Beattie leads ’05 Maine Sports Hall class

Jim Beattie, a former pitcher at South Portland High School, the University of Maine and in the major leagues, heads the 2005 induction class for the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.

Beattie, a fourth-round draft pick (91st overall) in 1975 who won a World Series game and ring with the 1978 New York Yankees, pitched nine big-league seasons – the last seven with the Seattle Mariners. The 6-foot-6 righthander became farm director for the Mariners before becoming the vice-president and general manager of the Montreal Expos in 1995.

Two years ago, Beattie became vice president and general manager of the Baltimore Orioles.

Beattie is joined by boxing official Peter Bennett of Portland, stock car racer-entrepreneur Ralph Cusack of Scarborough, Cony High multi-sport standout Bill Folsom, Sanford and Bowdoin multi-sport star Theodore Gardner, runner and dog sled racer Lloyd Slocum, Deering High and UMaine football standout Eugene Sturgeon, and former Maine Athletic Commissioner Joseph Graziano.

The induction ceremony will be held June 12 at the Italian Heritage Center in Portland. Tickets are $35 and available through William Daviero, 799-8643.

Bennett officiated nearly 3,000 amateur and professional boxing bouts in Maine from 1940 through 1990, including several New England and Maine championship fights.

Cusack owned Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and raced for 40 years. He was the Beech Ridge champion 12 times from 1953 through 1980.

Folsom was a four-sport letterman at Cony High and a two-sport letterman at Portland Junior College and Springfield College. He coached at Orono High (1953-61) and Westbrook (1961-87), winning state titles in four different sports.

Gardner was an all-state quarterback and leading scorer for four years on his basketball team at Sanford. He played three sports at Bowdoin before coaching football and baseball at Thornton Academy in Saco (1963-67) and Biddeford High (1969-71).

Slocum is the world age-group record holder in the indoor two-mile race at age 50 in 1971 and again in 2003 at age 83. He’s the holder of several national age-group records and a member of the New England 65-plus Running Hall of Fame.

Sturgeon was an All-Maine and Boston Globe All-New England defensive back at UMaine in 1951 who became an independent college football scout for Amherst (1958-68) and basketball official.

Graziano is a New York native who opened a restaurant in Lisbon and is a lifelong boxing enthusiast who acquired the largest selection of boxing memorabilia in Maine. He served as Maine Athletic Commissioner.