Ray Beck of Lang and Ralph S. Buxton of Weyburn have been named as inductees in the individual category for the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame. They will be inducted on Saturday, Aug. 16, in Battleford.

Beck started playing senior ball at the age of 15 with the Lang Angels along with his father Russell (who was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988) as manager and brothers Bill and Gary as players.

One memorable story includes Beck pitching to Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Famer Walter "Butch" Buttergeit. Buttergeit was a legendary player in the area and was playing with Lang in a tournament. With Beck pitching and Buttergeit catching, Lang won the tournament with Buttergeit exclaiming afterwards to Beck, "we make a pretty good combo, kid."

Along with playing, Beck coached numerous minor teams in the Lang/Milestone area and coached the Bantam Zone 1 Select team in 1995. In 1981, after his father retired, Beck took over as manager of the Lang Angels.

The Angels played their last game in 2006 as the core of the team moved away and Beck stepped away from the game. The Angels only had two managers in their existence, Beck and his father Russell.

Through Beck's career he has won eight Soo Line League championships, one provincial Senior C championship, one Twilight Mini League championship with the Vibank As and one Canadian National Oldtimers Championship with the Regina Ghosts. He was named Sask. Baseball Manager of the Year in 2001 and the Zone 1 Sports Council Coach of the Year in 2002.

"It is quite an honour. I have been involved in baseball all of my life with senior baseball and many other levels since 1967. My dad was inducted in 1988, which makes it that much more of an honour," said Beck.

Beck's children are also heavily involved in baseball. His daughter Carla coaches her children in Regina, son Blair helped revive the senior ball program in Carnduff as a player/manager and son Regan is a player/manager for the senior ball team in Meadow Lake.

Buxton was born on June 7, 1911 in the Weyburn area, attended high school in Long Beach, Calif., and died on Jan. 6, 1988 in San Leandro, Calif. During his playing career, he spent two years in Major League Baseball as a pitcher.

He made his debut in 1938 at the age of 24 with the Philadelphia Athletics where he played 9.1 innings in five games and had an Earned Run Average of 4.82. He was sent down to the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League, but reemerged in the big leagues 11 years later with the New York Yankees.

During his stay with the Yankees, Buxton was able to play alongside baseball legends such as Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio. Although he never played in a game, Buxton won a World Series title with the Yankees in 1949.

In his career with the Yankees, Buxton pitched 26.2 innings in 14 games with two saves and an ERA of 4.05. Buxton also played ball in the Western League, Texas League and Eastern League.