Joe Frank Wheeler gone but never to be forgotten
Published on February 24, 2010 under United League Baseball (ULB)
Amarillo Dillas News Release
AMARILLO, TX - The Amarillo Dillas Baseball Club held a formal press conference this afternoon officially unveiling the "Joe Frank Wheeler Scholarship Award" in memory and honor of their late stadium address announcer. Under the scholarship award, two area student-athletes will be selected based on a number of criteria including leadership among peers, influence in the community, and performance on the athletic field and in the classroom.
Opening Day 2009 was to be a celebration of the Dillas repeat as United League Champions and the start of Joe Frank Wheeler's fourteenth season as the "Voice of the Dillas", but just hours before he was set to welcome fans into their seats for inauguration of another summer of baseball, the ever-popular Wheeler passed away from a massive heart attack while putting the finishing touches on the stadium's sound system. That night the announcer's booth that Wheeler occupied for well over a decade went dark and the game went without sound, in honor of their late friend and colleague.
Joe Frank left behind a love for his family, friends, sports, and education. A die-hard Dodgers' fan, Wheeler enjoyed most sports but his true love could be found inside the walls of a baseball stadium. Wheeler exuded everything that is right about the game of baseball seemingly never a bad day to be had, as long as it involved baseball.
With the start of Major League Baseball's spring training last week it only seemed fitting to celebrate a life, that longed for the day that pitchers and catchers reported, with today's announcement. "Joe Frank (Wheeler) truly loved spring training because it signified the start of another season of baseball and because it meant that our (Dillas) season was just around the corner", Dillas General Manager Mark Lee said. "He was a great supporter of high school athletics and believed deeply in the power of education, so it was only appropriate to combine both into the scholarship awards".
The Joe Frank Wheeler Scholarship Award recipients will include a male and female student-athlete representing the sport of baseball and softball, respectively. The annual award will be conducted through nominations submitted by area high school coaches that will then be reviewed by a committee, consisting of several Dillas' staff and select local media members, to determine winners.
Prior the Dillas home game on Saturday, June 19, the selected recipients will be presented with the award during a special on-field pre-game ceremony. Along with the monetary scholarship each winner will receive a bronze casted microphone statue as part of their achievement.
By April 15th the Amarillo Dillas will email two scholarship nomination forms to the Principal and Athletic Director of each high school in the Texas Panhandle ranging from as far north as Booker and as far south to Plainview and every school in-between, stretching east and west to the Texas border. Nomination acceptance will begin Monday, May 17 and will close June 10. Submission criteria and instructions will be included in the April email.
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