Hall of Fame Class of 2024: Tommy Moody

Tommy Moody may be one of the fan favorites in the 2024 class of the University of South Carolina Association of Letterman’s Athletics Hall of Fame. The former Gamecock (1970-1972) middle infielder passed away unexpectedly last October at the age of 72, and his impact on South Carolina Athletics and its fans is immeasurable because of his many off-the-field endeavors.

“Coach Tanner called to tell me they were inducting him this year, and there was no need to wait,” said Tommy’s daughter, Kasey Moody. “I was emotional. The Hall of Fame was his baby. It comes full circle. He was in charge of it for so long. He would be 100 percent honored. For my family to see him honored again in such a special way and continue to see his legacy live on in Carolina Athletics means a lot.”

When it comes to knowing Gamecock history, Tommy Moody is matched perhaps only by other legendary figures who have since passed, such as former play-by-play announcer Bob Fulton and former Sports Information Directors Don Barton and Tom Price. Born in Columbia, he graduated from A.C. Flora High School and took pride in playing for his hometown University in the early 1970s. Moody was part of South Carolina baseball radio broadcasts since 2000, served as President of the Lettermen’s Association as well as Historian on its Board of Directors and chaired the Hall of Fame Selection Committee since 1998. There was no doubt, that Tommy Moody bled garnet and black.

“It goes back to hearing stories about his childhood and going to games with his dad,” Kasey Moody said. “He got some small offers for college. He got an offer for Clemson baseball, but he turned it down to try to walk on for the Gamecock baseball team. That shows you right there that he was Carolina through and through and die-hard Gamecock. He instilled that in me and my sister (Jamie) and his grandson, Weston. He also has another grandson, Andy, who is one, and we’re going to carry on the tradition and make sure they grow up Gamecocks, too. Some of my first memories are going to Gamecock football and baseball games. It’s been a part of our family for so very long.

“It’s been like that since the night he passed away. It’s another full-circle moment. Probably the last time people saw him was at the (previous) Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony that Thursday night. He passed away that Monday night.”

Tommy also never met a stranger, and Kasey says there are many fans who tell her they may have only met him once but considered him a friend because of the way he treated everyone.

“He was everybody’s best friend,” Kasey Moody said. “Even people that only heard him on the radio, they thought of him as a friend, too. It says a lot about his personality and his character. He was a very humble guy. He never really said anything negative about the Gamecocks. Don’t get me wrong, he would get frustrated, but every year he thought it was ‘that’ year.”

Moody covered countless games for Carolina, highlighted by six College World Series appearances and two national championships and was a tremendous ambassador for the University, and Kasey said he had too many great memories to count, but she knows the Whit Merrifield hit to win the 2010 College World Series and Christian Walker’s home run in the Super Regional were among his favorites. Believe it or not, there was more to Tommy than just baseball.

“A lot of people knew he loved music,” Kasey Moody said. “He loved the Oldies. I remember growing up and going to the beach, and there was a game we would play called Songbird that you played in teams. You always wanted dad on your team for that! He knew every word to every song.”

Tommy Moody was normally involved in a lot of the details revolving around Hall of Fame Weekend, and now that he is joining the other Gamecock legends, his family couldn’t be prouder.

“I don’t think there is a greater honor as a Gamecock,” Kasey Moody said. “What they did at Founders Park in naming the radio press box was unbelievable. I know he would have been so honored by that, but this is a different kind of honor. It just shows how valuable and how much he meant to the University, to Columbia, and to South Carolina.

“He was my best friend. That’s the hardest thing with all of this. I want people to remember him as a positive, Gamecock loving guy, who was a Gamecock until he died. He was the guy who knew everything and who was friendly to everyone. The outpouring of so many kind things so many people have reached out and said about him has been amazing. I want him to be remembered as a really special person who loved the Gamecocks, loved his job, and loved the University.”

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be Friday, November 1 at the Cockaboose Club inside Williams-Brice Stadium.