Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame will induct 20 new members
Lew Ford, Long Island Ducks manager, speaks during the team's Media Day at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Credit: James Escher
To honor their various contributions made to Suffolk County’s sports scene, the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame will induct 20 new members in its 2025 class later this month.
On May 29, the organization will host its annual induction ceremony at Flowerfield Celebrations in St. James, starting at 6 p.m. This year’s class is composed of Joe Amplo, John Brophy, Greg Delimitros, Kristine Fitzpatrick, Lew Ford, Dave Gardi, Danielle Henderson, Amy Linnen, Danny Mayo, Paul McDermott, Tony Melito, John Muckler, Mike Pfaff, AJ Price, Sam Ryan, Todd Schaffhauser, Kenny Wood, Howard Wood, Matias Ferreira and Carl Hansen. Connetquot High School’s wrestling program also is being inducted as a collective.
The list provides a diverse group of names, as not all of them are native Long Islanders, nor are all of them being inducted for their athletic prowess.
In Ryan’s case, she is an Emmy Award-winning sports anchor for WABC and previously worked at ESPN, CBS Sports and MLB Network. Ryan graduated from Sachem North in 1987.
She will join several of her role models who already have been inducted, such as Suzyn Waldman and Linda Cohn.
“There’s an irony because I was the kid with the doctor’s note who didn’t run the mile in high school because I have asthma and slight scoliosis,” Ryan said. “I wasn’t an athlete; I was in the marching band. But I always loved sports.
“From not knowing you could have a career in sports to then following the guidance of those role models to pursue this, and being here now, it is such a huge honor.”
This year not only is the 35th anniversary of the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame, it’s the 25th anniversary year of the Long Island Ducks baseball team. To honor the Ducks for their milestone, Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame director Chris Vaccaro wanted to induct multiple members of the current and past Long Island Ducks organizations.
For the baseball Ducks, Ford and Pfaff are being inducted. From the defunct Long Island Ducks minor-league hockey team that existed from 1959-73, two deceased players — Brophy and Muckler — will be immortalized.
Ford is in his second year as the Ducks’ manager and Pfaff is the team’s president and chief business officer. Ford, who spent parts of six seasons with the Minnesota Twins and part of 2012 with the Baltimore Orioles, was an outfielder for the Ducks for 13 non-consecutive seasons from 2009 through 2023. From 2014 through 2023, he was a player-coach for them. He is the franchise’s all-time hits leader with 1,036.
Ford, a Texas native, earned an American League MVP share in 2004 when he received a down-ballot vote after batting .299 with an .827 OPS as the Twins’ everyday leftfielder. For him, this induction ranks right up there with showing up on an MVP ballot.
“One of my first thoughts was that I’m a Long Islander now,” Ford said. “I’m really part of this community now. I really feel like this is home. This made it even more concrete, in a way.
“It was a big surprise,” he said with a laugh. “It’s really one of the top [achievements] because I’m not from here, so to be honored in this way is very special.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
Long Island's Own
