly love and support. I know
it wasnteasy.
The 46-year old Thomas, the rst play-er elected to the Hall who
spent morethan half of his time as a designatedhitter, batted .301
with 521 home runsand 1,704 RBIs in a 19-year career mostly with
the Chicago White Sox. Hes the onlyplayer in major league history
to log sevenstraight seasons with a .300 average, 20homers, 100
RBIs and 100 walks.
Ever the diplomat as a manager, Torre
somehow managed to assuage the mostdemanding of owners in George
Stein-brenner, maintaining his coolness amid allthe Bronx craziness
while keeping all thoseegos in check after taking over in 1996.
Theresult: 10 division titles, six AL pennants
and four World Seriestriumphs in 12 years ashe helped restore
theluster to baseballs mostsuccessful franchiseand resurrected
hisown career after threerings.
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MONDAY, JULY 28, 2014 OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS u www.oanow.com
MLBBraves score 6 runsin 3rd, beat Padres.
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MLB
Auburn Golf
Dufner continues to honor late Tigers TE with patchBY ALEX
[email protected]
Jason Dufner returned to hishome on the Plains to partner with
Auburn Universitys athlet-ic department in a philanthropicmission
to end childhood hun-ger on Friday.
But while the former Auburngolfer took a break from his
pro-fessional life on the links, Dufnerhas continued to keep his
almamater and the many people
hes met through it close to hisheart.
That includes the family of thelate but beloved former
Auburntight end Philip Lutzenkirchen, whose memory Dufner
con-tinues to honor with a large or-ange and blue No. 43 patch
onthe front of his golf bag duringprofessional tournaments
eversince Lutzenkirchens untimelydeath a month ago.
It was easy, Ive known Philip
through the football team. Ididnt do it so much for myself,but
just to show support for hisfriends and his family, Dufnersaid
Friday, to let them knowthat (people) are thinking aboutthem, that
theyre aware of theirsituation. And itll be there on mygolf bag
forever, so itll be a nicelittle reminder for all the Auburnpeople
to see.
NASCAR
Its Jeff Gordon Day at Indy for record 5th timeThe Associated
Press
INDIANAPOLIS Witha fth Brickyard 400 vic-tory on the line
Sunday,Jeff Gordon looked likethe driver he was 20 yearsago.
Gordon nailed the nalrestart of the race nogiven because
restartshave been Gordons Achil-
les heel to pass HendrickMotorsports teammateKasey Kahne with 17
lapsremaining at IndianapolisMotor Speedway.
His power move fromthe outside lane past Kah-
ne put Gordon out frontfor good, and he kickedit into cruise
control for aNASCAR-record fth vic-tory at historic Indy. The win
came on the 20th an-niversary celebration ofGordons win in the
inau-gural Brickyard 400, andon Jeff Gordon Day asdeclared by the
Mayor ofIndianapolis.
I told him this morningthat this was his day, saidteam owner
Rick Hen-drick.
The win moved Gordoninto a tie with MichaelSchumacher, whose
veFormula One victories atIndy had been the goldstandard.
The Big Hurt Thomas headlines Hall of Fame class
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
eff Gordon celebrates after winning the Brickyard 400 autorace
at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.
BRICKYARD 400 For full race results seePage 3B.
See RECORD , Page 2B
I would like to thank Pat Dye, Jay Jacobs and Hal Baird. Under
your guidanceat Auburn University, Ibecame a man. You guys pushed
me to new heights,and instilled toughness anda will to win that I
reallynever knew existed.
WILLIAM RACKLEY/AUBURN UNIVERSITY
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Frank Thomas speaks
during an induction ceremony at the Clark Sports Center on
Sunday.
GRATEFUL GREATS
See HALL , Page 6B
HALL OF FAME For more Hall of Fame coverage seePage 6B.
ALBERT CESARE/[email protected]
Jason andAmandaDufner look onas Lt. Gov. KayIvey speaks toBoys
and GirlsClub membersduring the EndChild Hungerevent on July25 at
the Boysand Girls Clubin Auburn.See DUFNER , Page 6B
