It used to be one of the “best-kept secret” events of the Winter Meetings, one avidly anticipated by those in the game who most appreciated those unsung heroes: baseball scouts. The annual “Scout of the Year” awards reception, traditionally held on the final Wednesday evening of the Meetings right before (or even overlapping) the more lavish annual gala, would draw scouting directors, player development directors, general managers and other club executives who wanted to be on hand to honor the gentlemen being honored that evening, who had pretty much given their lives to this pursuit.
But now, in its 33rd year, the reception, hosted by the Scout of the Year program’s executive director, Roberta Mazur, is not such a secret anymore – at least, not if the overflow crowd in the Cherry Blossom Ballroom of the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor on November 7, the final night of baseball’s Winter Meetings was any indication – and that is very good news.
It’s just one more bit of proof that, the advent of technology, sabermetrics, etc. notwithstanding, true eyes-on scouting is still very much respected and appreciated.
Founded in 1984 by the trio of legendary scout Hugh Alexander, Jim Russo and Tony Pacheco, the program’s objectives are (to quote the program so as not to miss anything): To bring positive recognition to the profession of scouting;; to honor scouts who have devoted time and energy and have shown professionalism in the scouting field; to bring attention to the importance of quality scouting in the development of a successful baseball organization; to respectfully recognize and admit scouts into the Hall of Fame.
Each year, scouting directors of the 30 MLB organizations canvas their own staff and then submit their candidates for that year’s selections from among active scouting personnel. The only specific requirement for candidacy is a minimum of 25 years in a full-time scouting capacity.
And those in attendance were certainly not disappointed. The baseball front office “star power” sitting on the dais in the form of the Scout of the Year’s Board of Directors was a who’s who of people who have shaped the game over decades of service: the ageless Roland Hemond, Dan Jennings, Gary Hughes, Tony DeMacio, Joe Klein and Linda Pereira.
This year’s four recipients delivered acceptance speeches that ranged from moving to tear-jerking to downright hilarious and often managed to fit all three adjectives into one speech.
Here, then, are this year’s honorees:
2016 International Award – Pablo Cruz, Toronto Blue Jays
This is an award that is not given every year. In fact, Cruz is only the fifth recipient of this honor. Introduced by Blue Jays vice president & general manager Ross Atkins, Cruz was described “as respected in the industry as they come” and said that players still call Cruz today to ask for his guidance and advice. Cruz, who signed such players as Moises Alou, Tony Pena, Jose Lind, Aramis Ramirez, Jose DeLeon, Jose Guillen and the late Pascual Perez during his 52-year career (including 14 years in the minors as an infielder), was recognized for how many young Dominican players he helped adjust to life both on and off the field.
After spending his entire playing career with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, he then shifted to scouting with the Pirates even while still playing for the last several years of his active career before becoming a full-time scout in 1979. He was part of the famed “We Are Family” organization that year. Over the ensuing years, he brought his scouting and people-person talents to the Padres, the Expos/Nationals, the Mets, the Pirates again and, finally, the Blue Jays, for whom he has served as Latin American field coordinator since 2012.
Cruz was joined on the podium by his grandson Brian to help him is and when he needed any translation issues, but his appreciation and gratitude for the honor bestowed came through loud and clear in any language.
2016 West Coast Scout of the Year: Ricky Schroeder, Texas Rangers
Introduced by Rangers general manager & president of baseball operations Jon Daniels, Schroeder, now 67, spent just one year as a professional player before moving into college coaching for a decade and then finally finding his “calling” as a scout in 1982. He scouted for the Rangers, Astros, Angels, Rangers again, Royals, Cubs and Rangers again-again, prompting his one-liner “If you’ve been fired as many times as I have, you have a lot of people to thank for bringing me back to life!”
The man who helped contribute to the signings of such former major leaguers as Steve Buechele, Darren Oliver, John Barfield and Randy Asadoor got more than a few laughs with his self-deprecating humor, but his success has been pretty serious.
He was also responsible for the careers of such less obvious future stars, such as 5-foot-6 southpaw Danny Ray Herrera. As Daniels related, Schroeder told him after seeing Herrera, “Not only is this one of the best college pitchers, but he could strike out Albert Pujols right now.” The Rangers responded by using a 45th-round pick on Herrera in 2006 out of the University of New Mexico. In his major league debut against the Phillies in 2008, he didn’t get to face Pujols, but he did strike out Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell. And 11 years later, Herrera was still pitching professionally this past summer
If there were wanna-be scouts among the throngs in the audience, hopefully they listened to some of his advice and words of wisdom, which included emphasizing the importance of not just getting to know the players but, perhaps even more importantly, getting to know their parents (especially their moms).
2016 Midwest Scout of the Year: Larry Corrigan, Minnesota Twins
Introduced by Thad Levine, the senior vice-president & general manager of the Minnesota Twins, the truth is this gentleman needed no introduction. There are few people in baseball who don’t know the outgoing and affable Corrigan, who has served as pitcher and catcher in six minor league seasons, and as a player, college coach, minor league field coordinator – and, while we’re at it, found time to serve his country in the United States Army Reserve in his four-plus decades in the game.
This past summer, though, while scouting a minor league game in Arkansas, he suffered a stroke in the press box. Fortunately, surrounded by colleagues who recognized something was wrong, he was rushed to a local hospital and has been fighting the good fight as he continues to make a remarkable recovery.
Among the players Corrigan is responsible for bringing into the Twins fold is newly-minted Twins special assistant in baseball operations, Torii Hunter, who has credited much of his success to Corrigan.
While Corrigan, 66, may have lost some of his mobility, his famous sense of humor was clearly not impaired, as he thanked the Scout of the Year voters for the honor “that I richly deserved … years ago.” But on a more serious note, he voiced in retrospect his concern that he would not be able to get back out there scouting, and how much that goal of being back out in the field helped him get through the rigors of physical and occupational therapy.
He eloquently thanked his baseball friends, whom he called “so kind and so good and so perfect” that he’d made over the years and reminded everyone gathered, “Don’t not appreciate friends.”
2016 East Coast Scout of the Year: Ed Creech, San Francisco Giants
Creech, who was introduced by San Francisco scouting director Bobby Evans, has 54 players signed under his belt from his years with the Montreal Expos, who originally drafted him in 1973, Cardinals, Dodgers, Pirates and now Giants. In that time, his signs include Andrew McCutchen, Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom and Rondell White (and SHOULD have earned him a 1994 World Series ring for those Expos signs – don’t get this writer started on THAT topic!).
Creech’s speech was short and sweet. He discussed how technology has changed the game and changed the face of scouting, not just from the viewpoint of statistics but even things taken for granted that help the scouts roam the country and stay in touch no matter what corner of the world they may find themselves such as GPS and cell phones.
He thanked his peers for voting for him, for hiring him, for keeping him in the game. “Thank you so much for supporting me and being my friend,” he said. “The last eight years have been the highlight of my career.”
The evening ended with the traditional somber reading of the names of former scouts who had passed on in the prior year: John Young (May 8), the first African-American director of scouting (Detroit Tigers) and a trailblazer who founded the RBI program (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities), which has expanded to serving, at last count, over 230,000 youth annually in 243 cities; Bob Harrison (June 20), who passed at age 95 and had been instrumental in the scouting field since 1964, helping sign such superstars as Ken Griffey Jr., Harold Reynolds, Garry Templeton and Alvin Davis, and whose son, R.J. Harrison, is senior advisor for scouting/baseball operations for Tampa Bay; Andres Reiner (August 3), who made huge inroads in turning his adopted country of Venezuela into an amazing baseball resource of talent by finding ways for baseball to tap its potential; Rene Mons (August 5), whose scouting career helped tap talent for the Reds, Mariners, Pirates, Padres and Red Sox over the years and who was inducted into the Baseball Scout Hall of Fame in Brockton, Mass., in 2009; and Bill Harford (October 27), a western Massachusetts scouting legend who served as farm director for the Chicago Cubs for many years.
But one name that was added was a passing so recent that it had not even made it into the evening’s printed program, that of longtime Los Angeles Dodgers scout Glen Van Proyen who passed away last week in Chicago.
Van Proyen, who was 86 at the time of his death, had pitched in the minor leagues and then coached high school baseball before starting a scouting career that would last almost four decades and result in the signings of such players as All-Stars Mike Marshall, Ron Kittle and Darrin Fletcher among others.
He also spent time working as a basketball referee, which earned him induction into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.
But perhaps the most intriguing footnote on his resume was his time spent teaching high school driver’s education. As first published in his obituary, which ran in Dodgers Insider, one of his students was Hillary Clinton.
