Story by
Bonita Wilborn
moc.letsremrafobfsctd@nrobliwatinob
On Saturday, March 30, 2024, three DeKalb County men were inducted into the Alabama ASA Hall of Fame during the annual induction ceremony held at the Belk Activity Center, Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Fort Payne’s Bill Cole, Henagar’s Danny Murdock, and Fort Payne’s Rick “Smut” Sutherland (posthumous) were all part of well-known men’s softball teams that dominated throughout the southeastern states during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
2024 Alabama ASA Hall of Fame Inductees
Johnny Bone – Slow Pitch – Southside
Butch Chandler – Modified Fast Pitch – Tuscaloosa
Bill Cole – Slow Pitch – Fort Payne
Ron Cordell (posthumous) – Coach – Gadsden
Kevin “Gator” Gillot – Slow Pitch – Jasper
Monty Guest – Slow Pitch – Solon
Danny Murdock – Slow Pitch – Henagar
Rick “Smut” Sutherland (posthumous) – Slow Pitch – Fort Payne
Billy Paul Williams – Slow Pitch – Alexander City
During the banquet, the DeKalb County men were honored with the following words:
Bill Cole – Slow Pitch Player
Bill Cole is best known for playing with the infamous Mean Machine slow-pitch team in the Fort Payne League for ten years. The Mean Machine, one of the most respected AASA teams, competed in the Major division of slow-pitch softball and then A Class team later. Bill was one of the team’s anchor players, starting at shortstop. The team won the Fort Payne League every year and participated in AASA State Tournament play every season. They won many district tournaments and one state tournament. They also finished state runner-up two other times. The Mean Machine won many AASA-sanctioned tournaments throughout Alabama and the southeastern states. Mean Machine was always a team other teams had to contend with in these tournaments. Defense was Bill’s specialty, making very few errors. However, he was also a great offensive player with a high batting average and hundreds of home runs. After the Mean Machine stopped playing as a team, Bill played with Moulton Furniture, which was one of the very best slow pitch teams in Alabama, and Sola Electric, a Class A Industrial team. Sola won 2 ASAA State Championships and always competed strongly in the District 4 AASA Tournaments and ASAA State Tournaments in which they participated.
Many of his teammates and opponents called him “Ozzie Smith” due to his defensive abilities. No doubt, Bill was one of Fort Payne’s finest and a most important player on the teams he played with. Bill was also an AASA umpire as well as an AHSAA official for many years.
Danny Murdock – Slow Pitch Player
Danny Murdock played AASA Softball for over 30 years. A lot of his career was with the well-known team Mean Machine, but he also played with the Moulton Furniture, which was one of the best slow-pitch teams in Alabama. Danny was a superb outfielder with very good defensive skills. He was not only a solid defensive player but was also a very good offensive player with a high batting average and hundreds of home runs throughout his career. During his outstanding career with the Mean Machine, the team participated in all District 4 Tournaments and qualified for the AASA State Tournament every year. In 1979, the team won the AASA Men’s Major State Championship. The Mean Machine also finished as state runner-up four times. At one time, a national poll had Mean Machine ranked as the 13th-best team in the nation. Another team Danny played on for three years was Sola Electric in the Industrial League.
While on this team, Sola Electric won the AASA Championship in 1993 and participated in two National Industrial Tournaments. During his career, Danny played all over the southeastern United States. Danny Murdock also played with his sister Claudette on one of the AASA’s best co-ed teams.
Rick “Smut” Sutherland (posthumous) – Slow Pitch Score Keeper
Rick “Smut” Sutherland was one of the most well-known batboys and scorekeepers in the history of Alabama ASA and perhaps the nation. He was the best-known individual on the Mean Machine Slow Pitch team of Fort Payne. Smut didn’t limit his scorekeeping and ‘bat-boying” as often he “coached” and helped the umpires.
Smut was known as one of the most charismatic individuals ever in AASA and one of the most loved. He was actually the batboy for two other teams for five years after the Mean Machine retired. He was with Sola Electric and then another very good team, Taxi. There is no doubt that Smut loved the action involved in softball. We wish Smut could be here with us tonight so he could experience how much he was appreciated and loved. Smut now joins the coach, whom we inducted last year and two of the Mean Machine players who are being inducted with him tonight.