The Imperial Valley Baseball Network will be inducting two new members into its Hall of Fame and honoring them with a dinner.
The organization recognizes individuals who have “contributed in the development of baseball in our community,” said IVBN president Ruben Niebla. “The people we honor have either impacted our youth by coaching and/or volunteering their time.”
Past honorees have included Elmer Belcher, Ruben Canche, Bob Elliott, Doug Harvey, “Babe” Henry, “Lefty” Martin, Dave Middleton, Paul Serna, Eddie White, and Fred Yturralde. This year, Henry Beltran and Rudy Seánez will be joining the ranks of this distinguished group.
Henry Beltran
For anyone who knows Henry Beltran, his induction may seem to them as a long time coming. With 34 years of coaching under his belt, validated by two Little League and six Babe Ruth championships won between 1979 and 1994, the man lives and breathes baseball.
The honoree himself was caught off-guard, however, when Niebla called on New Year’s Eve and informed him of the IVBN’s decision to induct him as a member of the class of 2013.
“It was surprising, to be honest,” said Beltran. “I had absolutely no idea. You know, for someone who started off coaching Little League and Babe Ruth like me, this is a great honor. I’m very humbled by it.”
In addition, he has been volunteering as an assistant baseball coach at Calexico High since 1994. Somehow, the 62-year-old Vietnam War veteran also finds time to play on a local, over-60 veterans’ baseball team, a continuation of the few seasons he spent playing Mexicali League ball with some “service buddies” back in the 1970s.
“I still get a kick out of it,” he said.
Rudy Seánez
Rudy Seánez is a Brawley Union High alum who went on to become a relief pitcher in the MLB.
Drafted out of high school by the Cleveland Indians in 1986, he made his major league debut in 1989 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
He pitched two scoreless innings in that 17-9 loss. In 2008, after two decades as a professional, he won his first World Series ring as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. He retired two years later.
Seánez has a career 41-30 record, as well as an earned run average of 4.10. He also struck out 574 batters. He owns and runs Seánez Sports Academy, a fully-equipped training facility in Imperial.
He could not be reached for comment.
The dinner will be held at the Eagles Lodge in El Centro at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 21. Dinner donations will be $20 and all proceeds will go toward the Fred Yturralde Scholarship Program, which recognizes top student-athletes in the Imperial Valley. Also honored will be the IVBN 18-under boys’ baseball team which finished third in the annual Cecil Fielder Elite World Series on New Year’s Eve in Yuma.
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