Tony Lucadello
Encyclopedia
Tony Lucadello was a professional baseball
scout
for the Chicago Cubs
(1943–1957) and Philadelphia Phillies
(1957–1989). During his career, he signed a total of 52 players who made it to the Major Leagues
, most notably Hall of Famers
Ferguson Jenkins
and Mike Schmidt
. His total number of Major League signings is considered to be unsurpassed, and some have called him perhaps the greatest scout ever.
to native Italian parents, but grew up in Chicago where his family moved so his father could work in the area's coal mines.
established a new Class D team—the Fostoria Redbirds—in Fostoria, Ohio
as part of the St. Louis Cardinals
system and the Ohio State League. Lucadello travelled to Fostoria to try out for the team and ended up spending two years as a shortstop and player-manager in the league with the Redbirds and the Tiffin Mud Hens. Never a major league prospect as a player, Lucadello eventually took a factory job with the Fostoria Screw Company, met his future wife and settled down.
In 1942, however, he returned to baseball as a part-time scout for the Chicago Cubs
. He began running tryout camps, assembling teams and borrowing equipment to outfit them, and playing his finds against some of the best amateur talent in the Midwest. He was offered his first full-time scouting position by Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley
after bringing two pitchers in two years to the attention of Cubs manager Charlie Grimm
who were signed immediately to the Major League roster. After seeing the second pitcher, Bob Rush
, throwing at a tryout at Wrigley Field
, Wrigley told Grimm, "Before you sign this pitcher here, if you want him that bad, you better sign that young man right there," and pointed at Lucadello. As he left Grimm's office, Wrigley said of Lucadello, "This young man was born to be a scout."
Lucadello claimed that the key to identifying a prospect was to focus on the player's body control and footwork, saying, "Eighty-seven percent of the game of baseball is played below the waist."
The four kinds of scouts, according to Lucadello, start with the letter 'P':
He estimated that five percent of scouts were poor, five percent pickers, 85 percent performance scouts and five percent projectors.
Lucadello's credentials as a "projector" were most clearly demonstrated in his vision for Hall of Fame third baseman
Mike Schmidt. As a high school senior with two bad knees, Schmidt hit only .179 with one home run, but Lucadello had been watching him since Little League and still saw his potential. "I felt...that Mike was a late bloomer," he explained years later. He tried to keep his interest in Schmidt from other scouts by hiding behind dugouts or bushes or watching from a nearby rooftop. "I watched one game from the back of a station wagon in the parking lot," Lucadello said. According to Schmidt, "Without Tony Lucadello, I wouldn't have been a Philadelphia Phillie. He scouted me from the time I played Little League Baseball all the way up through high school and college. He had me followed when a lot of other scouts had kind of written me off."
In 1984, American League
president Dr. Bobby Brown, also believing the game's skills were in decline among its young players, began seeking a low-level way to reverse the trend. Among the ideas he received from major league baseball scouts was Lucadello's description of his "plan." With encouragement from former Phillies manager Dallas Green
, who had seen clinics run by Lucadello in Puerto Rico
, Major League Baseball created an instructional video in 1987 called, "A Coaching Clinic," that demonstrated the drills. Orders for the video came from all over the world, and it was given to officials from the former Soviet Union
who visited spring training in 1988 in preparation for the creation of an Olympic team.
The Lucadello Plan lists six rules for young players to follow to maximize the benefit of practicing with the wall:
In one case, Lucadello was able to sign a player who had offers of at least $100,000 from seven other teams while all Lucadello could offer from the Cubs was $4,000. Lucadello had been watching the player, Dick Drott
, since he was fifteen. On the night of Drott's graduation, the earliest time he could sign a high school player, Lucadello, Drott and both of his parents were in tears about their decision when the mother said, "I don't want the money....Over my dead body is my boy going to sign with anyone but Tony."
These are the Major League players who were originally signed by Tony Lucadello (by ML debut date):
-- For the Chicago Cubs (Note: * All-Star, + Hall of Fame):
-- For the Philadelphia Phillies (Note: * All-Star, + Hall of Fame):
on May 8, 1989 on a baseball field in Fostoria. The field, now named for Lucadello, features a monument honoring the former scout as "Baseball's Friend."
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
scout
Scout (sport)
In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...
for the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
(1943–1957) and Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
(1957–1989). During his career, he signed a total of 52 players who made it to the Major Leagues
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, most notably Hall of Famers
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
Ferguson Jenkins
Ferguson Jenkins
Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins, CM, is a Canadian former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He was a three-time All-Star and the 1971 NL Cy Young Award winner. In 1991, Jenkins was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. During a 19-year career, he pitched for four different teams,...
and Mike Schmidt
Mike Schmidt
Michael Jack Schmidt is a Hall of Fame third baseman popularly considered among the greatest third basemen in the history of Major League Baseball. He played his entire career for the Philadelphia Phillies....
. His total number of Major League signings is considered to be unsurpassed, and some have called him perhaps the greatest scout ever.
Early life
Lucadello was born in Thurber, TexasThurber, Texas
Thurber is a coal-mining ghost town in Erath County, Texas, United States, located 75 miles west of Fort Worth. It currently has an overall population of about twenty five.-History:...
to native Italian parents, but grew up in Chicago where his family moved so his father could work in the area's coal mines.
From player to scout
In 1936, Branch RickeyBranch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...
established a new Class D team—the Fostoria Redbirds—in Fostoria, Ohio
Fostoria, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,931 people, 5,565 households, and 3,628 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,917.6 people per square mile . There were 6,024 housing units at an average density of 829.2 per square mile...
as part of the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
system and the Ohio State League. Lucadello travelled to Fostoria to try out for the team and ended up spending two years as a shortstop and player-manager in the league with the Redbirds and the Tiffin Mud Hens. Never a major league prospect as a player, Lucadello eventually took a factory job with the Fostoria Screw Company, met his future wife and settled down.
In 1942, however, he returned to baseball as a part-time scout for the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
. He began running tryout camps, assembling teams and borrowing equipment to outfit them, and playing his finds against some of the best amateur talent in the Midwest. He was offered his first full-time scouting position by Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley
Philip K. Wrigley
Philip Knight Wrigley , sometimes also called P.K. or Phil. Born in Chicago, he was an American chewing gum manufacturer and executive in Major League Baseball, inheriting both those roles as the quiet son of his much more flamboyant father, William Wrigley Jr. After his father died in 1932, Philip...
after bringing two pitchers in two years to the attention of Cubs manager Charlie Grimm
Charlie Grimm
Charles John Grimm , nicknamed "Jolly Cholly", was a first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball best known for his years with the Chicago Cubs; he was also a sometime radio broadcaster, and a popular goodwill ambassador for baseball...
who were signed immediately to the Major League roster. After seeing the second pitcher, Bob Rush
Bob Rush (baseball)
Robert Ransom Rush was a professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball from 1948-60.Rush played for the Milwaukee Braves, Chicago Cubs, and the Chicago White Sox....
, throwing at a tryout at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
, Wrigley told Grimm, "Before you sign this pitcher here, if you want him that bad, you better sign that young man right there," and pointed at Lucadello. As he left Grimm's office, Wrigley said of Lucadello, "This young man was born to be a scout."
Scouting fundamentals
Unlike nearly all other scouts, Lucadello almost never watched a game from behind home plate. Rather, he moved from place to place around the field: a short way up the baseline (to see the batter's face), behind first or third base (to judge the arm strength of both infielders and outfielders), and halfway up the line (to watch pitchers).Lucadello claimed that the key to identifying a prospect was to focus on the player's body control and footwork, saying, "Eighty-seven percent of the game of baseball is played below the waist."
The four kinds of scouts, according to Lucadello, start with the letter 'P':
- Poor -- wastes time looking for games rather than having a planned itinerary
- Picker -- emphasizes a player's one weakness to the neglect of all strengths
- Performance -- bases his evaluation on what a player does in his presence
- Projector -- envisions what a player will be able to do in two or three years.
He estimated that five percent of scouts were poor, five percent pickers, 85 percent performance scouts and five percent projectors.
Lucadello's credentials as a "projector" were most clearly demonstrated in his vision for Hall of Fame third baseman
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...
Mike Schmidt. As a high school senior with two bad knees, Schmidt hit only .179 with one home run, but Lucadello had been watching him since Little League and still saw his potential. "I felt...that Mike was a late bloomer," he explained years later. He tried to keep his interest in Schmidt from other scouts by hiding behind dugouts or bushes or watching from a nearby rooftop. "I watched one game from the back of a station wagon in the parking lot," Lucadello said. According to Schmidt, "Without Tony Lucadello, I wouldn't have been a Philadelphia Phillie. He scouted me from the time I played Little League Baseball all the way up through high school and college. He had me followed when a lot of other scouts had kind of written me off."
The Lucadello plan
Like many scouts, Lucadello believed that modern players were weak in the fundamentals of the game. For many years he had proposed that young players could constantly improve their skills by using concrete walls to work on their arms and take ground balls at the same time, with or without supervision, similar to the way young basketball players spent hour after hour shooting at a basket. With the help of some high school coaches who worked as part-time scouts for him, he developed and published a series of training drills using the walls in a booklet called "The Lucadello Plan" that he believed could help change the game.In 1984, American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
president Dr. Bobby Brown, also believing the game's skills were in decline among its young players, began seeking a low-level way to reverse the trend. Among the ideas he received from major league baseball scouts was Lucadello's description of his "plan." With encouragement from former Phillies manager Dallas Green
Dallas Green
George Dallas Green is a former pitcher, manager, and executive in Major League Baseball. After playing for the Philadelphia Phillies and two other teams, he went on to manage the Phillies, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets, and managed the Phillies when they won their first World Series...
, who had seen clinics run by Lucadello in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Major League Baseball created an instructional video in 1987 called, "A Coaching Clinic," that demonstrated the drills. Orders for the video came from all over the world, and it was given to officials from the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
who visited spring training in 1988 in preparation for the creation of an Olympic team.
The Lucadello Plan lists six rules for young players to follow to maximize the benefit of practicing with the wall:
- Learn to position your feet for ground balls.
- Keep your head and glove down.
- Grip the ball across the seams.
- Throw with a strong, over-the-top delivery.
- Take 100 grounders off the wall every day.
- Play with enthusiasm.
Major League signees
Lucadello claimed, along with many of the coaches and part-time scouts he worked with, that his success in signing players was due largely to the close relationship he built with prospects and their families while he scouted them, sometimes over a number of years. Ferguson Jenkins said, "I signed with the Phils because they had worked with me for three years...and 'cause I became real good friends with Tony Lucadello. He came down every weekend to watch me play."In one case, Lucadello was able to sign a player who had offers of at least $100,000 from seven other teams while all Lucadello could offer from the Cubs was $4,000. Lucadello had been watching the player, Dick Drott
Dick Drott
Richard Fred Drott was a Major League Baseball player who pitched for the Chicago Cubs and the Houston Colt .45s. Drott, nicknamed "Hummer", started his major league career in with the Cubs. He won 15 games as a rookie, led the league in walks allowed, and finished third in balloting for Rookie...
, since he was fifteen. On the night of Drott's graduation, the earliest time he could sign a high school player, Lucadello, Drott and both of his parents were in tears about their decision when the mother said, "I don't want the money....Over my dead body is my boy going to sign with anyone but Tony."
These are the Major League players who were originally signed by Tony Lucadello (by ML debut date):
-- For the Chicago Cubs (Note: * All-Star, + Hall of Fame):
- Johnny LucadelloJohnny LucadelloJohn Lucadello born in Thurber, Texas was a second baseman for the St. Louis Browns and New York Yankees .He helped the Yankees win the 1947 World Series....
- Hank EdwardsHank EdwardsHenry Albert Edwards born in Elmwood Place, Ohio was an Outfielder for the Cleveland Indians , Chicago Cubs , Brooklyn Dodgers , Cincinnati Reds , Chicago White Sox and St...
- Ed HanyzewskiEd HanyzewskiEdward Michael Hanyzewski , is a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1942 to 1946. He played for the Chicago Cubs.-External links:...
- Russ Kerns
- Bob RushBob Rush (baseball)Robert Ransom Rush was a professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball from 1948-60.Rush played for the Milwaukee Braves, Chicago Cubs, and the Chicago White Sox....
* - Wayne TerwilligerWayne TerwilligerWillard Wayne "Twig" Terwilliger is a former second baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball.-Early life:...
- Harry ChitiHarry ChitiHarry Chiti was an American catcher in Major League Baseball. From 1950 through 1962, he played for the Chicago Cubs , Kansas City Athletics , Detroit Tigers and New York Mets . A native of Kincaid, Illinois, Chiti batted and threw right-handed...
- Bob KellyBob Kelly (baseball)Robert Edward Kelly is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for four seasons for the Chicago Cubs from 1951 to 1953, the Cinacinnati Redlegs in 1953 and 1958, and the Cleveland Indians in 1958. Kelly led East Cleveland Shaw High School to a state title in 1944...
- Fred RichardsFred Richards (baseball)Fred Richards was a first baseman in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Chicago Cubs in the 1951 season.-Sources:...
- Don ElstonDon ElstonDonald Ray Elston was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers . Elston batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Campbellstown, Ohio....
* - Duke SimpsonDuke SimpsonThomas Leo "Duke" Simpson is a retired American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, Simpson had a seven-year career, which included a full, season in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs...
- Jim BrosnanJim BrosnanJames Patrick Brosnan was a Major League Baseball player from 1954 and 1956 through 1963. He was a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox...
- Bob SpeakeBob SpeakeRobert Charles Speake , nicknamed "Spook," is a retired American professional baseball player. He was an outfielder for the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball in the 1950s....
- Bob AndersonBob Anderson (baseball)Robert Carl Anderson , is a former professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1957-1963. He would play for the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers....
- Dick DrottDick DrottRichard Fred Drott was a Major League Baseball player who pitched for the Chicago Cubs and the Houston Colt .45s. Drott, nicknamed "Hummer", started his major league career in with the Cubs. He won 15 games as a rookie, led the league in walks allowed, and finished third in balloting for Rookie...
- Eddie HaasEddie HaasGeorge Edwin Haas is a former outfielder, coach, manager and scout in American Major League Baseball. Haas spent many years as a skipper in the farm system of the Atlanta Braves and replaced Joe Torre as Atlanta’s manager after the 1984 season...
- Gordon MassaGordon MassaGordon Richard Massa is a retired American professional baseball player who appeared in eight games as a catcher and pinch hitter for the 1957–1958 Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball...
- Gene FodgeGene FodgeGene Arlan "Suds" Fodge was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Chicago Cubs during the season. Listed at 6' 0", Weight: 175 lb., Fodge batted and threw right handed. He was born in South Bend, Indiana.Fodge was a 1950 graduate of South Bend Central High School,...
- Footer JohnsonFooter JohnsonRichard Allan "Footer" Johnson is a former Major League Baseball player. He appeared in eight games for the Chicago Cubs in , five as a pinch hitter and three as a pinch runner. He did not have a hit in his five at bats, but did score a run during one of his pinch running appearances.In the minor...
- Don EaddyDon EaddyDonald Johnson Eaddy is a former Major League Baseball player. Eaddy played for Chicago Cubs in the season. In fifteen career games, he had only had one at-bat and struck out in that at-bat. He played third base in that game...
- Ed DonnellyEd DonnellyEdward Vincent Donnelly was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs....
- John GoetzJohn GoetzJohn Hardy Goetz was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, he appeared in four games for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball, but had an 11-year career in minor league baseball...
- Lou JohnsonLou JohnsonLouis Brown Johnson , nicknamed "Sweet Lou" and "Slick", is a former Major League Baseball outfielder...
-- For the Philadelphia Phillies (Note: * All-Star, + Hall of Fame):
- George Williams
- John HerrnsteinJohn HerrnsteinJohn Ellett Herrnstein was an American professional baseball player, an outfielder, first baseman and pinch hitter in the Major Leagues from 1962–1966. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Braves...
- Alex JohnsonAlex JohnsonAlexander Johnson Alexander Johnson Alexander Johnson (born December 7, 1942, in Helena, Arkansas is a former professional baseball player. He was an outfielder and designated hitter over parts of 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, California Angels,...
* ( American LeagueAmerican LeagueThe American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
Batting championBatting averageBatting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
) - Grant Jackson *
- Ferguson JenkinsFerguson JenkinsFerguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins, CM, is a Canadian former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He was a three-time All-Star and the 1971 NL Cy Young Award winner. In 1991, Jenkins was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. During a 19-year career, he pitched for four different teams,...
*+ (19711971 in baseball-Major League Baseball:National League: Pittsburgh PiratesAmerican League: Baltimore Orioles1971 World Series: Pittsburgh def. Baltimore , 4 games to 3.Inter-league playoff: Pittsburgh declined challenge by Tokyo Yomiuri Giants....
National LeagueNational LeagueThe National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Cy Young AwardCy Young AwardThe Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball , one each for the American League and National League . The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955...
winner) - Bill SorrellBill Sorrell (baseball)Billy Lee Sorrell is a former Major League Baseball third baseman who played for three seasons. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1965, the San Francisco Giants in 1967, and the Kansas City Royals in 1970....
- Terry HarmonTerry HarmonTerry Walter Harmon was a second baseman and shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies . He was a 5th round pick of the Phillies in the 1965 draft....
- Clarence JonesClarence Jones (baseball)Clarence Woodrow Jones is a former right fielder/first baseman in Major League Baseball who played from through for the Chicago Cubs. Listed at 6' 2", 185 lb., Jones batted and threw left-handed...
- Mike Marshall * (19741974 in baseball-Major League Baseball:*1974 World Series: Oakland Athletics over Los Angeles Dodgers ; Rollie Fingers, MVP*All-Star Game, July 23 at Three Rivers Stadium: National League, 7-2; Steve Garvey, MVP-Other champions:...
National LeagueNational LeagueThe National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Cy Young AwardCy Young AwardThe Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball , one each for the American League and National League . The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955...
winner) - John UphamJohn UphamJohn Leslie Upham is a former relief pitcher and outfielder in Major League Baseball who played in and for the Chicago Cubs. Listed at 6' 0", 180 lb., Upham batted and threw left-handed. He was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada....
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- Steve ArlinSteve ArlinSteven Ralph Arlin is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. In six major league seasons, Arlin pitched for the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Indians .-College Star:...
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* - Dave RobertsDave Roberts (pitcher)David Arthur Roberts was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for eight teams from 1969 to 1981. He was second in the National League with a 2.10 earned run average in for the San Diego Padres, after which he was traded to the Houston Astros, where he spent the...
- Mike SchmidtMike SchmidtMichael Jack Schmidt is a Hall of Fame third baseman popularly considered among the greatest third basemen in the history of Major League Baseball. He played his entire career for the Philadelphia Phillies....
*+ (19801980 in baseball-Major League Baseball:World Series: Philadelphia Phillies over Kansas City Royals ; Mike Schmidt, MVP*American League Championship Series: Frank White, MVP*National League Championship Series Manny Trillo, MVP...
, 19811981 in baseball-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers over New York Yankees ; Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero, and Steve Yeager, co-MVPsNOTE: Due to a strike in mid-season, the season was divided into a first half and a second half...
, 19861986 in baseball-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Mets over Boston Red Sox ; Ray Knight, MVP*American League Championship Series MVP: Marty Barrett*National League Championship Series MVP: Mike Scott...
National LeagueNational LeagueThe National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Most Valuable Player) - Larry Cox
- Jim EssianJim EssianJames Sarkis Essian, Jr. is an American former catcher and occasional infielder for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, and Cleveland Indians. He was signed by the Phillies at age 18, but he only amassed 24 at-bats over three seasons...
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- Barry BonnellBarry BonnellRobert Barry Bonnell , is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball.He was a star athlete at Milford High School near Cincinnati, Ohio, where he played both varsity baseball and basketball on championship teams...
- Todd CruzTodd CruzTodd Ruben Cruz was an American Major League Baseball player who spent all or part of six seasons in the majors with the Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals, California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles, from 1978 to 1984...
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- Len MatuszekLen MatuszekLeonard James Matuszek was a Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman. He is an alumnus of the University of Toledo where he played both varsity baseball and basketball...
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* - Tom MarshTom MarshThomas Owen Marsh is an American former Major League Baseball player. He played college baseball at the University of Toledo and made his Major League Baseball debut in for the Philadelphia Phillies. Marsh only played for parts of three seasons in MLB baseball - all with the Phillies - in 1992,...
Awards
Lucadello was inducted into the All Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago in 1976. He was named "Midwest Scout of the Year" by The Scout of the Year Foundation in 1986. He was inducted into the Ohio Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989.Death
In the spring of 1989, at the age of 76, Lucadello was told by the Phillies that that year's draft would be his last for them. Apparently unable to cope with the impending loss of his work -- "the fear of not being wanted," Mike Schmidt called it -- Lucadello committed suicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
on May 8, 1989 on a baseball field in Fostoria. The field, now named for Lucadello, features a monument honoring the former scout as "Baseball's Friend."
External links
- Joyce, Gare. "Wall of Dreams."
- Krupp, Paul. "Famous Baseball Scout Overlooked By Hometown." Fostoria.org. December 8, 1983.
- Simpson, Allan. "Still waiting for Hall of Fame recognition, foundation honors three more scouts." Baseball America. December 11, 2002.