Syracuse Wall of Fame - Locals

 

This post features cards that I have of members of the Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame that are from the Central New York area. 

Tex Simone was born and raised in Syracuse, NY and began his career with the Syracuse Chiefs in 1961. He started his career on the grounds crew and advanced within the organization to become trainer, traveling secretary, business manager and public relations director, and general manager from 1970 - 1997. After that, Simone served as the club's executive vice president and chief operating officer until he retired from that position in September 2013.

Simone also served as vice president of the International League , and was enshrined in the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame (1989), the Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame (2001), the International League Hall of Fame (2008), the Le Moyne College Hall of Fame (2011) and the North High School Hall of Fame (2012).

He was named International League Executive of the Year five times and received the Presidents' Trophy from Minor League Baseball in 1987.

2008 Choice #29.

Frank Riccelli was born in Syracuse and attended Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse suburb Dewitt where he was a high school baseball standout. In 1971, Riccelli was selected by the San Francisco Giants with the eighteenth pick of the MLB Draft, ahead of future Hall of Famers George Brett and Mike Schmidt. 

Riccelli pitched parts of 3 MLB seasons with the Giants and Astros, finishing with 17 games and a 3-3 W-L record.

1982 TCMA #6 (UEC - last name misspelled).

Jon Ratliff was from Syracuse suburb Liverpool, NY and attended LeMoyne College in Syracuse. He pitched one perfect MLB inning with the A's in 2000.

1994 Pinnacle/Score Gold Rush #454.

Harry McCormick was born in Syracuse in 1855 and died in Syracuse at the age of 33. He pitched for the Syracuse Stars in 1879, with the Worcester Ruby Legs in 1881, and with the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1882 - 1883. During his one season with the Stars, McCormick had a 2.99 ERA in 54 starts and 457.1 innings!

2010 Tri-Star Obak #26.

Dave Lemanczyk was born in Syracuse suburb Baldwinsville, NY and attended Hartwick College (Oneonta, NY). He had an eight-year MLB career (1973 to 1980). He played for the Tigers, Blue Jays, and California Angels.

1975 Topps #571.

Chris Jones was born in Utica, NY and attended Liverpool High School. We was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 3rd round of the 1984 MLB June Amateur Draft out of high school. Jones had a 9-year MLB career with the Reds, Astros, Rockies, Mets, Padres, Diamondbacks, Giants, and Brewers.

1991 Topps Traded #65T.

John Johnstone was born in Liverpool, NY and attended Bishop Ludden High School in Syracuse. Johnstone pitched in MLB for 8-years with the Marlins, Astros, Giants (2 stints), and the A's.

1993 Topps #454.

Steve Grilli was born in Brooklyn, NY and played in 4 MLB seasons for the Tigers and Blue Jays. While in the Blue Jays organization, Grilli pitched most all of the 1978-1980 seasons with the Syracuse Chiefs. He retired after the 1981 season with a career 4-3 W-L record in 70 MLB appearances, and sometime thereafter settled in Baldwinsville. He is the father of former MLB pitcher Jason Grilli.

1981 TCMA #4.

Jason Grilli was born in Royal Oak, MI and attended high school in Baldwinsville. Jason was taken as the fourth overall selection of the 1997 MLB draft by the Giants. He pitched in 595 games over a 15-year MLB career having played for the Marlins, White Sox, Tigers, Rockies, Rangers (2 stints), Pirates, Angels, Braves, and Blue Jays. 

2013 Topps #174.

I recently posted about Dave Giusti here. This current post was accelerated because of a comment from Night Owl in that post where he stated "Those Upstate NY MLBers sure stand out as there aren't a ton of them." He then followed it up with a great post on Upstate New York's all-time major league team. He's absolutely right that weather in Upstate NY isn't exactly conducive to producing baseball players. So as this post is about members of the Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame that are from the Central New York area, in the near future I plan on a post about players from the Central New York area that are not (yet) in the Syracuse Baseball WoF. Stay tuned...

2000 Grandstand #NNO.

Dutch Dotterer was born and died in Syracuse, and he attended Syracuse University. His father, Dutch Dotterer, Sr., was a longtime scout with Cincinnati, Cleveland, and the Yankees. His brother, Tom played minor league baseball in the Cincinnati organization. Also, his son, Mike, graduated from Stanford University, where he is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame in both football and baseball. Mike was drafted by the New York Yankees (1979, 1983), the Oakland Athletics (1982) and in the NFL by the Los Angeles Raiders (1983), where he was a member of the 1984 Super Bowl Championship Team.

Dutch was the only player to hit a grand slam off Sandy Koufax, and the only player to twice beat Warren Spahn with extra-inning pinch hits. His grand slam against Koufax (June 10, 1960, L.A. Coliseum) provided all the Redlegs' runs in a 4-3 win.

Dotterer played 5 MLB seasons, 4 with Cincinnati and one with the Washington Senators. He also played 2 seasons with the Syracuse Chiefs.

1958 Topps #396.

Jerry Brooks was born in Syracuse, where he attended Fowler High School before going to college at  Clemson University. He played in parts of 2 MLB seasons with the Dodgers and Marlins.

Brooks' career is remarkable in that he is the only player in Major League Baseball history to have exactly four hits that comprise a cycle. He had a double and home run in his nine games with the Dodgers in 1993, then hit a single and triple in his five games with the Marlins in 1996. No other MLB player ever finished his career with exactly four hits; each of a different variety!

1988 Cal. League Cards #203.

My favorite card from this post: I'm going with the 1958 Topps Dutch Dotterer card.

What's yours?

Thanks for visiting!

CinciCuse Bill