The publisher, Chancellor Publications, Inc.,
has published these Books for Babe Ruth League
since 1998 and there have been editions for the
years of 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
These books were created by Chancellor Publications
in order to honor the outstanding players in Babe
Ruth League. Selection of players for inclusion
in these books is primarily based upon those players
who have been named to their league "All-Star"
teams for tournament competition. We believe that
this is the fairest method of selection because,
for the most part, the most outstanding players
in Babe Ruth League are those players who in fact
have been selected at the local league level to
represent their league in tournament competition.
The inclusion of any player in any of these Books
does not obligate the player of the parents to
purchase the Book, nor is there any cost of obligation
whatsoever to have any such player included in
any edition.
The only requirement
to be included in any edition is that the player
or the player's family complete the Player Data
Form which is sent to the family by the publisher.
The families to whom such notification of selection
and data forms are sent are the families of those
players listed on All-Star rosters which are sent
by the leagues to Babe Ruth League headquarters.
Or course, the families have the option to purchase
any edition. We can tell you that all of the families
which have purchased an edition have been extremely
pleased with the concept of these Books. Not only
are the families and the players happy to have
been honored by being included in the Book, but
they also enjoy having such a beautiful keepsake.
The Books themselves are beautifully done with
richly grained hard covers and beautiful stamping.
In addition to biographical sketches and photographs
of the honored players, the prior editions had
contributing commentaries from baseball notables
such as Tommy Lasorda, Alex Fernandez and Charles
Johnson.
Another noteworthy aspect of these Books is that
Chancellor Publications, Inc. has arranged for
the inclusion of these Books in the library and
archives of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
and Museum in Cooperstown. These Books have become
a permanent part of the collection of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame's library and archives.
One of the founders of Chancellor Publications,
Inc. is Ron Fraser. Ron Fraser retired as 30-year
Head Coach of the University of Miami Baseball
team in 1992, where he has a building and a street
named in his honor. During his tenure as the manager
of the Hurricanes, he compiled a career record
of 1271 wins and only 438 losses, retiring as
the winnigest active college baseball coach in
America. His teams won National Championships
in 1982 and 1985. The title in 1982 was the first
National Championship in any team sport won by
any NCAA Division 1 school in the State of Florida.
A few of his notable college accomplishments are
named Collegiate Baseball's "Coach of the Decade"
for the 1980s; inducted into seven Halls of Fame;
named Coach of the Year 24 times; and made 12
College World Series appearances. In addition
to his college coaching career, Ron Fraser was
also a top international amateur coach. He coached
the Dutch National Baseball Club in the Netherlands
(1960-62, 1974) winning three European Championships.
He was the coach of the only USA team to win a
World Baseball Championship (1974), and the only
American ever to be named International Coach
of the Year, which he did twice (1974 & 1988).
In 1987, he led the United States Pan American
Team to a Silver Medal and was named the Head
Coach of the first official USA Olympic Baseball
Team in Barcelona, Spain in 1992.
Since Coach Fraser's retirement, he has remained
in baseball as a special advisor to the Los Angeles
Dodgers and the Florida Marlins organizations,
as a TV "color" analyst, and as a motivational
speaker.
Babe Ruth League is very honored to have been
selected by Coach Fraser as a featured league
in these wonderful Books.
As indicated, these Books are an annual event,
so every year the families of the players selected
for that year's editions will receive notification
from Chancellor Publications, Inc. of their selection.
These mailings to the parents will, as we said
before, be based upon the names of players included
in local league "All-Star" rosters. So, if you
are a player or a member of a player's family
who has been included in any such local league
"All-Star" team for tournament competition, make
sure that your local league's "All-Star" roster
is sent in to Babe Ruth League headquarters.
