Collins brothers inducted into Troy Baseball Hall of Fame

Troy head coach Bobby Pierce had waited eight years to suggest a name for the Troy Baseball Hall of Fame.

This year, he had two: brothers Terry and Shannon Collins.

The Collins brothers, who graduated from Dothan High and run the ScreenTech Stadium Store, have been longtime supporters of baseball in the Wiregrass and, as Troy alums, Trojan athletic and university events.

“I don’t know that I could really fully explain what all they have done for us,” Pierce said. “For eight years I really haven’t brought a name forward. I took my first shot bringing forward their names. When I went through the resume of why I felt like they were deserving candidates, it didn’t take long to get a unanimous vote. They’re so deserving of the honor that I felt great about how it went about with no opposition.”

In 2001, the Collins brothers led the charge to bring a college baseball tournament to the Wiregrass, as the ScreenTech Wiregrass Classic was born. Troy hosted the event, which was played at Northcutt Field, before it ended after the 2008 season because the NCAA shortened the college baseball season.

The Collins brothers tried just about every team in the country. Popular name schools to come through include Wake Forest, Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Penn State.

“The nicest rejection I got was from (legendary Mississippi State coach) Ron Polk,” Shannon Collins said.

Every time Pierce would go to a coaches’ convention, he’d hear from other coaches — some who have never played anywhere close to Dothan — about the ScreenTech tournament.

“Ron Polk, (legendary Wichita State coach) Gene Stephenson, guys like that,” Pierce said. “The reason that the word travels and people knew is because of the Southern hospitality and the red carpet treatment.”

Life for the Collins family took a sharp turn almost a year ago, as Terry Collins was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease that is caused by the degeneration of motor neurons.

The diagnosis came a day before Thanksgiving for Terry, 54, who played in the Boston Red Sox minor league system as a pitcher and coached baseball at Ashford and Dothan High. A tearful and emotional holiday followed, but the day after, Terry decided to fight the disease head on.

ScreenTech was having a warehouse sale the next day, and he showed up with a smile on his face and the same caring attitude that he and Shannon, 47, have shown to people throughout their lives.

“Friday morning I came in this office and said to heck with this junk, I’m going out there,” Terry said. “It was the best thing that could have happened. I started seeing people that didn’t know (about the diagnosis) and I didn’t want them to know, but it was great to get out there.”

Thanks to heavy support from his wife, Judy, his family, including Shannon, and the staff at ScreenTech, Terry is at work every day at 7 a.m. and usually there till 5 p.m. The disease has weakened his legs so that he must use a walker, but not his spirit.

“I told somebody I cut back,” Terry said. “It was 6 (a.m.) to 6 (p.m.). Now it’s 7 to 5. As long as I can work, I’m going to work. It keeps me occupied and keeps me busy. We still have a lot of opportunities at ScreenTech that we’re trying to see through.”

Said Shannon, “That’s the way he’s always been. He’s a positive guy and a focused guy.”

The two were inducted into the Troy Baseball Hall of Fame Oct. 24. When Terry made his way to the podium, what followed was a speech that left no dry eyes. Though a devoted Red Sox fan, he reflected back to the speech that Gehrig, a famous New York Yankees player, told a crowd at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, that despite his bad break, he considered himself the “luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

“All I could think about when I went up there was what Lou Gehrig said 60 years ago and that’s about all I could say,” Terry said. “You can call it ironic with Lou Gehrig playing baseball and me being an old baseball guy, but I think back to his famous speech. I’m real lucky.”
No one could follow that up, Shannon said.

“The most important thing for me is going in with Terry,” Shannon said. “If I could say what’s the most meaningful to me, I mean that.”

Earlier this summer, Shannon, who is seven years younger than Terry, arranged a trip for the two to Fenway Park in Boston for a Red Sox game. What he didn’t tell him was that he arranged a private tour for them to take to the top of the famous Green Monster, a 37-foot wall in left field.

“The man was sitting on the monster in left field,” Shannon said. “You saw the biggest beaming smile you’ve ever seen. If there’s a better view in professional baseball than that one, I want to see it.”

Since the diagnosis, Terry and Shannon have been trying to raise ALS awareness while taking on the disease. They participated in an ALS walk in Vestavia Hills with a team from Dothan called the Dothan Dreamers, and have plans for a walk in Dothan this spring.

“I am who I am,” Terry said. “I’m not a saint but I am a Christian. God has helped me a lot. I feel the power of prayer. When people tell me they’re praying for me, I thank them because I do feel that. (Motivation comes from) people around me and life in general. It’s the passion and motivation within you. I’ve always had a competitive spirit.”