Back to the Hall of Fame

Joan Allen
An Oscar-nominated actress. Because of her Eastern ties, she'll never win.

Calli Cox
What do you do with an elementary education degree from EIU? Why, porn of course!

Kevin Duckworth
The NBA's greatest 300-pound center ever to come from Eastern.

Gov. Jim and
Brenda Edgar
The former Illinois governor loves Eastern so much he now works at the University of Illinois.

Joan Embery
Her EIU degree qualified her to feed animals at the San Diego zoo.

Jeff Gossett
As a Raiders punter, he worked more often than any Eastern grad.

Burl Ives
Getting kicked out of Eastern launched this folk legend's career.

John Jurkovic
Meet the school's best pro-football player: A mediocre lineman.

Danny from The Shining
Danny’s at EIU Mrs. Torrence

Fabulous Moolah, Uncle Elmer, Abdullah the Butcher, Booker T and Matt Hughes
EIU's real strength: violence.

John Malkovich
Hates the school. Has a great movie career. Any questions?

Marty Pattin
More Eastern students have had a beer in his name than any other person in history.

Kevin Seitzer
Baseball star who swings for Jesus.

Mike Shanahan
Head coach of the Denver Broncos. Similarities between Denver and Eastern? Both high.

Larry Smith
Why is he famous?

Triumph
EIU: A great school – for me to poop on!

Jerry Van Dyke
'Coach' co-star learned to play dumb at Eastern.

Marty Pattin is the namesake of Marty’s, the East Fourth Street tavern that is the only bar on EIU’s campus.

Marty has a 12-year major league baseball career with trips to the All-Star game and World Series. But Eastern students remember him best for terms like 4 O’Clock Club, endless dart games, drunken escapades that started at Marty's, and all those nights watching Jimmy Buffett knockoff bands.

Martin William Pattin grew up in Charleston and got both a bachelor’s and master’s at Eastern. But he real major was baseball. In one game at EIU, he struck out 22 batters. He joined the Angels in 1968 and then was part of the Seattle Pilots, which later became the Brewers. He was an all-star in 1971 and soon after was part of a 10-player trade that sent him to the Red Sox. He won 32 games in two seasons with the Red Sox, even though it is reported Pattin was afraid of pitching with Fenway Park’s Big Green Monster lurking behind him. He spent the last seven seasons with the Kansas City Royals before retiring in 1980 (he still lives in Kansas).

It’s a good bet that all of Pattin’s accomplishments would be news to the thousands of Marty’s patrons who walked in and staggered out of the bar over the years.

Who doesn’t have a story about Marty’s, the adorable little everyman’s bar that would host a football party one day (complete with parleys) and a rock band the next? Maybe all you did was try and ride the metal Panther outside the bar. It could have been the place you had your first drink (or twelve) at Eastern. Or perhaps you met your spouse there? No matter what it was, Marty’s is as much of a fixture and legend to the school as Old Main or famous professors.

There have been or are bigger bars on campus (Stix), more controversial ones (Panthers), ones with better food (Jerry’s), and better places to dance and party (Mother’s or Ikes). But Marty’s is the Cheers for college students in Charleston where virtually everyone can feel welcome and find something they like.

Marty Pattin really owes his legendary EIU status to Dave Kinnaird, the owner of Marty’s bar.

While he has done his best to inebriate Panthers, Pattin’s nicknames were “Bulldog” (because he was a tenacious pitcher) and “Duck” (because he imitated Donald Duck).

Sources for information and some photos:Baseball Library, Baseball Reference and Baseball Almanac.