SUBMITTED BY TOM BRADY, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT FOR ATHLETICS 

On April 15, 2023, the All Saints Club hosted an exclusive Chalk Talk speaker series event called Thomas More Baseball Past to Present featuring four of the University’s baseball legends. The event served as a good connecting point to the present as the Chalk Talk was held at Thomas More Stadium in Florence, the new home for Thomas More University baseball. 

The Chalk Talk panelists included George “Cubby” Lyon ’51, Jeff Hetzer, Bobby Young ’87, and former professional baseball great David Justice. Lyon claims the distinction of being a member of the first Thomas More baseball team as well as hitting the first home run in the program’s history. Hetzer, who served as the baseball coach for nearly 20 seasons and is the current associate director of athletics for the Saints, is the winningest coach in program history. The final two panelists were teammates and have remained best friends over the years. Young and Justice played together at Thomas More in the late ’80s with Justice playing three years at Thomas More before being drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 4th round of the Major League draft. During his professional career, Justice was a three-time All-Star and appeared in seven World Series, winning twice. 

The Chalk Talk received great exposure through the University’s media partnership with 700 WLW. Justice appeared on air on Sports Talk with Lance McAllister (700 WLW) and Mo Egger on ESPN 1530 and provided some great stories of his time at Thomas More as well as in the Major Leagues. One interesting footnote includes Justice speaking about how he was recruited to play basketball by the late Jim Connor. His interest in playing baseball was mainly to avoid the running involved with pre-basketball season conditioning. Justice did not play baseball in high school as the sport was not offered. It is a true testament to his athletic ability that after playing three years collegiately, he was able to transition to the highest levels of competition in the Major Leagues. 

In addition to appearing at the All Saints Club Chalk Talk, Justice spoke with the baseball team before the Saints took the field for a double-header versus the University of the Cumberlands (KY). Justice and Young performed the honor of throwing out the first pitch, posed for pictures with seniors (it was their day), and after the contest started, met and interacted with fans during the Saints games. 

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