The Southern League Hall of Fame was an American baseball hall of fame which honored players, managers, coaches, umpires, owners, executives, and media personnel of the Southern League of Minor League Baseball for their accomplishments and/or contributions to the league and its teams. The Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 2014 and its last in 2020. A total of 45 people were inducted. It had no physical location, but plaques listing each year's inductees were placed in the league's office in Marietta, Georgia.
In July 2013, the Southern League Board of Directors met to determine the first members of the league's Hall of Fame class. They were to be inducted in 2014 in conjunction with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the league's foundation in 1964. Former league presidents Billy Hitchcock, Jim Bragan, and Don Mincher were unanimously selected. They and ten others, one chosen by each of the league's ten teams, were recognized as the inaugural Hall of Fame class at the 2014 Southern League All-Star Game in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Nomination and election methods varied in succeeding years. For the 2015 class, each team nominated up to three individuals for consideration. A 31-person voting committee of Southern League and Minor League Baseball personnel then narrowed the list to ten inductees, selecting one from each organization for induction. A tie vote for the Birmingham Barons' nominees resulted in the election of both Rollie Fingers and Frank Thomas. A Special Consideration Ballot was introduced that year, which allowed teams to nominate anyone who had made significant contributions to teams from the league's predecessors: the original Southern League (1885–1899) and Southern Association (1901–1961). Harmon Killebrew became the first inductee to be elected via the Special Consideration Ballot in 2015. A similar format was assumed in 2016, wherein each team and members of the voting committee submitted nominations but only the top three were chosen for induction by a 30-member voting committee. The size of the voting panel fluctuated from year to year: 20 members in 2017, 23 in 2018, and 34 in 2019. For 2020, the Hall of Fame committee endorsed a special proposal by league president Lori Webb to induct Frances Crockett Ringley, baseball's first female general manager. Following the 2020 season, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic before it began, Major League Baseball assumed control of Minor League Baseball. The Hall of Fame has since become dormant.
Sixteen Southern League Hall of Famers have also been inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: Sparky Anderson, Rollie Fingers, Tom Glavine, Roy Halladay, Trevor Hoffman, Reggie Jackson, Randy Johnson, Chipper Jones, Harmon Killebrew, Tony La Russa, Edgar Martínez, Willie Mays, Ryne Sandberg, Frank Thomas, Alan Trammell, and Larry Walker.
Inductees
+KeyYear The year of inductionPosition(s) The inductee's primary playing position or roleTeam(s) The team(s) for which the inductee was recognizedMethod Election methodBOD Board of DirectorsSCB Special Consideration Ballot or special proposalVC Voting committee Inductee is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
+InducteesYearNamePosition(s)Team(s)CareerMethod2020ManagerAsheville Tourists1968VC2018BroadcasterHuntsville Stars/Birmingham Barons1991–2024VC2014League presidentSouthern League1981–1994BOD2016Team president/ownerJacksonville Suns1985–2015VC2014Team president/ownerJacksonville Suns1984–2012VC2015Second basemanHuntsville Stars1989–1990VC2014General manager/ownerChattanooga Lookouts1995–2014VC2014OutfielderMobile BayBears1998VC2015CatcherKnoxville Smokies1993VC2019Team presidentChattanooga Lookouts1929–1965SCB2015PitcherBirmingham A's1967–1968VC2018Outfielder/managerMemphis Chicks/Birmingham Barons1980–1981, 1993–1995VC2018First basemanJacksonville Suns1984VC2017PitcherGreenville Braves1986VC2019PitcherKnoxville/Tennessee Smokies1997, 2001VC2014League presidentSouthern League1971–1980BOD2015PitcherChattanooga Lookouts1991–1992VC2014Team executiveHuntsville Stars1985–2014VC2014OutfielderMemphis Chicks1986VC2014OutfielderBirmingham A's1967VC2015PitcherJacksonville Expos1987VC2015ShortstopGreenville Braves1992VC2017OutfielderJacksonville Suns1998VC2015CatcherCarolina Mudcats1994–1995VC2015Third basemanChattanooga Lookouts1957–1958SCB2017Second baseman/managerBirmingham A's/Barons/Mobile A's/Knoxville Sox1965–1967, 1978VC2020Third basemanChattanooga Lookouts1985–1986VC2018OutfielderBirmingham Black Barons1948–1950SCB2014General manager/owner/league presidentHuntsville Stars/Southern League1985–2011BOD2014CatcherSavannah Braves1976VC2019First baseman/managerChattanooga Lookouts/Memphis Chicks1978–1982, 1987–1988VC2020General manager/ownerCharlotte O's1976–1987SCB2014ManagerTennessee Smokies2009VC2016Team president/ownerNashville Sounds1978–1984SCB2015First baseman/managerMemphis Chicks/Birmingham Barons/Chattanooga Lookouts1981–1983, 2004–2005, 2014VC2016ManagerJacksonville Suns2001, 2005–2008VC2020ManagerGreenville/Mississippi Braves2002–2005VC2015First basemanBirmingham Barons1990VC2014ShortstopMontgomery Rebels1976–1977VC2020BatboyMobile BayBears1998–2019SCB2014PitcherCarolina Mudcats1991, 1993VC2019OutfielderJacksonville Expos1987VC2016BroadcasterChattanooga Lookouts1989–presentVC2015ManagerMobile BayBears2011–2012VC2015Second basemanMontgomery Rebels1977VC
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