NC Sports Hall of Fame inducts Butters and Hart

[Bluedawg]

Tom Butters and Leo Hart first crossed paths at Duke 40 years ago, when a tragedy thrust Butters into the role of baseball coach for a team that featured Hart on the mound.

They've maintained a close friendship ever since, and they will be enshrined in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame together on Thursday night.
http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/18-950599.cfm

The article point sout that their enshrinement has nothing to do with baseball. For Hart it's football and for Butters its "for what he did for all of Duke's teams."

Frank Dascenzo writes:

Seeking now to fill Duke's vacant athletics director position, Hart scripted a football career full of dignity.

The record books will tell you that Hart completed 487 passes for the Blue Devils from 1968-70, fourth-best in Duke history. When Hart, who wore jersey No. 10, would break from the huddle, linebackers cringed.

http://www.heraldsun.com/sports/columns/dascenzo/

Two well deserved honors...congratulations gentlemen.

[fogey]

His public grace, class, and sense of humor disguise a very tough core. When Tom took over the baseball team for Jim Bly, who died suddenly of a heart attack in the fall of '66, my freshman year, he brought unique expertise and insight. But his chronic spine injury caused him real discomfort. Notwithstanding that, he was generous and dedicated as our coach.

I recall one private batting practice session when, to put it mildly, I was struggling- my batting average was right up there around the approval ratings our present Congress enjoys- and the repetition of pitching from the mound wracked him with nausea and pain. He didn't care, kept pitching to me, stopping only a couple of times to get sick, and then resume.

The batting practice didn't help my hitting too much, but I was forever impacted by Tom's absolute toughness and dedication to task. He set a great example for his players.

Congratulations to Tom (and Leo) on an honor well deserved.

[Bluedawg]

His public grace, class, and sense of humor disguise a very tough core. When Tom took over the baseball team for Jim Bly, who died suddenly of a heart attack in the fall of '66, my freshman year, he brought unique expertise and insight. But his chronic spine injury caused him real discomfort. Notwithstanding that, he was generous and dedicated as our coach.

I recall one private batting practice session when, to put it mildly, I was struggling- my batting average was right up there around the approval ratings our present Congress enjoys- and the repetition of pitching from the mound wracked him with nausea and pain. He didn't care, kept pitching to me, stopping only a couple of times to get sick, and then resume.

The batting practice didn't help my hitting too much, but I was forever impacted by Tom's absolute toughness and dedication to task. He set a great example for his players.

Congratulations to Tom (and Leo) on an honor well deserved.

Thank you for this post. I hope others who knew them, or played with/for then can give us more insights.

[dkbaseball]

His public grace, class, and sense of humor disguise a very tough core. When Tom took over the baseball team for Jim Bly, who died suddenly of a heart attack in the fall of '66, my freshman year, he brought unique expertise and insight. But his chronic spine injury caused him real discomfort. Notwithstanding that, he was generous and dedicated as our coach.

I recall one private batting practice session when, to put it mildly, I was struggling- my batting average was right up there around the approval ratings our present Congress enjoys- and the repetition of pitching from the mound wracked him with nausea and pain. He didn't care, kept pitching to me, stopping only a couple of times to get sick, and then resume.

The batting practice didn't help my hitting too much, but I was forever impacted by Tom's absolute toughness and dedication to task. He set a great example for his players.

Congratulations to Tom (and Leo) on an honor well deserved.

Yes, TB sometimes would toss his cookies behind the grandstand after throwing BP. And in the general category of toughness, some will recall his one-arm extended push-ups. Freakish. Probably the most intense person I've ever known. Certainly the most motivating.

Leo might have had the sweetest, most easy-going temperament of any athlete I've ever known. But a hell of a competitor.

[Inonehand]

Never saw the man play baseball but heard he was an amazing talent. He wasn't just another major league baseball player. I played for one of his Pirates teammates long after they were both through with their careers and he told me Butters was destined for all-star status before his accident.

[dkbaseball]

Never saw the man play baseball but heard he was an amazing talent. He wasn't just another major league baseball player. I played for one of his Pirates teammates long after they were both through with their careers and he told me Butters was destined for all-star status before his accident.

He was supposed to have been the hardest throwing righthander in the National League circa 1964, a time when Bob Gibson was playing in the league. As I mentioned, just a freakishly strong guy, who could drive a golf ball 300+ yards with the old wooden drivers.

But control was always an issue. Branch Rickey took him on as a special project, as they were from the same hometown -- Delaware, Ohio -- and both attended Ohio Wesleyan there. One drill Rickey came up with for him was to put a pile of sand about four or five feet high on top of the plate and make Tom stay out there until he had cleaned the plate off.

Or at least these were the legends floating around Duke in the late '60s.