Hall of Fame

Marty Kirby

  • Class
    1976
  • Induction
    2018
  • Sport(s)
    Baseball
Marty Kirby was a multi-sport athlete at Urbana High School, earning a total of seven varsity letters before graduating in 1974. Marty came to Parkland College to play for the Cobra Baseball team in 1975 and 1976 where he earned the team MVP and batted .388 before transferring to the University of Illinois and the UI Baseball Team. In the summer of 1975, he started a 10-year stint as an outfielder in the amateur Eastern Illinois Baseball League. He had a career E.I. batting average of .328 and earned all-star status in 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1980. Kirby also hit 23 home runs during his E.I. career. Kirby finished among the E.I.'s top 10 batting leaders twice, ending eighth in 1977 (.418 average) and seventh in 1980 (.419 average). From 1980-85 he served as the player-coach for the Thomasboro E.I. entry, compiling a six-year record of 118-46.  He became the first coach in the history of the now-84-year-old E.I. to guide four consecutive teams to regular-season championships, doing so from 1982-85 and a tournament championship in 1985. He then served as President of E.I. from 1991-2000.
Marty Kirby had also returned to Parkland College as the head baseball coach for three seasons, from 1983-1985.
 
The long-time owner of Kirby & Turner Masonry, coached youth baseball teams from 2000 to 2007. Among those highlights were guiding the 2000 Brownfield Sports team to the Twin City Championship with an unblemished 23-0 record. He also served as head coach for a program he had played for, the Urbana Legion Post 71 team. He coached the Post 71 junior program from 2004-07, with the 34-17 team in 2005 team advancing to the national tournament in Ohio.
 
He is part of a storied family of Urbana athletes.
 
In 2009, the Kirby family became the first with four of its members in the Urbana Athletic Hall of Fame. Father Merwin Kirby (1952 graduate) was the first enshrined and was followed by three sons, Marty (1974 graduate), Rick (1976 gradate) and  Murray (1980 graduate).
 
The number of Kirbys enshrined later increased when Marty's children Adam (2007 graduate) and Mandy (2008 graduate) were also selected.
 
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