Keith McCluskey is Back in Town
Andrew Brackman ’04 Signs with NY Yankees IN JUNE, ANDREW BRACKMAN ’04 was selected in the first round of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft by the New York Yankees. He is the 28th Moeller baseball player to be drafted by the major leagues. Brackman was State Player of the Year in 2004 in the Moeller Baseball Program. “Andrew was one of the most dominating pitchers in Moeller history,” said Mike Cameron, who recently retired after coaching 40 years. ”Besides outstanding pitches, he was a great competitor on the mound.” Brackman’s baseball stats say it all. He had a career ERA of 1.04, the seventh best in the history of Ohio high school baseball and helped lead Moeller to a 28-3 record and the Ohio state championship as a senior. He was ranked as the No. 18 senior in America by Team One Baseball and was listed as the No. 4 prospect in Ohio for the 2004 draft by Baseball America. He had a perfect 7-0 record with one save and a 0.60 ERA and worked 47 1/3 innings, allowing 21 hits and 14 walks while striking out 83. He went 6-1 with one save and a 1.19 ERA. Besides being one of the top high school pitchers in the country, Brackman was a basketball standout for Moeller. As a junior in 2003, he helped lead the Crusaders to a 19-7 record and the State Championship. In 2004, the Associated Press named him runner-up for Mr. Basketball in Ohio. He also shared Division I Player of the Year honors and was named First Team All State. As a senior, Andrew averaged 20.2 points and 6.5 rebounds, led the GCL in scoring and field-goal percentage (.654), and was second in free-throw percentage (.882). The team went 22-3, losing in the regional finals. Following his senior season, he was rated the No. 42 prospect nationally by Insiders.com and No. 43 by PrepStars. Brackman signed a basketball scholarship at North Carolina State, where he also played baseball. “Brack is clearly one of the most accomplished athletes ever at Moeller High School,” said Carl Kremer, head basketball coach. “He was a pleasure to coach and an excellent teammate. Brack has the mental make-up and physical skills to make it with the Yankees. We’re very proud of him.” Andrew is the son of Mark & Mary Brackman of West Chester.
AFTER FIVE YEARS, Keith McCluskey ’78 is back in town. You may be asking, “What do you mean he’s back? I see him on McCluskey Chevrolet commercials all the time!” Most people in Cincinnati don’t know that Keith and his family (wife Kim, sons K.C., Cameron, & Jake, and daughter Sabrina) moved to Detroit in 2001 when he became president of Southfield, Michigan-based Credit Acceptance. McCluskey Chevrolet has been the top-volume Credit Acceptance dealer in the country since joining their finance program in 1989. McCluskey continued to strengthen his retail automobile business in Cincinnati while working to help Credit Acceptance expand their finance program nationwide. In 2002, McCluskey opened the first Mission Automotive location on Beechmont Avenue and will be opening a fifth store this year. Mission Automotive only sells and services pre-owned vehicles. Credit Acceptance’s guaranteed credit approval program has been highly successful. Last fall the McCluskey’s moved their family back to Cincinnati so their oldest son, K.C., could attend the Big Moe as a sophomore and Keith could go back to focusing 100% of his business life on expanding the retail business through Mission Automotive and McCluskey Chevrolet. He said, “We knew we would come back to Cincinnati at
some point, and the timing was right. Even though K.C. attended a Jesuit high school in Detroit for his freshman year, there was no decision to make on our end — or K.C.’s end — he had always wanted to be a Crusader. We could not be happier to be back and a part of the Moeller Family.” Kim McCluskey adds, “We moved to Hyde Park and are proud to tell our neighbors that ‘No, that’s not a Michigan flag we’re flying, it’s a MOELLER flag!’” With middle son Cameron now a freshman and youngest son Jake entering in 2009, we can count on the McCluskey’s being around for quite some time.
MOELLER • 23