Athletic Hall of Fame names 2026 class of inductees

MADISON – One of the most diverse lineups in the history of the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame, ranging from Olympics to Major League Baseball, the NFL to bowling, has been announced among the Class of 2026.

Among the dozen named to the Class of 2026 is current Madison resident and former Major League Baseball player Jeffrey Hammonds. The now 54-year old business owner and longtime entrepreneur had a 13-year career in baseball among six teams with his best season in 2000 with the Colorado Rockies where he was named to the National League All-Star Team.

“Very humbling,” said Hammonds, of his being included to the local Athletic Hall of Fame. “This honor is just not me, but from the things I have learned from my father and the families I met through the years. They all contributed to my community work.”

Hammonds made his way to North Alabama in 2011 with his wife, Keisha, and their three children, to be near his mother and father who were originally from the immediate area only to return in 2003. Hammonds added, “Through my life I decided I needed some mentorship from my father. Home is where the family lives. My older brother lives in nearby Trinity.”

Hammonds has spent much of his time in Madison helping with hundreds of local baseball players including intense assistance with Bob Jones, James Clemens and Madison Academy baseball programs. “One of the areas I help young players is how to handle failures and how to navigate life,” he added.

Two of the 12 new inductees will join siblings in the Hall of Fame, both of whom played at Johnson High. They are former Grambling wide receiver Jerry Gordon (brother Dwight Scales was in- ducted in 2025) and former Auburn All-America tackle and Green Bay Packer Donnie Humphrey (Gwen Humphrey, Class of 2022).

The other members are track standout and former Olympian Toyin Augustus, football official David Bell, sportswriters Mark Bechtel and Reggie Benson, Butler High basketball great Dee Cummings, former NFL standout and Alabama A&M head football coach Anthony Jones, UAH softball All-American Stephanie Pinto, Alabama A&M bowling star Whitney Smith Boggus and former Johnson, Auburn and NFL linebacker and long-time coach James Willis.

Hammonds, a New Jersey native who has made his home in Madison County for nearly 15 years, was an All-American at Stanford and played for the U.S. Olympic team in 1992. A first-round draft choice of the Baltimore Orioles, he went on to have a .272 batting average with 110 homers, 423 RBIs and 67 stolen bases. He once hit three homeruns in a single game in 1999 while playing for the Cincinnati Reds.

Along with the new inductees, the Hall of Fame will also present the Special Achievement award to David Lee, a former state champion wrestler and fixture in the Huntsville wrestling community, particularly as the director of the AHSAA State Wrestling Championship, held here annually.

The newest class of the Hall of Fame will be inducted during a ceremony on Monday, April 13, 2026 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville.