Bob Allison, Raytown High School, Class of 1952

The American League’s 1959 Rookie of the Year, and 1952 Raytown High School graduate “Billy” Bob Allison is welcomed into this year’s Hall of Fame. Other baseball successes, such as being selected to the American League All-Star team three different years, and being inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame are just some of Allison’s accomplishments.

At Allison’s alma mater, Kansas University, Allison held a football scholarship and also played baseball and ran track. A plaque at KU’s baseball wall of fame bears Allison’s name. A game two catch in the 1965 World Series wowed baseball fans around the country.

Allison’s second career was with the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, after his retirement from baseball in 1970. Sadly, Bob’s struggled with Progressive Sporadic Ataxia, a rare degenerative neurological disease, which eventually took his life in 1995 at the age of 60.

Bob sought help from the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Department of Neurology when he was diagnosed. The Bob Allison Ataxia Research Center (BAARC), supported by Allison’s family, was founded in 1991 to raise public awareness about ataxia and to fund a range of research in hopes of finding a cure.

Raytowners who remember Bob say he set a noble example in all areas of his life.