Perkiomen Valley Twilight League Hall of Fame

2002-

Art Bustard - Entered the league as an outfielder for Skippack in 1946 and played until 1952 when an eye injury ended his paying days. He went on to be a pioneer in the reorganization of the Perkiomen Valley League into the current Perkiomen Valley Twilight League. Bustard owned and managed the Skippack franchise from 1953-75. He was the overseer of the franchise, frequently using his own funds to keep things afloat. He also was the driving force behind eliminating the five-mile rule for players to compete for a team and the forming of a franchise in Norristown.

George Hoffman – Played for Lansdale & Floyd Cash in the 1960’s. He then took ove the Ambler Franchise and moved it to North Wales. He was the long time overseer and also managed and owned the North Wales (now Nor-Gwyn) franchise from 1967-1990. After being out of action for years‚ at the age of 53‚ Hoffman pinch hit in a playoff game against Collegeville and delivered the game-winning hit. He died shortly after his North Wales defeated Norristown in the finals in 1990.

Vic Alderfer - Owned and operated Harleysville for 39 years‚ until 1993. He also worked behind the scenes as the league vice president and is currently the league treasurer and a former league VP. He is synonymous with the Harleysville franchise. After Franconia became Harleysville, Alderfer became overseer, owner and GM of the Hornets and guided their fortunes from 1955-1993, even managing the club from 1955-60. A devoted Perky man, Alderfer has seen Harleysville win league titles in 1957, 1959 and 1975.

Carl Wismer – he was a fabulous athlete at Souderon High School and had two try-outs with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Was a fixture in the league for 40 years. Affectionately known as “Wiz‚” Carl played for Souderton, Lansdale and Harleysville from 1960-1972 and managed Harleysville from 1968-1972. He was always known as the nicest guy in the league. After his playing days‚ he umpired in the Perky League for almost 30 years until his death in 2001.

Bob Arner - Played for Souderton from 1962-80. He won the pitching title in 1975 and led Souderton to three league championships. He started umpiring in 1982 and retired in 2006. Arner also pitched in the College World Series for Penn State University. He also coached Pennridge High School Baseball from1965-80.

Floyd Cash - Is known as “Mr. Baseball” in Lansdale. Cash managed the Lansdale Tigers from 1947 until his death in 1975. During that time‚ the Tigers won seven Perky playoff championships. He started out as a player in the 1920’s as a left-handed catcher. He took over the Lansdale franchise from his brother Tom. He was considered by many to be the greatest manager in Perky history.

Charlie Romanoski – Founded the Souderton Warriors shortly after WWII (1946) and played for the team from 1946-1957. He also managed the team from 1946-1980‚ winning three Perky League playoff championships. Romanoski continues to be involved in with the franchise today. Their home field is named after him – Romanowski Field.

Bob Strimel - Owned and managed Lower Gwynedd (now Ambler) for 20 years. He served as a volunteer in Lower Gwynedd baseball‚ including the youth leagues‚ and was Perky League president from 1995-1997. He was a table tennis champ and president of the Philadelphia Tennis Association even though he was born without a right hand.

2003-

Wils Kulp - Player (1948-73) and manager (1974-75) for 27 years with Collegeville. Was widely considered the greatest hitter to ever play in this league. He won four batting titles, several HR titles and in 1966, he captured the triple crown batting .494 with 9 HRs and 33 RBIs. He also was the MVP of the All-Star game that year. He took over the managerial reigns in 1974 and led Collegeville to the championship as they defeated North Wales in the finals in four games. Kulp retired suddenly and unceremoniously the following season. He finished out the year as manager. Kulp turned in his uniform that season, but his baseball career didn't end. He was the Collegeville team owner, head groundskeeper, financier and general manager well into the decade of the 80s. Talk about a guy who did it all, Wils would come to the park early, drag and line the field and then leave checks for the umpires. Everything was taken care of. He was always around to pick up the tab when we celebrated what became an annual rite of August - another championship party. He died in 2006 at the age of of 73. he had seasons with these incredible stats during his hey day in the 1960’s. 1962- .389 (1st); 1963- .430 (2nd); 1964- .398, 8 HRs (1st), 24 RBIs (1st); 1965- .333, 4 HRs (1st), 20 RBIs (1st); 1966- .494 (1st), 9 HRs (1st), 33 RBIs (1st); 1967- 2 HRs (1st); 1970 – .369 (2nd), 4 HRs (2nd).

Art Landis – Played for Franconia in 1948 and 1949 before they moved to Harleysville and then stayed with the Hornets pitching until 1978 (at the age of 48). He stayed with the team for three more pitching batting practice before finally retiring in 1981. During his stint in the Perky League, he won six pitching of the year trophies, turning in an 8-1 record in 1952, an 8-0 record in 1955, a 9-3 mark in 1957, a 14-2 record in 1961, an 8-1 season in 1966 and a 6-1 mark in 1968. He also finished second one year with a 13-2 record. He threw four no-hitters and accumulated 143 wins. He managed Harleysville to the Perky League Championship in 1975 as they defeated North Wales in the finals. He only took over managing because no one else would do it.

Tony Cianciulli - Owner of the Norristown A’s franchise (1980-2007) that has won seven straight titles. He brought back Norristown as a league franchise in 1981 after many years of not having a team. He was a great GM and he went out and got the best players to help his team win. This was evident in the fact that in the 29 years has been the owner, the A’s have been to the finals 22 of those years winning 15, including a league record 7 in a row from 1996-2002 in which the team had a 215-36-5 record including playoffs.

Jesse Hodges – Was one of the most imposing physical specimens and feared slugger for Lower Gwynded (now Ambler) in the 1970s and 1980s. He spent two tours of duty in Viet-Nam and was Green Beret. He led the league in home runs in 1986 for Lower-Gywnded belting out 13 homers along with 31 RBIs and also had a .375 average.

2004-

Dave Kurtz – Was called the “Babe Ruth” of the Perky League. He played in the Perky League from 1972-99 with Collegeville and then came out of retirement to lead the Norristown A’s to two straight titles in 2001-02 before retiring for good. He racked up 18 championships and two batting titles in his career. Playing for both the Collegeville and Norristown (’01-’02) organizations‚ Kurtz was a four-time playoff MVP and a 13-time All-Star.

Randy Kurtz - Began his prosperous Perky League career with Dave in 1972‚ will now enter the Hall Of Fame alongside his younger brother. After spending his opening year (1972) with the old Perkiomen Township‚ Randy moved on to Collegeville in 1973‚ where he won 12 championships – nine of which were as a player/manager. Randy collected two batting titles and was an 11-time All-Star. He batted .509 in 1985.

Ed Seiple - Was a teammate of the Kurtzes‚ playing for Collegeville from 1975-1989. The team went to the finals 14 of the 15 years that Seiple played. Seiple’s continual production and exceptional defense at the short stop position landed him in several All-Star games. He was a lifetime .346 hitter with an on base percentage of .426.

Ron Moorehead - Entered the league as a member of the Collegeville team‚ but switched over to Skippack during that season to get more playing time. It proved to be a great move for Moorehead‚ who became a five-time all star and the 1980 league MVP during his tenure. With Moorehead as their leadoff hitter and centerfielder‚ Skippack went to the finals four times‚ and won the championship in 1982. he was named to the all-league team 5 times.

2005-

Alex DiNolfi - Played his entire 17 year career with the Norristown A's from 1981-1997. Known for his excellent speed and defensive instincts as the premier centerfielder in the league; he was a natural Doubles Hitter and recurrent number two hitter. He never won a batting title. But was always on the top-10, coming in second in 1990 (.462). He batted over .400 four times and led Norristown to 10 league championship series, winning 4 of them.

Vince Elsier – He started out as a crafty pitcher for Skippack before heading over to be a player/manager for Harleysvlle up until 1988. He was named to replace Bill Leggieri as Manager of the Norristown A's in 1989, a position he held from 1989-2005, except the 1995 when the A’s merged with the Lansdale Tigers and Bob Altieri took over the managerial reigns for the transition year before Elsier came back in 1997 When he retired as Manager of the A's after the 2005 championship win, he was the winningest coach in Perky League History with 579 wins. Led A's to record seven straight Perky League Championships.

Gregg Vermeesch - Played 14 seasons and won 11 championships from 1977-1990 with the Collegeville Colonels (Collegians). A consummate number three hitter who combined high batting averages with run-producing power. He led the league in home runs half a dozen times, was named an All-Star more times than he can remember and won the league batting title in 1981 (.492). He also set the league HR record in in 1985 with 13 that stood well into the 1990’s. In 1978, had 11 RBIs in a single game (3 HRs, 2 of them grand Slams).

2006-

Alan Frick – Played for Charlie Romaonwski at Souderton from 1971 to 1988, His rookie year (1971) with the Warriors was his finest, hitting .418 at the plate, leading the league in batting in addition to being named as the Perky League MVP. He never hit below .300 at the plate, winning playoff championships with the Warriors in 1972 and 1976. he became a player/coach towards the end of his career. He is now an umpire for both the Suburban One and Pioneer Athletic Conference leagues. Al is also a member of the Tri-County Baseball Hall of Fame where he won two batting titles and had a .405 career average playing for Perkasie (1991 inductee).

Paul Dewey Goetter – He was a player/manager for Lansdale for 19 years. Was an outstanding defensive third-basemen and also a great pitcher. Lansdale won six titles (1960, 62, 65, 67, 68, 69) during his playing days. He was third in the league in batting in 1967 (.375) and then went on to win the league MVP award in 1970 going 9-3 as a pitcher and then won the Pitcher of the year award the following year in 1971 with an 8-1 record. He took over the managerial reigns in 1976 after Floyd Cash died and managed up to and including the 1978 season before retiring.

2007-

Ed Butch Denczi – Was one of the original Norristown A's that played in their first season (1980). Started out as the shortstop and then moved to catcher. He played for the A’s from 1980-84, then signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates right before the Perky season and played minor league ball in 1984-85. He re-joined the A’s in 1986 becoming one of the premier power hitters in the league. He won the league’s triple crown in 1987 (.475, 11 HRs, 41 RBIs). After sitting out the 1989 season with severe back problems, he came back in 1990 to lead the league in home runs with 11 (he also batted .409 and drove in 40 runs). He stayed with the A’s and finished up his career in 1996 as a first basemen.

Charlie Prediger – Pitched for the Lansdale Tigers right out of North High School in 1965 (4-0 record) and 1966 (5-0 record). Then signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox and played in their farm system up until 1972. He came back to the Perky League and played with Harleysville up until 1983 and then joined the Collegeville franchise and became part of their 1980’s championship dynasty pitching up until his early 40’s.