Willis: Honoring baseball pioneer Ross Barnes
From Jasmine Willis at the Genesee County Express on July 11, 2017, with mention of SABR members Gary Passamonte and David Stalker:
It was legends like Ross Barnes who taught us that we all have a little magic left inside of us, and if we are persistent we can still reach up and grab glory.
Mount Morris resident and Baseball legend Ross Barnes fan, Gary Passamonte, is still fighting the good fight to get Baseball Hall of Fame to recognize one of it’s pioneers.
In an effort to keep Ross Barnes’ legacy alive Passamonte with some help of friends is putting together a memorial in his honor on Aug. 19 at 11 a.m. at pocket park on the corner of Main and East State Streets near the fountain. Afterwards there will be a vintage baseball game at Bellamy Park.
Genesee Country Express first told you about Ross Barnes in the article entitled “The legend the Baseball Hall of Fame forgot” and ever since there has been more of a pull to get him where he belongs.
Barnes was born Roscoe Conkling “Ross” Barnes in Mount Morris , and was a national phenomenon of his day in the mid to late 1800s. Passamonte feels he has a rather impressive resume, and a story earning him the honor of joining the other great sports heroes of his day in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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The Society of American Baseball Research calls Barnes an “overlooked nineteenth-century legend” and are pushing to put him in the Baseball Hall of Fame by 2018.
David Stalker of Watertown, Wisconsin has worked closely with Passamonte getting this stone ready for the ceremony. Stalker plans on being at the event himself.
Passamonte said the memorial will have an engraving of Ross Barnes on the front and back, and some information about the local legend.
“We wanted to keep it local as far as donations go,” he said. “The Mount Morris community came forward with money.”
Read the full article here: http://www.dansvilleonline.com/news/20170711/honoring-baseball-legend-ross-barnes
Originally published: July 12, 2017. Last Updated: July 12, 2017.