About the Home Plate Club: Established in 1956, the Home Plate Club has served the greater Washington, D.C. area as an advocate and tool for the local baseball community. Making a return this year for its 56th annual banquet, the HPC has inducted dozens of coaches and players since forming its Sandlot Hall of Fame in 1970 and has created several annual awards to honor the efforts of those in the local baseball community.
Awards & Hall of Fame Banquet
Banquet Info: On Sunday, April 2 at 6:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Dulles and co-sponsored by the Home Plate Club and NOVA Baseball Magazine, the Awards & Hall of Fame Banquet will honor the top teams and players from throughout Northern Virginia and will induct three Class of 2017 members into the Home Plate Club's Sandlot Hall of Fame. Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier from 106.7 The Fan's 'Grant & Danny Show' will serve as emcees for the evening, and local product and former MLB pitcher Mike Wallace will serve as the keynote speaker. In addition to the induction of the Hall of Fame members, awards presented at the banquet include the 'Ron Tugwell NOVA Nine Coach of the Year', the 'Bob Menefee Man of the Year', the 'NOVA Nine Player of the Year', the 'Jake Jacobs Lifetime Achievement Award', the NOVA Baseball Magazine's Teams of the Year, and other members of the baseball community recognized for outstanding accomplishments on and off the diamond.
Banquet Hosts: Serving as hosts for this year's banquet are: Ron Tugwell, the President of the Home Plate Club; Rob Hahne, the Vice President of the Home Plate Club; and Joey Kamide, the Editor & Publisher of NOVA Baseball Magazine. Additionally, three presenters to be announced will introduce the Hall of Fame inductees, as well a presenter for our keynote speaker.
Purchase Banquet Tickets
We have 280 seats and 230 tickets available for the banquet, which will sell out quickly. Tickets are $75, and can be purchased at the link here. Buy yours today!
Kyle's Kamp Fundraiser
A silent auction of baseball equipment and memorabilia along with a 50/50 raffle will be held during the banquet to benefit Kyle's Kamp, which raises funds and awareness for children's pediatric cancer.
Banquet Emcees
Grant Paulsen
At just 28, Grant Paulsen has established himself as one of the top sports media personalities in the Washington D.C. area. His passion for the profession began in the fourth grade, and while in middle school, he appeared on the ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ and served as Letterman’s correspondent during the 2002 Super Bowl in New Orleans. This while becoming a fixture breaking down local teams on WUSA Channel 9’s ‘Ken and The Kid’ sports show with Ken Broo. A graduate of George Mason University, he became the 106.7 The Fan’s beat reporter for the Washington Redskins in 2010, and has covered the team in some capacity now for 18 years. Paulsen was recently named the play-by-play commentator for the Washington Valor, an expansion Arena Football League franchise that begins play this year.
Danny Rouhier
Danny Rouhier has local baseball roots dating back to his early playing days in the McLean Little League prior to a playing career at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. He then went on to play at George Washington University and during the summer months in the Northern Virginia-based Clark Griffith Collegiate Baseball League. Rouhier, dubbed locally as ‘Funny Danny’, began his career as a standup comedian following college, appearing at such venues as Caroline's on Broadway, The DC Improv, the Funnybone comedy clubs and at festivals in Boston, Detroit, Seattle and Washington, D.C. A long-time D.C. sports fan, his weekly videos about the Washington Redskins garnered several hundred thousand views and helped paved the way for his second career in sports radio.
Click here to tune in to the 'Grant & Danny Show' weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Keynote Speaker
Mike Wallace
A graduate of James Madison High School in Vienna, Mike Wallace was a fourth round draft selection of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1969 and went on to pitch for five seasons in the Major Leagues with four teams - the Phillies, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers - before retiring from professional baseball in 1979. He compiled a 3.91 ERA while pitching in 117 games over his career, and his best season came in 1974, when he went 7-0 with a 2.82 ERA in 31 games with the Phillies and Yankees. Wallace pitched the Warhawks to two state championship games, tossing a complete game as they won the 1968 state final. He would finish his prep career with a 28-4 record, striking out 347 with a 0.97 ERA over his final two seasons at Madison. He currently works as a baseball analyst with MASN-TV, appearing as a regular alongside Phil Wood on 'Nats Talk' and on the 'Mid-Atlantic Sports Report'. Wallace, who spent a dozen years as the pitching coach with the Vienna Senators of the now-defunct Clark Griffith Collegiate Baseball League, resides in Fauquier County.
