Jim Speaks left his mark in baseball and in life

Our CP-1 Hall of Fame family lost a great one this week with the passing of Jim Speaks, a fireballing pitcher from the 1960s who is on the short list of Ashland’s line of pitching greats.

He was enshrined in our third CP-1 Baseball Hall of Fame class in 2017, putting him as one of the top 30 selected. Few threw it harder than Jim, who made the Tomcats as a freshman while attending Coles Jr. High School. He started on that 1959 team as a right fielder and was the No. 2 pitcher on an outstanding Ashland team.

Speaks excelled as a pitcher the rest of his Tomcat career and led them to the state tournament in 1960 and 1962, his senior season, when Owensboro ended it for Ashland with a 2-0 victory in the opening game. Speaks was the tough-luck losing pitcher in that duel, surrendering an early two-run homer for all the scoring.

He continued to shine for Ashland Post 76 as the ace of the Legion team and had professional scouts checking him out, including the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Speaks’ reputation as a hard thrower started when he pitched for Charles Russell, an elementary school in Ashland. Fear of Jim Speaks on the mound started early.

Jim was one of the best to take the mound in Central Park but, as outstanding as he was on the baseball field, it paled in comparison to the man he became. Jim was a devout Christian who served with a gigantic heart. He spoke to me about the impact my father and mother had on him and others at Second Baptist Church in Ashland when he was growing up. I could not have been prouder of my parents or him.

Jim led a life that was God-honoring and with a servant’s heart. He loved his pastors and followed their leads and never shied away from any assignment that they gave him. He was a trustee at First Baptist Church in Grayson where he served so faithfully for many years.

His fastball that zipped past so many hitters in Ashland some 60 years ago was impressive and memorable. It was a pitch heard more than seen. But the best of Jim Speaks was as a devout Christian, family man and friend to so many in communities where he worked and played. He touched lives and made those around him better.