Southaven’s Tatum named Charlie Lea award recipient
The Pacific Coast League’s Memphis Redbirds recently awarded Southaven High School pitcher Vance Tatum with the Charlie Lea Award at AutoZone Park.
Tatum, recognized on the field during an Aug. 3 pregame ceremony, led the Chargers to the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A state championship as a senior, going 9-1 with a 0.98 ERA, 98 strikeouts, and 16 walks. The lefthander is attending Mississippi State and will be playing baseball for the Bulldogs this spring.
The annual Charlie Lea Award recognizes the top high school pitcher from the Memphis area in honor of former Redbirds broadcaster and Montreal Expos pitcher Charlie Lea, who died Nov. 11, 2011.
The five finalists nominated for the award were Tatum, John Wesley Ray from Christian Brothers High School, Shane Lantigua from Bartlett H igh School, Brandon Hicks from Collierville High School and Jordan Rodgers from Memphis University School.
A selection committee familiar with Memphis high school baseball nominated the final candidates for the award. The committee consisted of Commercial Appeal prep sports reporter John Varlas, Bartlett High School head baseball coach Phil Clark, Arlington High School head baseball coach Chris Ring, MUS head baseball coach Johnny Beard and CBHS head baseball coach Buster Kelso. After naming the nominees, the committee voted on the winner. A sixth vote was conducted by the general public through memphisredbirds.com.
Lea grew up in Memphis, was a graduate of Kingsbury High School and attended Ole Miss, Shelby State Community College, and Memphis State University. Lea was selected in June 1978 draft by the Montreal Expos, finding himself back in Memphis to play for the Double-A Memphis Chicks. He pitched eight years in the majors, and tossed a no-hitter with the Expos on May 10, 1981 in a 4-0 win over San Francisco in the second game of a doubleheader at Olympic Stadium.
At the end of the first inning on opening night — April 13, 2012 — a retired microphone was displayed below the radio booth in remembrance of Charlie Lea’s life and the 11 wonderful years spent broadcasting for the Redbirds, the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.