Dan Cunningham

This is the seventh in a series of articles profiling the 2015 inductees into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame.BUTLER TWP — Whatever Dan Cunningham touches, he improves.At least, that’s been the case in terms of the Saxonburg Eagle County baseball league team, American Legion Baseball, umpiring and the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame.For his decades of service in all of these areas, Cunningham, 67, is gaining induction into the hall via its Lifetime Achievement Award.He will be so honored at the organization’s annual banquet April 25 at the Butler Days Inn.Cunningham has been president of the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame the past four years, one of numerous administrative positions he’s held in athletics.“I deeply appreciate it. ... It’s a humbling thing,” Cunningham said of his induction. “To be thought of by my peers on the Hall of Fame board in this way is very special to me.”Cunningham describes himself as “a baseball guy.”“I’ve always loved the game,” he said. “I enjoy the strategy of it. You never know what’s going to happen in a ball game. I’ve studied the game of baseball for a number of years.“The game has been good to me and I’ve tried to be good to it.”Mission accomplished in that regard.Cunningham has been an umpire for more than 35 years. He’s been manager of the Saxonburg entrant in the Eagle County League since 1994, missing the playoffs only once while compiling a won-loss record of 449-159.He has been president of the Eagle County League since 2001 and was inducted into the American Legion Hall of Fame in 2003.Cunningham also served as president and secretary/treasurer of the Butler County PIAA Baseball Officials, president, secretary and scheduler of the Butler County Sports Officials.He is former secretary of the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame and has been a longtime board member of the organization.Also a former president of the Saxonburg Area Baseball Association, Cunningham has been secretary and vice president of Butler County American Legion Baseball and has coached youth baseball teams at many levels.“I’ve got a background in computer technology, so I’ve been able to develop websites for the Eagle County League and county Hall of Fame,” Cunningham said. “I’m used to organizing things. I’ve been scheduling high school baseball umpires for 15 years now.”The victim of a horrific automobile accident four years ago, Cunningham recalled slipping in and out of consciousness and telling a police officer to inform his umpiring partner “that I wouldn’t be able to work the Vincentian game” that day.“I don’t know why I would say that at that moment ... That’s how deeply I cared, I guess,” Cunningham said.He admitted that the motivation of returning to his active role in baseball greatly aided his rehabilitation efforts.“In all honesty, most people would not have survived that crash,” Cunningham said. “I believed there was a reason, a purpose, as to why I was still here.“I was determined to get back to where I was.”After a year of recuperation, Cunningham returned to his baseball lifestyle. Saxonburg did not a field an Eagle County team the year he was out.It’s been winning ever since.“The Eagle County league has been around since 1932,” Cunningham enthused. “There were eight baseball leagues in Butler County at that time. It (Eagle County league) was on unstable ground in 1994, but it’s on solid ground now.”The same can be said for any organization Cunningham is involved with.Tickets for the Hall of Fame dinner are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Tickets are available at Bill’s Beer Barn and Snack-N-Pack in Butler, Moses Jewelers at the Clearview Mall, Parkers Appliance in Chicora and Saxonburg Drug.