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04-02-2005, 09:38 PM
"spxdad" Wrote:"PHSFAN" Wrote:1. J.P. BlairGale Taylor? You've got to be kidding.
2. Chad Childers
3. Josh Shofner
4. Matt Coleman
5. Jess Baird
6. Josh Barone
7. Gale Taylor
8. Chris Lawson
9. Terry Wright
10.Chad Roberts
LOL...I never saw him play but have heard that he was real good. I think the top 5 is pretty solid but was trying to fill out a top 10. I have heard from several people that Gale TAylor was a real good player at Pikeville, maybe I heard wrong. Give us your list spxdad.
05-02-2005, 05:52 PM
Nice topic and a decent working list ... J.P. was up there, but No. 1 is really subjective. He was a great all-around athlete, though.
Robbie Wright should be on the list, as should Doug Willett, who was an awesome pitcher. Scott Anderson was a good arm, but where to you rank pitchers on the "geatest players" lists?
These are just the names off the top of my head. If I did some thinking and some digging, we could come up with some more for the top-10. I didn't see all the guys on your lists play, but I know we're missing a ton, particularly pre-1990s guys.
Robbie Taylor had a great arm and was a decent all-around player, too.
Robbie Wright should be on the list, as should Doug Willett, who was an awesome pitcher. Scott Anderson was a good arm, but where to you rank pitchers on the "geatest players" lists?
These are just the names off the top of my head. If I did some thinking and some digging, we could come up with some more for the top-10. I didn't see all the guys on your lists play, but I know we're missing a ton, particularly pre-1990s guys.
Robbie Taylor had a great arm and was a decent all-around player, too.
05-03-2005, 03:56 PM
Sorry about the black text before ... after some thought, Ken Trivette, surprisingly enough, was a pretty good baseball player for PHS back in the day. He was a pretty good everything back then. You won't find catchers any tougher than Jerry Ray. All the McNamees were good baseball players -- Joe (who didn't go to Pikeville, but went to HS in West Virginia) actually was a stud for WVU in college.
It's hard to judge the older players against the new era. I would assume the last 15 years or so have seen the majority of the better baseball players to come out of PHS, particularly since it has only been since the mid-80s that baseball was made a priority, even thought they reeled off a ton of District titles in a row from the late 70s on.
I'm pretty sure if you want a concise list of the best ever at PHS, you can just call Gene Davis. He coached or watched just about everone who played there.
Next time I talk to him, I'll ask him and post his list.
It's hard to judge the older players against the new era. I would assume the last 15 years or so have seen the majority of the better baseball players to come out of PHS, particularly since it has only been since the mid-80s that baseball was made a priority, even thought they reeled off a ton of District titles in a row from the late 70s on.
I'm pretty sure if you want a concise list of the best ever at PHS, you can just call Gene Davis. He coached or watched just about everone who played there.
Next time I talk to him, I'll ask him and post his list.
05-05-2005, 07:29 PM
"jfallsman" Wrote:Sorry about the black text before ... after some thought, Ken Trivette, surprisingly enough, was a pretty good baseball player for PHS back in the day. He was a pretty good everything back then. You won't find catchers any tougher than Jerry Ray. All the McNamees were good baseball players -- Joe (who didn't go to Pikeville, but went to HS in West Virginia) actually was a stud for WVU in college.
It's hard to judge the older players against the new era. I would assume the last 15 years or so have seen the majority of the better baseball players to come out of PHS, particularly since it has only been since the mid-80s that baseball was made a priority, even thought they reeled off a ton of District titles in a row from the late 70s on.
I'm pretty sure if you want a concise list of the best ever at PHS, you can just call Gene Davis. He coached or watched just about everone who played there.
Next time I talk to him, I'll ask him and post his list.
The MacNamees were great players. Dan, the youngest, would have been the best player ever to play at Pikeville if he had gone to Pikeville in high school.
05-09-2005, 02:40 PM
Okay, I've done some digging. J.P. Blair and Matt Coleman are pretty much consensus Nos. 1 and 2. I would probably put J.P. first since Matt was just a pitcher. However, Matt Coleman is the only Panther ever to be drafted (39th round in 1987 by Detroit) and the only one to go on to a full-fledged standout career at a major Division I college (he's third all-time at UK in wins).
Josh Shoffner rates high on everyone's lists as do Jess Baird and Chris Lawson. Terry and Robbie Wright are both worthy of consideration and Jared Frasure and current pitcher Chase Gibson are more recent guys everyone seems to agree on.
Here are some names from the past that should be on or near the top-10 that the younger folks wouldn't know:
Freddie Branham -- said to be the best pitcher outside of Coleman to ever play at PHS. His teammate, Jerry Anderson (Scott's dad) is also a solid pick.
Neil Smith -- Played quarterback at Vandy, but was a heck of a centerfielder back in the day.
Dickie Vanhoose -- played second base and was tough as nails.
Scottie Smith -- smart player in the mid-70s who made up for lack of speed and size with heady play.
Andrew Joyce -- Probably the best catcher at PHS.
John Venters -- another 70s era guy whose son is now a big-time minor league prospect (he lives in Florida now).
Ralph Feltner -- Stud infielder from the good teams of the 60s.
Ken Trivette -- great all-around athlete who was probably the only four-time all-county player for PHS in baseball ever
Jimmy Dog Moore -- I've been told he broke about three or four arms and ankles of fielders sliding into second. Tough competitor.
Other names that got tossed around, but not expounded upon include Mike Castle, Kevin McEnallen, Tim McNamee, John Mims.
I was told Gayle Taylor probably didn't belong on the list. His little brother Robbie was a good pitcher, but also not a top-10 pick, though I could swear he was nearly unhittable his senior year, but that's from memory.
I'm sure there are others ... add to the mix if you know of any.
F-man
Josh Shoffner rates high on everyone's lists as do Jess Baird and Chris Lawson. Terry and Robbie Wright are both worthy of consideration and Jared Frasure and current pitcher Chase Gibson are more recent guys everyone seems to agree on.
Here are some names from the past that should be on or near the top-10 that the younger folks wouldn't know:
Freddie Branham -- said to be the best pitcher outside of Coleman to ever play at PHS. His teammate, Jerry Anderson (Scott's dad) is also a solid pick.
Neil Smith -- Played quarterback at Vandy, but was a heck of a centerfielder back in the day.
Dickie Vanhoose -- played second base and was tough as nails.
Scottie Smith -- smart player in the mid-70s who made up for lack of speed and size with heady play.
Andrew Joyce -- Probably the best catcher at PHS.
John Venters -- another 70s era guy whose son is now a big-time minor league prospect (he lives in Florida now).
Ralph Feltner -- Stud infielder from the good teams of the 60s.
Ken Trivette -- great all-around athlete who was probably the only four-time all-county player for PHS in baseball ever
Jimmy Dog Moore -- I've been told he broke about three or four arms and ankles of fielders sliding into second. Tough competitor.
Other names that got tossed around, but not expounded upon include Mike Castle, Kevin McEnallen, Tim McNamee, John Mims.
I was told Gayle Taylor probably didn't belong on the list. His little brother Robbie was a good pitcher, but also not a top-10 pick, though I could swear he was nearly unhittable his senior year, but that's from memory.
I'm sure there are others ... add to the mix if you know of any.
F-man
05-09-2005, 05:36 PM
Chase Gibson didn't play baseball, I assume you are talking about Chase Huffman. Chad Childers owns about every offensive record at Pikeville High so he has to be on the list. He is the only player to ever bat above .500 in one season and according to Coach Jason Howell he is the best player he has have ever coached at Pikeville. Josh Barone was a great player also and belongs on the list. Childrs belongs in the top 5 and Barone in the top 10. Chad Roberts belongs on the list somewhere also..he was a great pitcher on probably Pikeville's best team ever in 1999.
05-09-2005, 10:14 PM
You're right ... I was referring to Chase Huffman. Unfortunately, there aren't any record books at Pikeville and Chad Childers name didn't pop up very often in my digging around. That could be just that the folks I talked to left him out by mistake, so I say we put him in there. I never saw him play personally, so I'll take your word for it.
My hope was to get the old school guys to add to the list. Everyone agreed that the best teams at PHS have all been in the last 15 years and that's hard to argue with since 1991 was the first regional title, though there were a few years in the 1960s when there were only eight total regions that PHS had some strong teams -- the ones with Ralph Feltner, Neil Smith, etc.
My hope was to get the old school guys to add to the list. Everyone agreed that the best teams at PHS have all been in the last 15 years and that's hard to argue with since 1991 was the first regional title, though there were a few years in the 1960s when there were only eight total regions that PHS had some strong teams -- the ones with Ralph Feltner, Neil Smith, etc.
05-09-2005, 11:36 PM
"jfallsman" Wrote:You're right ... I was referring to Chase Huffman. Unfortunately, there aren't any record books at Pikeville and Chad Childers name didn't pop up very often in my digging around. That could be just that the folks I talked to left him out by mistake, so I say we put him in there. I never saw him play personally, so I'll take your word for it.
My hope was to get the old school guys to add to the list. Everyone agreed that the best teams at PHS have all been in the last 15 years and that's hard to argue with since 1991 was the first regional title, though there were a few years in the 1960s when there were only eight total regions that PHS had some strong teams -- the ones with Ralph Feltner, Neil Smith, etc.
Your list looks good...just thought I would add a few. Josh Shofner, Barone, and Childers are probably the best 3 players Pikeville has had in the past decade and Shofner and Chad Roberts are the best pitchers during that time that I have seen. Coach Howell had a record book last year that he showed me, so I am using that in making a list. Barone batted .469 in 1996 and Childers batted .509 in 1999. Those were the two highest in the school history according to the book.
05-10-2005, 11:02 AM
Interesting. I would be interested to know how far his record book goes back. My guess would be that they've only been keeping up with it since the early 90s, which leaves out a lot of good teams and players, though those averages sound pretty good. I'll see if I can't get Howell to send me what he has as far as the record book goes. I've got team win-loss records and postseason accomplishments going back to about 1979 with a couple of missed years in the mid-80s when Kevin Garris coached the team, but I'm collecting stuff like that to write an article or two about PHS baseball in the future.
Thanks for the tip.
Thanks for the tip.
05-18-2005, 11:01 PM
"jfallsman" Wrote:Nice topic and a decent working list ... J.P. was up there, but No. 1 is really subjective. He was a great all-around athlete, though.
Robbie Wright should be on the list, as should Doug Willett, who was an awesome pitcher. Scott Anderson was a good arm, but where to you rank pitchers on the "geatest players" lists?
These are just the names off the top of my head. If I did some thinking and some digging, we could come up with some more for the top-10. I didn't see all the guys on your lists play, but I know we're missing a ton, particularly pre-1990s guys.
Robbie Taylor had a great arm and was a decent all-around player, too.
I believe Anderson is tied with Matt Coleman with the all-time career wins in Pikeville history.
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