George Hale

George Hale

George Hale was one of the best pitchers Chautauqua County ever produced. But Hale pitched horseshoes, not baseballs.

Hale was born in South Stockton in 1917 and had been a Chautauqua County resident his entire life. His biggest honor in sports came in 1980 when he was inducted into the New York State Horseshoe Pitchers Hall of Fame.

Hale competed in the state horseshoe toumament nearly 20 times and never finished worst than third in Class B, C and D. He won the title in Class B, one of the largest fields, in 1971 and 1975. Hale also competed in numerous national toumaments. In 1969 he won Class B in the DeSoto Open at Plant City, Florida. He also finished second in Class C of the Clearwater Fun'n Sun Open and won two seconds in the Kinzua County Open Classic.

Hale was president of the New York State Horseshoe Pitchers Association and a member of the board of directors of the Falconer Horseshoe Club. He was also a member of the Jamestown Rifle and Pistol Club and participated in shooting matches all over the state and also in Florida and Canada. He was a Chautauqua County Rifle League champion.

When not pitching horseshoes, Hale was an avid bowler and golfer. He was the well known operator of Hale's Sunoco Service in Jamestown.

George Hale was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. He died in 2002.

Join the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame

A membership program is available to persons who are interested in preserving the history of sports in Chautauqua County and honoring the outstanding individuals who have created our cherished sports memories.

In addition to helping the CSHoF carry out its twin missions of maintaining a hall of fame and exhibit hall, members will receive several value-added benefits for their membership fee.

To join, please contact Russ Ecklund at
716-484-7684 or send an e-mail to membership@chautauquasportshalloffame.org

Inductees are honored at the hall in Jamestown, NY.

Visit the CSHoF Museum

Arrangements can be made for a group to tour the museum anytime it would like by contacting Grace Dolan at 716-484-1224 or Bill Rollinger at 716-763-8229.