The annual Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024 Induction Ceremony was held May 30 on the picturesque grounds of Flowerfield in St. James. This sold out annual event celebrated 24 new inductees.
The Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame is a non-profit established in 1990 to honor outstanding people who have made substantial contributions to athletics in Suffolk County. “These individuals represent the very best of athletics in Suffolk County,” said Chris R. Vaccaro, President of the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame. “As usual, our committee has selected a wide range of people who have left their mark on athletics in our country.”
These distinguished inductees feature sports figures who have made achievements on and off the field. They include athletes, coaches, sports doctors, team owners and operators, a historic sports figure, sports broadcasters and a sports agent and manager.
Hosting the event for the fifth year straight was News 12 Long Island Sports Director and Suffolk County native, Kevin Maher, who kicked off the festivities by saying, “The new inductees are a diverse class. You want basketball, we got it. You want lacrosse, we got it, baseball, football. It shows you the power of this great county. The talent that this county produces. We also have representation. We have members of the broadcasting industry; we even have a fire department racing team.” Maher then introduced Long Island tenor, Christopher Macchio, who gave a powerful rendition of the National Anthem, then Maher continued, “The word that stands out to me most is community. Our community is one of the best in the country because of our history and legacies that have lived on for years. They live on in all of us. They inspire us to do great.” And with that, Maher started introducing each inductee.
During the evening, some inductees stopped to express their feelings about this very special evening. Danny Green, from North Babylon, who is one of just four players in history to have won NBA championships with three different teams, the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, the Toronto Raptors in 2019 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 said, “This is a great night and Flowerfield is a beautiful place! There are so many people before me who have paved the way. They helped push me and they taught me not to be satisfied with anything I did; to keep pushing.”
Inductee, Gregg Giannotti, a Bellport native who is the co-host of Boomer and Gio on WFAN, one of the highest-rated and most listened-to sports talk shows in America, said, “It’s such an honor to be looking around to see Danny Green, my old high school football coach, Joe Cipp, Keith Hernandez, Ann Liguori who was a pioneer in this business and to be considered a pier with them in Suffolk County where I grew up, it really is humbling.” Ann Liguori, the first woman to host a sport’s call-in show on WFAN-NY, and the first woman to host a prime-time weekly show on The Golf Channel, chimed in, “I’m honored to be included. I’m being inducted this year with my buddy Keith Hernandez whom I covered when he was a Met back when they won the World Series and Gregg Giannotti who is on my radio station, WFAN.”
Sue Johnson is a Walt Whitman High School alumna and three-sport athlete at Yale where she played softball, lacrosse and earned First Team All-Ivy and Academic All-American honors in basketball then went on to a NCAA Division 1 coaching career at Yale before moving on to assistant coaching stints at Princeton, Boston College and New Hampshire. She is now the athletic director at Concord Academy in Massachusetts. Sue looked around at the other inductees and said, “I’m honored to be invited into this hall of amazing people that proceeded me and the class that I am with. I am thrilled to be here.”
Mets legend, Keith Hernandez, a proud resident of Sag Harbor, is considered one of the best first basemen in baseball history. Presently, he is a broadcast analyst on Mets games. He appeared humbled by the event and did not give a speech upon receiving his award. However, he is often quoted and of success he once said, “Success is no accident. It’s hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you’re doing or learning to do.”
Bay Shore native, Alyssa Leonard, All-American lacrosse player and two time NCAA champion, mused, “I look around at 3 rows of people sitting here with me and I feel like this is a representation of a journey that I’ve had and all the people that have gotten me here and I think this is an award for everyone. The school district I grew up in, the college I went to, the family that raised me, I think this is a reflection of them and I wish I could give a little piece of this award to all of them. I’m proud that I get to be up there and represent the community that went into this.”
There is always a Historic Inductee and for this year it is Babylon native and first Jewish pitcher in MLB history, Leo Fishel, who made his major league debut for the New York Giants, pitching a complete game and taking the loss in 1899.
Other inductees include:
Bryan Collins: Sayville resident; college football coach at Post and Stony Brook (Posthumously)
Dave Cohen: Commack native; College football coach at Wake Forest, Hofstra, Rutgers, and other schools
Jim (Posthumously) & Barbara Cromarty: Islip and Riverhead racetrack owners
Dr. Anthony Donatelli: Deer Park native; Doctor dedicated to sports medicine
Sonny Feinman: Islip youth sports advocate and leader
Sean Frazier: Harborfields alum; longtime college athletic director currently at Northern Illinois
Howard Gershberg: East Islip baseball coach who excelled at St. John’s and in MLB
Louis Gregory: Sachem alum, sports agent, and manager & U.S. Customs & Border Protection veteran
Bob Kersch: Veteran Section XI official with 50-plus years of service
Bob Panariello: Longtime AD and National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee
Dr. Frank Segretto: Doctor dedicated to sports medicine
Brian Spallina: Rocky Point native, Lacrosse legend, and inductee of the PLL Hall of Fame
Vera Truhlar: Longtime Connetquot women’s gymnastics coach and Section XI gymnastics coordinator
Chris Wingert: Babylon native, professional MLS player, Head of International Football at Roc Nation
Donald Yorie: Director of Suffolk County Police Department Police Athletic League
Islip Wolves Fire Department Drill/Racing Team: One of the winningest drill teams in NYS history
