Jeffrey Hammonds named to Huntsville Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame
MADISON – Former Major League Baseball player and resident of Madison since 2011, Jeffrey Hammonds has been selected for the Huntsville- Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame. The 55-year old, who had a 13-year career in Major League Baseball, was inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the 2026 class of inductees during the induction ceremony held at the Von Braun Center.
“This honor is just not me, but the things I learned from my father and families I met through the years,” said Hammond, a New Jersey born who played for six teams in the Majors during his career of 1988-2005. He played for the Orioles, Reds, Rockies, Brewers, Giants and Nationals after playing for the Stanford Cardinals where he signed with an athletic scholarship out of high school.
Among his distinctions of his career are an All-American while playing for Stanford, a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team in Barcelona and a National League All-Star playing for the Rockies in 2000. Overall, he played in 957 games in the Majors, had a .272 batting average, 110 homeruns, 423 RBIs and 67 stolen bases while playing as an outfielder.
Making Madison home for 15 years, Hammonds has been busy since his arrival including coaching and founder of Hammonds Management Companies. 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.
As for making his home in North Alabama upon retirement from Major League Baseball, Hammonds made his way to Madison 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.”
Two of the 12 new inductees joined 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 inducted 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.
The 2026 class to the Huntsville- Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame is being regarded as one of the most diverse lineups in the history of the local organization, which has a ceremonial park located near John Hunt Park just off South Memorial Parkway and Airport Road where each of the inductees are so honored.
