Some of the biggest names in baseball history have spoken at the annual Junior College World Series banquet, but this year there will be no guest speaker at all.

JUCO banquet speakers have become sort of a who's who of major league baseball. Some of the names include Stan Musial, Willie Mays, Tom Seaver, Reggie Jackson, George Steinbrenner, Bob Gibson, and Joe Garagiola.

This year the guest speaker was scheduled to be former major league all-star pitcher and World Series MVP Curt Schilling. That was before he posted a controversial meme on social media with accompanying comments about transgender men using the women's restroom.

Schilling was promptly fired by ESPN, where he worked as a baseball commentator. Shortly after that, the Grand Junction baseball committee withdrew its invitation to Schilling to speak at the JUCO Banquet.

The committee announced on April 22 in a press release they were exploring other speaker options and would announce when an agreement was reached. However, with the banquet just over a month away, a replacement speaker was not found.

Tournament Chairman Jamie Hamilton told media members Friday there would be no guest speaker this year, due to the short time they had to find an alternate. Instead, the banquet will focus more on the four JUCO Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame inductees.

The JUCO banquet will be held on May 27, at 6PM. Tickets are $50 each and can be purchased via phone from the JUCO Office, 970-245-9166 or in-person at the JUCO Office in the Home Loan Building at 4th Street and Rood Avenue.

 

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