Bulldog's Long-Time Skipper Ron Polk To Be Recognized
Jackson, MS - (May 9, 2008) – Retiring Mississippi State University baseball coach Ron Polk will be recognized for his contributions to collegiate baseball during the Cellular South Ferriss Trophy presentation on Monday, May 19, 2008 at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame & Museum in Jackson, MS.
"Ron Polk fundamentally changed where and how fans and universities look at college baseball," said Museum Executive Director Michael Rubenstein. "His contributions to the sport are incontestable."
Polk, a 1998 inductee into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, has won 1,370 games in his 35-year coaching career, 29 of those seasons spent at MSU. He is the winningest coach in SEC history and a two-time National Coach of the Year.
Former Yankees manager Buck Showalter, the first of Polk's 35 All-Americans at MSU (1977), will present the 2008 Cellular South Ferriss Trophy to Mississippi's top college baseball player as determined by a panel of 25 Major League scouts, college coaches and a media representative.
Players at all of Mississippi's four-year baseball programs are eligible for the honor, which has been presented annually since 2004. The three finalists for the honor and their coaches are expected to attend.
The award is named after Shaw, MS native Dave "Boo" Ferriss, a former Mississippi State All-American player and long-time Delta State head coach who is an inductee in the Boston Red Sox and Mississippi Sports Halls of Fame.
Tickets for the award program can be purchased by calling the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame toll-free at 1-800-280-FAME (3263) or at (601) 982-8264. A 5:30 p.m. reception will precede the formal program, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Museum, which is located at 1152 Lakeland Drive in Jackson.
