Atlanta honors its hall of famers

History came alive for Butch Owen when Atlanta schools honored five athletes Friday night with induction into the school district’s first athletic hall of fame.

Owen remembered his grandfather Hub Northen (1897-1947).

“It’s been 105 years, but there he is,” Owen said as he looked up at the black granite plaque on the wall of the entryway to Rabbit Football Stadium, the home of these and future hall of famers.

“All he did was play baseball. At age 15, he had a contract with a Monroe baseball team. Then in 1912, he was with the Brooklyn Dodgers,” Owen said. “And here, he and Bear Allday built the first Atlanta baseball field where the fire department is now. Baseball was everything for him.”

Owen was 3 when his grandfather died, so Northen’s hall of fame membership gives his grandson another way of being close to his grandfather. Owen retired from Dallas and moved here three years ago. He joined about 70 other family members of the five inductees in ceremonies Friday night at the Atlanta Rabbit vs. Pleasant Grove football game.

With the awards reaching back more than a century, the moments brought memories for families and friends of the following inductees:

■ major league baseball player Hub Northen, 1886-1947;

■ the Rabbits’ first coach, for whom they were named, Ed Rabb, 1893-1975;

■ the football team’s first star, Louis Franklin “Bear” Allday, 19051984;

■ New England Patriots hall of famer Jimmie Lee “Earthquake” Hunt, 1938-1975;

■ four-time state distance champion Sarah Haydel Carter.

Staff photos by Neil Abeles Butch Owen looks fondly at his grandfather Hub Northen’s plaque and those of other Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame inductees. “It took 105 years, but there he is,” Owen said.

■ Clockwise from top right: The plaque states Hubbard Northen “entered baseball pro ranks in 1908 and played through 1924.” ■ After a stellar 12-year career with the New England Patriots, Jimmie Lee “Earthquake” Hunt’s jersey was retired. Today in Boston, there is a Jim Lee Hunt Park. ■ Inductee Sarah Haydel Carter’s four gold medals in distance running in the 1990s remain the best performance at state level for a female Atlanta competitor. ■ The rest of the enscription states Louis Allday “went on to play for Centenary College in the late 1920’s helping lead them to an undefeated season with wins over SMU, Baylor, Rice, TCU and Texas A&M.” ■ To open their 1923 season, the Atlanta players dropped the mascot “Wolves” and named the team “Rabbits” in honor of their first coach.