Neenah doctor Tom Zoch entering Wisconsin State Baseball League Hall of Fame

NEENAH — It’s not easy mixing the medical profession with baseball, but for Dr. Tom Zoch, he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Zoch, who is certified to practice in several different specialties, is the associate medical director for Network Health Plan. He, along with four other former players, will be inducted into the Wisconsin State Baseball League Hall of Fame tonight in Sheboygan Falls.

Zoch, who resides in Neenah with his wife, Suzanne, and children, Ryan, Nicole and Bethany, said he is honored and humbled by the award.

“I’m just very excited,” said Zoch, who played from 1978 to 1980, 1984 to 1990 and 1993 with Oshkosh, Green Bay and Marshfield. “The Zoch family is very excited for sure. These are players I either played with or played against and I held them in the highest regard.”

During his time in the Wisconsin State League, Zoch hit 54 homers, fourth best all time, and won two batting titles, hitting better than .400 five times, including a .500 season in 1986.

He hit .436 for Oshkosh in 1978, when he was named the league’s rookie of the year. He never hit lower than .300 and has a .401 career average, which ranks him second among players with 700 or more plate appearances.

“In my years in baseball, I’ve never played with or against anybody who hit the ball with such power and consistency,” said Tom Kraus, Zoch’s manager at Marshfield, in a press release. “I feel that if he hadn’t gone to medical school, he would have been knocking on big league doors.”

Also being inducted into the Hall of Fame will be Michael Casper, who played with the Sheboygan A’s; Dave Christman, who played with the Racine Redbirds, Green Bay Blue Ribbons and Oshkosh Giants; Tom Imhoff of the Janesville Aces; and Paul O’Callaghan of the Lombard Orioles.

“A lot of the credit goes to my teammates and my coaches and certainly to my family,” Zoch said. “I cherish the interaction with the fans, my teammates and coaches. If I was not participating in baseball, I may never have met them. It’s a great avenue to expand my horizons in meeting other individuals in the community. These are life-long friends.”

Zoch remains active in the baseball community. After serving as the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers team physician from 1995 to 2005, he became a member of the board of directors as an associate director.

In October of 2010, he began working at Network Health Plan. Within the system, he is also medical director of Network House Calls and also works closely with Fox Valley Technical College.

Story by Dan Kohn of the Appleton Post-Crescent