BEATRICE, Neb. (KOLN) - In the 1920s, Pid Purdy was a 5′9″ athlete from Beatrice who had a stint in the MLB and played for the Green Bay Packers.
“There are five people on planet earth that have hit a home run in the major leagues and scored a touchdown in the NFL and Pid Purdy was the first one to do it,” said Bob Steinkamp, president of the Nebraska Baseball Hall of Fame.
Purdy is among about 180 Nebraska baseball legends who put their hometowns on the map.
“A lot of times the unsung heroes of this are - they may not have been great baseball players, but they loved baseball and they would go to all lengths to form a team,” Steinkamp said.
The Nebraska Baseball Hall of Fame was founded in 1976. Since then, the board members have inducted everyone from players, umpires, members of the media and managers who have shown dedication to this sport throughout their lives.
The Nebraskans are featured within a room inside of Country Cookin’ Restaurant and Events Center in Beatrice.
Steinkamp is a retired scout and baseball coach for the Beatrice Bruins. He remembers watching some of the inductees play.
“Like Alex Gordon, Joba Chamberlain and Thad Weber is one,” Steinkamp listed. “So it’s been a labor of love. I never took any pay for it.”
For other board members, the photos remind them of the prime of town teams across the state.
“You’d go to the park, and the fans would pack in,” said Ron Douglas, board member. “First, you’d have Sunday dinner, and then you’d go to the ballpark. There’d be cars, and people were excited. It was fun.”
The Hall of Fame covers about 50 years of pro, semi-pro and amateur baseball in Nebraska, but it’s filling up fast.
“Well hopefully, when we get a little bigger situation for us, we’ll have more archived,” said Ken Vergith, inductee and board member. “But we get information and bios from family members or the players themselves.”
Each year, eight board members sift through nominations and announce inductees at a banquet.
“It’s very touching for me,” Vergith said. “I have several of my coaches are in here. Teammates are in here. Friends’ dads are in here. And I know a lot of these guys from all over the state.”
Vergith calls it a “brotherhood” that grows with each passing baseball season.
The Nebraska Baseball Hall of Fame is located inside the Country Cookin’ Cafe at 111 S 8th St. in Beatrice. They rely mostly on donations and grants, and you can visit their website for more information: www.nebaseballhof.org.
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