Athletic Hall of Fame Ceremony, Feb. 4
Meet the 2022 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees
Parkland College will induct five new members to its Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, Feb. 4, at approximately 2:30 p.m. CT in the Donald C. Dodds Jr. Athletic Center. The ceremony will take place between the 1 p.m. Cobras Women's Basketball game and the 3 p.m. Cobras Men's Basketball game.
Dating back to the inaugural class of 2007, the Parkland Hall of Fame now has 92 inductees who range from players and teams to coaches and administrators. This is the 15th Hall of Fame class chosen since the inaugural induction ceremony held in 2008.
To see the full list of Hall of Famers, click here (athletics.parkland.edu/hof.aspx).
The following inductees all played baseball at Parkland College and went on to play in the Major League:
Kevin Crane, 2008–09 Baseball
Kevin Crane played for Parkland College in 2008 and 2009, winning the 2009 NJCAA DII National Championship with the Cobras. In 2008, Crane was named an NJCAA Second Team All-American and recorded 58 RBIs (18th best in the nation), 12 home runs, and a batting average of .459, both of which ranked 22nd best in the country. Crane’s .403 career batting average ranks 6th in Parkland College program history. After Parkland, he attended Butler University, starting 43 games with the Bulldogs and earning a spot on the 2010 Horizon League All-Newcomer Team. Currently, Crane works in finance for Remy Martin USA.
John Harshbarger, 1975–76 Baseball
John Harshbarger played for Parkland College in 1975 and 1976, and returned to serve as an assistant coach for the Cobras in 1980. While pitching at Parkland, Harshbarger was named to the NJCAA Region 24 All-Region Second Team. After Parkland, he attended the University of Illinois in 1977 and 1978, pitching 33 scoreless innings for the Illini in 1977, including a nine-inning no hitter. His 2.92 career ERA currently ranks 7th in Illinois baseball program history. In 1978, Harshbarger was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. He played for Thomasboro in the Eastern Illinois League, winning four league championships and one league MVP. A retired teacher and coach, Harshbarger is married to Tami Harshbarger, and they have two daughters, Jenna Bolen and Karli Harshbarger.
TJ McManus, 2010 Baseball
TJ McManus played for Parkland College during the 2010 season, after transferring from Ohio State. McManus was named an NJCAA First Team All-American in his only season in Champaign, totaling 90 hits, 69 runs, 15 home runs and a Parkland College Baseball record 88 RBI and 27 doubles. He also received the Gold Glove for his defensive play at first base. The team went 50-13, winning the M-WAC Conference and Regionals, and placed 5th at the NJCAA National Championships. After Parkland, McManus finished his collegiate career at Eastern Illinois University, where he posted a .360 batting average and was voted team MVP. He competed professionally for two years for the Windy City Thunderbolts, Road Warriors, and the Lake Erie Crushers of the Frontier League. Currently, McManus is a baseball instructor and coach with the Glenview Blaze, his hometown travel baseball team, in Glenview, Illinois.
Spencer Patton, 2006–08 Baseball
Spencer Patton played for Parkland College from 2006 to 2008, winning a conference championship title with the Cobras in 2007. After Parkland, Patton transferred to SIU-Edwardsville, where he played for three seasons, earning a Rawlings Collegiate Gold Glove in 2011. The Urbana native was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 2011 in the 24th round. He made his Major League debut in 2014 with the Texas Rangers and, in 2016, he became a World Series Champion with the Chicago Cubs. Patton continued his career in Japan pitching for the DeNA BayStars from 2017 to 2020, winning the Nippon Professional Baseball Championship in 2017. He then returned to the MLB, joining the Texas Rangers pitching staff in 2021. Currently, Patton is a member of Unlimited Potential Incorporated and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He and his wife Jilleta recently moved back to Spencer’s hometown of Farina, Illinois, with their three young children.
Danny Winkler, 2009–10 Baseball
Dan Winkler pitched for Parkland College in 2009 and 2010, winning the 2009 NJCAA DII National Championship with the Cobras. After his sophomore season, Winkler was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 43rd round of the 2010 MLB Draft, but he did not sign and instead chose to attend the University of Central Florida, where he appeared in 18 games in 2011. Winkler was then drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 20th round in the 2011 MLB Draft, and the Effingham-native made his professional debut later that year. In 2015, after being selected by the Atlanta Braves in the Rule 5 Draft, Winkler made his Major League debut on September 21 against the New York Mets. Today, Winkler is a free agent who lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife, Camille, and their three children, Declan, Eloise, and Abigail