Huntington, West Virginia – 55 years have come and gone since a young Baseball coach at Marshall University ventured to a little town in West Virginia in search of a catcher for his Thundering Herd.

Even today, Sophia has a population of just over 1,100 , so the first question is how did Jack Cook even know about a high school Kid named Joe Goddard?

Coach Cook didn’t have a home field ( that didn’t change until 2024) back then but he clearly had an eye for talent. He bagged his backstop that day and took him back to Huntington.

In just two seasons of playing for the Thundering Herd, Goddard established himself in a manner that led the relatively new at the time, San Diego Padres to draft him in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball ⚾️ Draft.

Goddard remained the highest draft pick in the history of the program until 2013. Just as fast as Joe was noticed, he made it all the way to the Show in less than two years. For 67 magical days in 1972, Goddard shared the batters box with true legendary players such as 🔨 Hammering Hank Aaron.

Goddard made a name for himself back then because of the depth of his understanding of the game of Baseball. Most folks believe that the Catcher is required to think at a level beyond any other position and Joe was living proof.

The Padres were just getting started and their vision was to have Joe stay in their system and eventually Manage for them,  possibly at the MLB level one day.

The club made a managerial change just 11 games into the season and turned the team over to some other young fella named Don Zimmer. Zim didn’t have much success back then but would go on to have a tremendous career and later was tagged with the nickname, Popeye. The Padres, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers and finally the Chicago Cubs were all led by Zimmer.

Zimmer thought Joe had a future at the highest level but when it was time to hang up the spikes just a few years later, Goddard passed on the professional game and returned to Huntington and finished his college degree.

The next stop ✋ on the trail is where the story really goes to another level. Degree in hand, Joe returned home and started a Baseball program at a new School 🏫 that was built just 2 miles from his hometown.

36 years of teaching and coaching, instead of staying in Pro Ball…..

Marshall University inducted Joe into their Hall of Fame back in 2015 and today one of their favorite Sons returns to Huntington as a Golden Bears 🐻 Baseball Bench Coach. 75 years old and still married to Angela and still teaching both life lessons and Baseball…

Here is a link to more of the Joe Goddard story that I penned a few years back and was picked up by a few publications across West Virginia and Virginia

Joe Goddard is a living legend and I was blessed to try to pen 🖊 his story

Chris Graham at the Augusta Free Press:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://augustafreepress.com/news/joe-goddard-literally-built-this-field-of-dreams/&ved=2ahUKEwiW96Pst-qSAxVs5MkDHcxPJM8QFnoECB8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw14I4z3xN37mXq7xWLOn9wa

I will sum things up by saying that I am a better person today because of having Joe Goddard be a part of my life !

In a few hours it will be my privilege to honor him again, at a ballpark named for the Coach who ” discovered ” Joe a lifetime ago !