Bobby Cox keynote speaker for Baseball Meet the Team Dinner

By Matt Green

ROME -- The Shorter University baseball program's annual Meet the Team Dinner has always been a success, but this year's event will possess a Hall of Fame feel.

Legendary Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox will serve as the keynote speaker for the 5th Annual Shorter University Baseball Meet the Team Dinner, which is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 7 at 7 pm in the Darlington School Huffman Center.

Doors will open at 6 pm with a silent auction set to take place from 6 pm to 6:45 pm, but the highlight is undoubtedly the scheduled address by one of Major League Baseball's most celebrated ambassadors.

"With the Meet the Team Dinner in its fifth year, we continue to have great speakers on hand for our audience," said Shorter head baseball coach Matt Larry, who guided last year's Hawks to 40 wins. "Having Coach Bobby Cox, a definite Hall of Famer, speak at this year's dinner far exceeds any expectations that we had.

"Coach Cox was gracious enough to accept our invitation and we cannot wait to have him speak to the families of our players as well as all members of the Rome community that wish to attend."

One of the most revered figures in all of baseball, Cox retired in 2010 from a storied career that included 2,504 victories, five National League pennants, four Manager of the Year awards and a World Series title in 1995. Cox, who was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame on Aug. 12, 2011, led the Braves to a record 14 straight division titles from 1992-2005.

Cox remains beloved in the state of Georgia and throughout the baseball community. He will become eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.

The 5th Annual Meet the Team Dinner is a culmination of an exciting sequence of events in store for Shorter's baseball program over the next two months. Tickets for the Meet the Team Dinner are $30 individually or $250 for a table of eight. VIP tables are available for $500.

Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, Nov. 22 immediately following the ground breaking ceremony for Shorter's new batting cage. The ceremony commemorating the two-year long Batting Cage Campaign will begin at 10:30 am on Tuesday behind the centerfield fence at the Robert H. Ledbetter Baseball Complex located on campus.

"The ground breaking for the batting cage is a great compliment to what the baseball alumni and friends and family of Shorter Baseball have done in making this a reality," said Larry, noting that fundraising efforts will continue for the cages to provide the necessary accommodations. "Our ultimate goal is to have the cages covered so our players have a place to hit or throw during inclement weather, but we still have a long way to go.

"This is a huge step for completion," Larry added. "I cannot thank those involved enough for their support and loyalty to this program. With 60-plus players on the roster and the April tornados that leveled our existing cage, this is a facility the program desperately needs."

For information regarding both the ground breaking ceremony for the Batting Cage Campaign and tickets to the 5th Annual Meet the Team Dinner featuring guest speaker Bobby Cox, please contact Matt Larry at mlarry@shorter.edu or Rachel Rogers at rrogers@shorter.edu.