WWII Hero and NFL Hall of Famer Emlen Tunnell Honored in Radnor PA

On Saturday June 2nd Radnor township where team Phungo resides honored WWII Hero, NFL Hall of Famer, and Radnor HS Alum Emlen Tunnell with a statue at the local township building.

Emlen Statue Unveiled 2018 June 2

The Statue stands at local the township buildings entrance which also houses the Sports Hall of Fame for Delaware County.

Jennifer Frudakis-Petry 

The sculptor for the project was local artist Jennifer Frudakis-Petry who was on hand for the ceremony. Frudakis-Petry has done a number of Portrait Sculptures (busts) and Bas Reliefs including several sports artworks.

Her baseball commissions include a Bronze Bas-Relief at Atlantic City's Pop Lloyd Stadium that celebrates the history of the Negro Leagues

And Notable to Phillies fans she has worked as an assistant to Zenos Frudakis on the four Hall of Fame statues at Citizen's Bank Park (Schmidt, Ashburn, Robin Roberts, and Carlton).

Alongside the statue is a plaque summarizing Tunnell's career accomplishments.

Ceremony Speakers
The dedication featured a US Coast Guard Honor Guard with Coast Guard Commander William McKinstry as a featured speaker. McKinstry discussed Tunnell's tenure with the Coast Guard and how he saved lives of fellow Guardsmen on two different occasions. To read more about the ceremony please check Linda Stein's Delco Times column here.

Billy "White Shoes" Johnson

Sportswise the big name speaker was Billy "White Shoes" Johnson. And Yes..

He Still wears the White Shoes!

Other sports figures present included NFL former Vikings and Jets D-Coordinator Ted Cottrell, New York Giant Don Clune and Wisconsin Basketball Coach Bo Ryan.

The day was very well done with ceremonies lasting about 90 minutes. In addition to the Honor Guard presentation there was a terrific rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by Vanessa Howard. All the sports related folks gave great speeches with Ted Cottrell being particularly effective. He noted that many of today's players are "knuckleheads" and proposed that the NFL retired the #45 league-wide to honor the memory of Emlen Tunnell as both a hero and pioneer on and off the field.

Jim Vankoski is one of the driving figures behind the Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum and deserves recognition for dedication for creating a great space and putting together a terrific day to honor a legend.

Sources and Links
Delco Times - Linda Stein
Jennifer Frudakis
Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum

 

Where are they Now - Ben Davis

1995 Topps Traded #74T Ben Davis Draft Pick

I wanted to reference a recent article in our paper about former Padres catcher Ben Davis. Davis is from the Philadelphia area and was the 2nd overall pick in the 1995 draft. He spent parts of 7 seasons in the Majors with he Padres, Mariners, and White Sox.

Ben is still playing professionally but not at the Major League level - and not as a Catcher. Ben is trying to get back to the Majors as a Pitcher for the Camden Riversharks of the independent Atantic League.

One of Davis' Riversharks starts was even mentioned in Paul's Random Stuff.

The Ben Davis card above is his rookie card from the 1995 Topps Traded set which is an odd set due to the strike that ended the 1994 season. In addition to the many draft picks and other prospects in the set there is a solid group of veterans that changed clubs due to being unsigned during the strike.

1995 Topps Traded #74T Ben Davis Draft Pick (b-side)

It is interesting to get a look at the flip side of the Davis card. It features his high school batting numbers. Due to playing here in the northeast there is an incredibly small sample size of at-bats. I am sure that Davis played on many a travel team while learning his craft.

Best of Luck to Ben Davis. He was never a Phillie, but he is a local guy and this is a fun story to follow.