Former Major League Baseball manager Terry Collins, who played on the 1972 Salem Pirates Carolina League championship team, will be the guest speaker and one of five inductees for the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame’s 33rd hot stove banquet and induction ceremony. The banquet will be held at the Salem Civic Center on Sunday February 2nd, 2025. In addition to Collins the Class of ’25 includes Ed Culicerto, Casey Hodges, J.D. Mundy and F.L. Slough.
A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Collins was drafted and signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1971 and spent 53 years in professional baseball. He was an infielder for the Carolina League champion Salem Pirates in 1972, playing with future big leaguers Dave Parker, Ed Ott, Doug Bair, Ken Macha and Mario Mendoza.
Collins played 10 seasons in the minor leagues, including six in AAA, before he was hired to manage the Lodi Dodgers of the Class A California League in 1981. He managed 11 years in the minors for five different teams before the Pirates hired him as coach with the Major League team.
In 1994 the Houston Astros selected Terry to be their manager and he spent three years at the helm before moving to Anaheim for a three year stint as Angels’ manager. His next stop was the far east for two years as manager of the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese Baseball League, then back to the states in 2011 for seven seasons as manager of the New York Mets.
Terry’s Major League career spanned 16 years, including a stint as coach with the Tampa Bay Rays. He managed team China in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and was the minor league director of the Los Angeles Dodgers for five years. He also served as a baseball analyst for SNY network’s Baseball Night New York.
Culicerto was head baseball coach at Northside High School for 16 years. His 2011 team won the Group AA state championship and Ed’s overall record is 244-121-2. During that time the Vikings won four district titles, two regional titles and made four state tournament appearances. He was selected as the state AA Coach of the Year and Timesland Coach of the Year in 2011.
Mundy is a 2016 graduate of Northside, where he was a four year starter and three time All-State player. He hit .550 his senior year and was the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ray Bellamy Award winner as the outstanding player in the Hall of Fame area and he was also named Timesland Player of the Year.
Mundy played two years at Virginia Tech, then played his junior and senior seasons at Radford University. He led the team with 13 home runs his junior year and hit .385 as a senior, earning VaSID All-State first team honors.
J.D. signed as a free agent with Baltimore Orioles and spent two seasons in their organization, reaching the AA level. He spent two seasons as assistant coach at Western Carolina University and is presently coaching at Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Hodges is a former Franklin County High School, Radford University and University of Mount Olive pitcher and infielder. He had a 10-1 record on Mount Olive’s National Championship team with a 2.52 ERA, pitching in the championship game and earning All-American honors.
Casey was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2008 Major League draft by the Atlanta Braves and played four seasons and 100 games in professional baseball, reaching the High Class A level. He has served as an assistant coach at Patrick Henry Community College and as the pitching coach at the University of Charleston in West Virginia.
Slough coached high school baseball for 22 years with a record of 188-109 as head coach. He was at Franklin County High from 1988 until 2007 and was head coach of the Eagles for 14 years, winning five district championships and a region championship in 1997.
F.L. served as assistant coach of the West Squad for the Commonweath Games for 18 years, worked at the Baseball Factory for four years and the Ferrum College Summer Baseball Camp for 10 years. He coached over 40 players who went on to play at the college level.
The Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame was founded in 1991 and honors players and contributors from the counties of Alleghany, Roanoke, Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin and Montgomery and the independent cities located within the boundaries of those counties. The Hall of Fame building is located on the grounds of the James E. Taliaferro Complex, next to the Salem Red Sox administrative office behind the third base seating area of Salem Memorial Ballpark. It is open to the public on selected nights during the Carolina League season and upon request.
For information on tickets, tables or ads in the program contact Gary Walthall at 540-427-1977 or John Montgomery at 540-761-6751.
