1ST YEAR – GEORGE GENOVESE
2ND ANNUAL – BOB ZUK
3RD ANNUAL – FRANK MALZONE & DICK WIENCEK
4TH ANNUAL – HARRY MINOR & BILL KEARNS

George Genovese was born in 1922 in Staten Island, New York. Before Genovese set out for the big leagues he was a shortstop for several minor league teams, including the Denver Bears and the Hollywood Stars. In 1952 after a short stint with the Washington Senators, Branch Rickie gave Genovese his first managing job with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He would later direct his talents towards the San Francisco Giants, first as manger of their El Paso affiliate in the Texas League from 1960 to 1963, and then in the role where he has influenced the game the most – scouting. Since 1964 Genovese has signed nearly 40 major league players, including Matt Nokes, Eric King, Jack Clark, Matt Williams, Rob Deer, Garry Maddox, Gary Matthews, George Foster, Chili Davis, Dave Kingman, Randy Moffit, Jim Barr, Gary Alexander and was responsible for the Giants signing of Bobby Bonds. Originally, San Francisco had turned down Bonds however, due to Genovese’s perseverance and the support of Jack Schwarz he got the Grants to change their minds. Genovese’s gut feeling about Bonds led to the growth of a great player and an even greater player in his son Barry Bonds. In 1988 Genovese’s peers in the scouting profession honored him when they selected him as “Scout of the Year.” In 1995, he began scouting for the Los Angeles Dodgers and is still scouting for them today. George currently lives in North Hollywood, California close by to his daughter Kathleen Haworth, her husband David and their daughters Rose and Holly. Tonight we salute him with the 1st Annual George Genovese Lifetime Achievement Award.

Robert Stanley Zuk was born on April 12, 1927. In 1948 he was signed by the New York Giants, but was released a month later due to shoulder rotary cuff problems. Between 1948 and 1957 Bob attended the University of California and worked for the recreation department on playgrounds. It wasn’t until 1957 that Bob started scouting for the Pittsburgh, Pirates. Throughout his 42 year scouting career, he not only scouted for the, Pirates but also for the Chicago, White Sox; Montreal, Expos; Kansas City, A’s; Oakland, A’s & Atlanta, Braves.

Amongst several ball players, Bob signed hall of famer Willie Stargell in 1958 to the Pittsburgh Pirates; Mr. October himself, Reggie Jackson in 1966 to the Kansas City, A’s and Gary Carter in 1972 to the Montreal Expos.

As a territorial scout, Bob signed 22 players who reached the major leagues. The accumulated home runs by players that he signed is 2, 444 which puts him 2nd on the all time list for scouts in that category.

Bob has been retired from scouting for the past year. He’s been enjoying his time off at home just simply relaxing. Bob resides in Redlands, California with his wife Dolores. They have three children, Bob, Laura and Warren.

Frank Malzone, a member of the inaugural Red Sox Hall of Fame class in 1995, will serve as a player development consultant in 2005. He spent 11 seasons with the Red Sox and was an 8-time All-Star and 3-time Gold Glove award winner at third base. Malzone ranks among the all-time Red Sox leaders in several categories, and he hit .276 with 131 home runs, and 716 RBI in 1,359 Red Sox games. In 1957, his first full season with the Red Sox, Malzone recorded 103 RBI and tied an A.L. record with 10 assists in one game. He became the first player in history to lead league third basemen in games, putouts, assists, double plays and fielding percentage. Previously to his consultant role, Malzone served as a Red Sox scout.

Dick was born in Michigan City, Indiana, February 7, 1926. He moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan when he was two and lived there for 33 years. Dick was a World War II veteran, U.S. Navy for 31 months. He attended Western Michigan University from 1947 to 1949. He moved to Claremont, California in 1961 with his wife and six children; Steve, Tom, Gary, Jeff, Debbie and Susan. In 1985, he moved out to beautiful Rancho Mirage, California, which is where he currently resides.

Dick started his career in 1947 signing a professional baseball contract with the New York Giants in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He began scouting in 1950 after breaking his ankle in 1949 and going on the voluntary retired list.

Dick held various positions throughout his career including six years as the VP of the Oakland A's (Dick considers that time with Oakland as one of his greatest achievements) He took over in 1980 and by 1982 the organization was picked as "Organization of the Year". In 1976 Wiencek drafted and signed 6 Major League Players in one year. Those players were Steve Kemp, Alan Trammell, Dan Petry, Jack Morris, Dave Stedman and Steve Baker. This is also a major league record.

Being involved in Baseball over 58 years, Wiencek has received many accolades and awards including "Scout of the Year" numerous times from various organizations.

Dick retired from Baseball in 2003. His wife Miriam of 57 years passed away in March 13, 2005.

HARRY MINOR
Associated with almost every aspect of player development in his 60 years in the game, Harry Minor has played, managed, worked as an Area Scout, as a Major League Scout, and as National Cross Checker. Minor's playing career, spent mostly as a catcher and outfielder, began in 1947 with the Pittsburgh organization and lasted until 1956 when he began coaching and managing with the Braves. His career in scouting began in 1960 with the Braves, first in Milwaukee and later in Atlanta. In 1967, Minor joined the New York Mets and still works for them today. While Harry is responsible for finding players such as Tim Foli, Ed Herrmann, Mike Lum, Tom House, Bob Apodaca and Dennis Gilbert, his legacy will surely be his cross checking days of the 80's when he helped the Mets sign talents such as Wally Backman, Gregg Jefferies, Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra, Mike Scott, Kevin Mitchell, Mookie Wilson, Dwight Gooden, Rick Aguilera and Roger McDowell. Most of these players formed the heart of the teams that won the 1986 World Series and the 1988 National League Championship. Harry and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Long Beach, California and have four children: Debbie, Bob, Becky and Steve. Bob (Mets) and Steve (Marlins) have both followed their father into the profession of scouting.

BILL KEARNS
Bill Kearns signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers after serving for four years in World War II with the U.S. Navy. He played shortstop in the Dodgers’ system for several years with stops at Nashua, Asheville, Mobile and Fort Worth. Kearns earned a degree while attending college at Tufts University in the off-season and went on to coach and scout part-time for the Dodgers. During his career, Bill worked for the White Sox and the Royals and is currently approaching his thirty-first year with the Mariners. Bill lives in the Boston area and is married with two children, Carol and Michael, and one granddaughter, Isabel. He likes to play golf, shooting his age more often than not, but never lets golf interfere with his love of baseball.