This is the fifth in a Saturday series looking at the Class of 2011, scheduled for induction Nov. 9 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.

Don Colpoys was a little overwhelmed at the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame announcement ceremony in June.

 Colpoys, a local fixture on baseball diamonds across the city, will be inducted into the Hall on Nov. 9 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo with the rest of the Class of 2011, but he isn't quite sure how he measures up with his peers.

"I was very surprised," Colpoys said of his induction. "I mean I look at Jimmy Burt, at Ruben Brown, these guys are superstars at the major league level of their sport. I've never been at that level. I've been more with like amateur and coaching in college and so forth. From that aspect I questioned whether I belonged."

But, one would be hard pressed to find anybody in Buffalo that has touched the city's baseball scene the way Colpoys has over the past 50 years. To him, he was just in the right place at the right time.

As a player-manger of the Simon Pures in 1960, Colpoys went 46-0 in his first year as a manager and his team would go on to 63 consecutive victories. Ask him about it and he'll tell you he just had the best players in town.

In 1977, he took the coaching job at Canisius College where he won a record 325 games in 26 years and was once named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

During that stint, he even helped bring minor league baseball back to Buffalo. Ask Colpoys again, and he'll tell you he just happened to be friends with Mayor Jimmy Griffin and helped set up a few meetings. Don't mind the fact that from 1979-1984 he managed both the Golden Griffins and served as general manager of the Bisons.

But perhaps Colpoys' most impressive achievement has been the way he has had a hand in countless major league careers that happened to come through Buffalo over his 50 years in the sport.

Fellow Hall inductee Phil Mankowski and the already enshrined Bill Scherrer played on Colpoys' AAABA Al Maroone team at different points.

Recent Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer and current New York Yankees bench coach Tony Pena worked with Colpoys during his time with the Bisons. In fact, when Pena first came to Buffalo in 1979 as a newlywed, it was Colpoys who brought the homesick Dominican's wife to Buffalo and convinced the 19-year-old to stay with the team.

"He never says it, but that's why he says he wants to thank Don Colpoys for everything he has done," Colpoys said. "He ended up hitting .314 with 34 homers, 97 RBIs, and two years later he was in the big leagues."

His influence doesn't stop there.

After leaving Canisius in 2001, Colpoys and his pitching coach, Joe Caggiano, began working with the Canadian Thunderbirds in Hamilton.

The two served as scouts of sorts for the high school level club team and along the way Colpoys crossed paths with none other than a young Joey Votto, last year's NL MVP.

"His mother and father had surprise twins," Colpoys said. "Joey was 16 or 17 years old. ... She worked and the father worked so Joe was basically the baby sitter."

Colpoys drove up to the home of the overwhelmed family in Toronto and helped explain the inner working of the Major League's First-Year Player Draft. Votto was picked in the second round in 2002, and Colpoys still tries to see him every year at spring training.

Since then Colpoys has left the Thunderbirds and has settled for the simpler life of retirement, but he's kept the sport he loves close. When he isn't watching his beloved Boston Red Sox on television, he attends various games in the area.

He still may have another player up his sleeve, too.

This time it's Orchard Park senior Jimmy Fitzgerald, a "legitimate pro prospect" in Colpoys' eyes. Fitzgerald is the son of Colpoys' niece, and Colpoys has spent some time working with the young Fitzgerald.

Whether he has another professional player on his hands is yet to be seen, but Colpoys is just happy to be a part of the ride.

"The most gratifying part of coaching is when you teach kids how to do things," he said. "When they do it successfully in a game, they are so ... proud of themselves that they think they invented baseball. It's the neatest feeling in the world to watch someone jump around like a fool because he did something."

The 21st annual Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame Awards Dinner is Nov. 9 at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo. For tickets, call 888-2977 or go to www.gbshof.com.

sports@buffnews.comnull