Hall of Fame
Zelmanski, a native of Detroit and graduate of Detroit DeLaSalle Collegiate HS, lettered in 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978 seasons in baseball. A first baseman during his college career, Zelmanski is one of the outstanding Tartar batters and base runners in its history.
He joins former WSU teammate Kevin Ponticelli and Angelo Gust, who was assistant coach at the time, as members of the 1994 Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Class.
During his Tartar career Zelmanski set three single-season and eight career batting records. The season records were for 54 hits in 1976, nine triples in 1978, and 90 total bases in 1976. The nine triples in 1978 led the country.
Zelmanski's career records were at-bats (424), runs (104), hits (149), triples (19), total bases (236), extra base hits (48), stolen bases (47) and RBI (92). He still owns records for single-season and career triples.
Zelmanski's .351 career batting average was the sixth-best career mark until being replaced in 1979 by Ponticelli's .354 mark. Zelmanski is still ranked 12th on the Tartars' career batting list. He led the 1976 team with a .383 batting average and finished second on the 1978 squad with a .400 average. During 1977 Zelmanski batted .316, good for third on the squad, and he stole 21 of 24 bases to lead the squad.
After his junior and senior seasons Zelmanski won All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Baseball First Team honors. He was also a member of the 1978 NCAA All-District IV All-American Second Team.
While at Wayne State, Zelmanski played in the summer Detroit Adray League, winning the league batting championship in 1976. Before joining WSU Zelmanski had a try-out with the California Angels, and after finishing at Wayne he had a try-out with the Cincinnati Reds.
Zelmanski graduated with a Bachelor's in Physical Education from Wayne State in 1980, and he also earned a Master's in Business Administration from Central Michigan in 1993. Upon graduation from WSU he taught three years in the Center Line, Mich., public schools, then in 1984 joined Chrysler Corporation. Presently he is a material control supervisor for advanced manufacturing at Chrysler's World Headquarters in Auburn Hills.
Zelmanski's baseball career was not finished after he left Wayne. For 10 years he played for Troy Jet Box, a Class A Amateur Baseball team comprised mostly of Division I college baseball players. He was named the team's MVP in 1980, and was its batting champion in 1981 (.385), 1984 (.399) and 1986 (.413). Jet Box's 1984 team won the Michigan state title, and participated in the All-American Baseball Congress national play-offs held in Battle Creek that year. In 1985 Zelmanski was honored by being named to Jet Box's Wall of Fame.
For 13 years starting in 1978 Zelmanski began playing men's touch football with Standard Paper of Dearborn, Mich., and recently capped off his outstanding career by joining four other individuals as charter members of the United States Flag and Touch Football Hall of Fame. He was a four-time All-America and was named tournament MVP after Standard Paper won the 1985 national title.
For the last 14 years Zelmanski has served as a football and basketball official on the high school level.
Zelmanski and his wife, Linda, reside in Shelby Township, Mich., with their daughters Gina, Angela and Victoria.
