ANNUAL REPORT - Tennessee Tech University

COLLEGE MAKES A HIT IN BASEBALL
COB student named MVP of OVC Baseball Tournament
In May, the TTU baseball team completed their title run with a 4-3, 10-inning
victory to clinch the Ohio Valley Conference crown. This is the third
championship the Golden Eagles have won in the last 13 years, but this one
is special to us because College of Business student Antwoin (A.J.) Kirby-
Jones was named MVP of the tournament.
A.J., a sophomore Basic Business major, is a native of Knoxville where he
attended the Webb School. He started in all 56 games in 2009, filling roles at first
base, designated hitter, starter, and reliever for the team.
At the plate, Kirby-Jones tied the Tech record for most home runs in a season, leading the OVC with 20. He batted .325
with 15 doubles and posted a .706 slugging percentage with 68 RBI. He walked 42 times, including eight intentional
walks. He was third in the OVC in both RBI and total bases.
On the mound, he appeared in 18 games, including four as a starter and 14 in relief spots. He posted a 3–3 record with a
5.51 earned run average, with 52 strikeouts in 49 innings.
COB faculty member featured in Wall Street Journal article about Baseball
Dr. Tom Timmerman, professor of
management, was featured in the Oct. 10,
2008, Wall Street Journal. Dr. Timmerman
has done extensive research on race in
baseball and was interviewed for Carl
Bialik’s article “Out of Left Field: The Error
in Counting Black Ballplayers.”
In his research, Dr. Timmerman has
developed a database tracking the ethnic
background of major league baseball
players. This database was used in the
“Gray Areas” of the article.
Dr. Timmerman has been with our faculty
since 2001. Since that time, he has been
recognized with some of the top university awards. Timmerman earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Furman
University and a doctorate in organizational behavior from Tulane University.
16 Annual Report 2008-2009