2025 Hall of Fame Class
BENNIE HUFFMAN
Bennie Huffman’s baseball days spanned some six decades, from his roots in the Shenandoah Valley, throughout the minor and major leagues. Huffman began his baseball career in 1933, playing for the New Market entry in the Valley League. Enrolling in Bridgewater College in 1935, Huffman batted .330 and led the Eagles to a 9-5 record.
Huffman decided that pro baseball was his future, so he left Bridgewater and headed for Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he enrolled in Ray Doan’s baseball school. Soon after, legendary player/manager Roger Hornsby spotted Huffman and invited him to play with the St. Louis Browns. Without any prior professional experience, Huffman became the 1937 Browns’ opening day catcher and went 2-for-3 in his first big league game. But Huffman’s luck soon took a turn for the worse. In a game against Cleveland, he was involved in a collision at home plate that seriously injured his shoulder. With his shoulder ailing and his playing time reduced, Huffman went on to bat .273 with one home run in his only major league season.
Huffman split the 1938 season between AAA Baltimore and Hartford, then moved on to the Texas League in 1939. Playing for the San Antonio club, Huffman was voted MVP in 1940 and looked poised for a big league comeback. But Huffman was selected in a different draft. From 1941-45, Huffman served in the U.S. Navy, where he played ball with many ex-major leaguers. Discharged in 1946, he returned to baseball, where he served as a minor league player/manager for close to a decade. Huffman skippered the 1951 Seattle club in the Pacific Coast League to a pennant and a victory in the playoffs.
In 1953, he hung up he cleats for good, joining the Chicago White Sox organization as a player scout. For the next 36 years Huffman scouted for the ChiSox, helping sign notable players as Minnie Minoso, Roy Sievers and Harold Baines.
JAMIE MOYER
Jamie Moyer played in the Valley Baseball League with the Harrisonburg Turks.
Over his 25-year career in Major League Baseball Moyer pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, and Colorado Rockies.
On April 17, 2012, Moyer became the oldest pitcher in MLB history to win a game. On May 16, 2012, he broke his own record.
Moyer made the MLB All-Star team in 2003 while with the Mariners. Moyer has received numerous awards for philanthropy and community service, including the 2003 Roberto Clemente Award, the 2003 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, the 2003 Hutch Award, and the 2004 Branch Rickey Award. He was inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame in 2015.
Moyer played college baseball for the Saint Joseph’s Hawks. In 1984, he set the school’s single-season records in wins, with 16, earned run average (ERA), with 1.99, and strikeouts, with 90. In 1997, he was one of three inductees into the first class of the St. Joseph’s Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2018, he became the only Saint Joseph’s baseball player to have his jersey number, number 10, retired.
DANIEL MURPHY
Daniel Murphy played in Major League Baseball for the New York Mets, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, and Colorado Rockies. Murphy was an MLB All-Star in 2014, 2016, and 2017. En route to leading the Mets to their fifth World Series appearance in franchise history, Murphy won the National League Championship Series MVP Award in 2015.
Murphy attended Jacksonville University where, as a junior in 2006, he posted a .398 batting average and was named the A-Sun Baseball Player of the Year.
Murphy played in the VBL with the Luray Wranglers in 2204 and 2005 and was the Valley Baseball League Most Valuable Player in 2005 when he led the Wranglers to the regular season title.
BRANDON INGE
Brandon Inge played 12 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, one with the Oakland Athletics and one with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Inge began the 2001 season in the Major Leagues and made his debut as Detroit’s starting catcher. In 2009, he was named to the American League All-Star team.
Inge received the 2010 Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award, given by the Major League Baseball Players Association each year “to the player whose on-field performances and community outreach most inspire others to higher levels of achievement.”
Inge played his high school baseball in nearby Lynchburg, Va., at Brookville High School. Brookville’ retired Inge’s No. 7.
He then went on to play college baseball at VCU as a relief pitcher and shortstop.
Inge played in the VBL for the Waynesboro Generals in 1986.
In 1998 he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the second round.
GARLAND EUTSLER, KAY & BOYD SNYDER
Garland Eutsler purchased the Staunton Braves in 1993 and owned the franchise for eight years. During his time as owner, the Braves were a dominant force in Valley Baseball League.
The Braves won VBL pennants in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. The team won the VBL championship in 1995, 1996 and 1999.
Eutsler also founded the Covington Lumberjacks franchise in 2001, and the team won the pennant and advanced to the league championship series in its first season.
Eutsler sold the Staunton Braves to his mother Kay Snyder and her husband Boyd Snyder in the early 2000s. The team continued to be competitive on the field and at the game with the Snyders at the helm. The Snyders ran the organization for 17 seasons.
The Braves reached the VBL championship series three times during their tenure, – 2004, 2006 and 2015. The Snyders enjoyed their best season with the Braves in 2015 when the team won a total of 35 games. Staunton finished the regular season with a 29-13 record and won a one-game playoff with Harrisonburg to claim the top overall seed. The Braves won the quarterfinal and semifinal round before losing to Strasburg, 2 games to 1, in the championship series.
RICK JONES
Rick Jones was a pitcher in the Valley Baseball League in the mid-1970s, pitching for the Waynesboro Generals and New Market Rebels. Jones played his collegiate baseball at UNC-Wilmington.
Following his playing career Jones went on to accumulate 1,094 wins as a college head coach.
Jones coached at Ferrum College when it was a two-year school and posted a 102-32-1 record. He then coached at Elon for five seasons when it was an NAIA program, finishing with a 174-61 record and making three NAIA tournament appearances in his five seasons.
Jones then landed a Division I job when he joined Jim Morris’ staff at Georgia Tech. After four years at Georgia Tech, Jones took over as the head coach of the Tulane Green Wave.
In 21 seasons at Tulane, Jones posted an 818-445-2 record. His teams made 12 NCAA regional appearances and three super regionals. He led the Green Wave to the College World Season in 2001 and 2005. In 2005, Jones was named the National Coach of the Year.
Jones retired in 2014 and in 2023 Tulane retired his No. 10 jersey.
Jones was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame in 2017. He has also been inducted into the Tulane Athletic Hall of Fame, the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame and Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
BETTY PHILLIPS
Betty Phillips will be inducted into its 2025 Hall of Fame class in recognition of her lifetime of dedication to the Winchester Royals.
Betty has been a part of the Royals franchise for more than four decades, beginning in 1979, the team’s first season.
Betty is a long-time volunteer and former board member of the Royals and served as the organization’s secretary and treasurer. She worked on the concession stand for more than a decade before taking over in the ticket booth and becoming one of the 50/50 ladies. She retired as the team’s treasurer in 2022.
Betty joins her late husband Jim in the VBL Hall of Fame. Her husband was inducted in the inaugural VBL Hall of Fame class of 2016.
The Phillips family served as a host family for the Royals for more than 15 summers.
There will now be three husband and wife tandems in the Hall of Fame. Along with the Jim and Betty Philips, Harrisonburg’s Bob and Teresa Wease are both in the Hall and former Staunton Braves owners Boyd and Kay Snyder are part of this year’s class along with Betty.