Former Canisius College baseball coach Don Colpoys will be inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2011 on Wednesday, Nov. 9.
Colpoys was a First-Team All-Catholic selection at Bishop Timon High School in the 1950s. After injuries ended his minor-league career with the St. Louis Cardinals, Colpoys became involved with the Simon Pures from 1957-70. His team went 46-0 during his first year as manager and 168-16 during his first four years, including 63 consecutive wins.
Following a stint as a scout for the Philadelphia Phillies and the manager’s job with Niagara Falls in the New York Penn League, Colpoys took over at Canisius in 1977. Colpoys spent 26 years coaching the Golden Griffins where he won a program-record 325 games, earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1994 and took the Griffs to a pair of post-season tournaments, including a 17-1 conference record during 1994.
During the early years of leading Canisius on the diamond, he also found time to convince Mayor Jimmy Griffin to secure a AA franchise in the Eastern League and he served as the team’s General Manager from 1979-84. During that time, he approached Bob Rich about purchasing the team that has become the Buffalo Bisons AAA franchise.
Since his retirement from Canisius, Colpoys has found numerous ways to stay involved with the game. He assisted an amateur team in Hamilton, Ontario that included current Cincinnati Reds slugger Joey Votto. He has also assisted several amateur and high school teams in the local area.
Along with Colpoys, this year’s class includes former All-Pro Buffalo Bills defensive lineman Ruben Brown; two time Super Bowl champion Jim Burt; Olympic gold medalist Steve Mesler; former Buffalo Sabres broadcaster and player, Jim Lorentz; high school and collegiate basketball star Curtis Aiken; major league baseball player Phil Mankowski; professional golfer and award winning instructor Cindy Miller; Bills fullback Cookie Gilchrist; the inventor of the sport of volleyball William Morgan; one of the founding fathers of the West Side Rowing Club, Michael Broderick and legendary distance runner Lewis “Deerfoot” Bennett.
This year's class brings the number of inductees to 240 since the hall opened in 1991.