Bobby Valentine to headline second annual IABF fundraiser in Brooklyn

While Bobby Valentine wasn’t in the race for the New York Mets or Yankees managerial positions, he will return to the baseball spotlight on Thursday, December 7, 2017, when he will be honored by the Italian American Baseball Foundation at Carmine’s Sports Bar and Restaurant in Brooklyn. The current Sacred Heart University athletic director will be celebrated during the foundation’s second annual fundraiser for his role as a global ambassador within the sport.

Bobby Valentine / N. Diunte

Carmine Gagnone, the owner of Carmine’s in Brooklyn where the fundraiser will take place, is also one of the organization's founding members. Speaking with Gagnone at his restaurant Sunday afternoon, he felt that Valentine’s record of community involvement made him a perfect choice to be recognized Thursday evening.

“Anybody I speak with, when they talk about Bobby Valentine, they say the work he does off the field is tremendous,” Gagnone said. “From 9/11 on, he was all over the place night and day.”

The nubile foundation was formed as the brainchild of Gagnone and Mint Pros founder Joe Quagliano as an opportunity to further the game of baseball in Italy through the establishment of baseball clinics and educational partnerships.

“We started the foundation about two years ago,” he said. “We want to eventually have baseball clinics in Italy, and we want to bring former and present major league players to run both clinics and tournaments. We hope we can offer good athletes [in Italy] a chance to get scholarships to play in the United States.”

Their inaugural fundraiser honored Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, who spent time as Team Italy’s hitting coach during the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Gagnone expressed how having a player of Piazza’s status support their initial efforts lent immediate credibility to the IABF’s mission.

“Having Piazza there helped tremendously,” he said. “We go to other events and they heard about us and what we do [just from Piazza appearing].”



This year’s event will have continued star power, with the list of confirmed attendees including current New York Mets and Team Italy outfielder Brandon Nimmo, as well as former Mets and Yankees stars John Franco, Jim Leyritz, and Rick Cerone. Brooklyn Cyclones Assistant General Manager Gary Perone will receive the IABF’s 2017 Executive of the Year award.

A limited amount of tickets remain for the November 7th, 2017 IABF Fundraiser. Each $500 ticket includes a cocktail hour from 6:30-7:30 PM, and then a two-hour dinner from 7:30-9:30 PM. For more information about the IABF, or to purchase tickets, visit their website, iabf.foundation

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2015 Topps Strata Baseball Review: A Quality Experience at a Reasonable Price

Making a late-winter 2015 debut, Topps Strata Baseball is definitely an example of the famed card company saving the best for last. Another release in their line of “all-hits” products, 2015 Topps Strata Baseball has built on the previous Topps issues of the year to form a truly premium product that satisfies in both appeal and value. Click here to read the entire review of Topps' 2015 Strata Baseball Release.

The Newest Members of the Hall of Fame Headline 2015 Topps Strata Baseball / Topps

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Piazza, Bonds HOF worthy to former teammate

For Queens native Allen Watson, Tuesday’s Hall of Fame election should be a slam dunk for two of his former teammates, Barry Bonds and Mike Piazza.

“Two unbelievable players,” Watson said during an interview at a baseball clinic this past weekend in Glendale, New York. “Barry Bonds was the best player I’ve ever seen, and Piazza was a tremendous hitter. They both should be in the Hall of Fame.”

Allen Watson with the San Francisco Giants

Watson starred locally at Christ the King High School in Middle Village and earned All-American honors at New York Tech, which led to a first-round selection by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1991 MLB draft. He played for six different teams in his eight-year big league career, with two of those stops providing Watson the opportunity to watch Bonds (Giants, 1996) and Piazza (Mets, 1999) operate up close and personal.

While Bonds didn’t tag Watson for one of his 762 home runs, Piazza hit an epic blast off of Watson in St. Louis in 1995 that looked like it was shot out of a cannon. Watson marveled not only at the speed at which Piazza's home run traveled, but the fact that shortstop Ozzie Smith almost had a chance to catch the ball.

“One time Mike Piazza hit a line drive and then [Ozzie Smith] leaped to get it — it went out of the stadium", he said. "He [Smith] almost caught it and it went out; that’s how hard Mike hit the ball.”

Despite both candidates’ resumes being clouded with allegations of steroid use, and Watson's own alleged steroid use in an affidavit by former teammate Jason Grimsley (which he vehemently denied), Watson said that none of the players from the steroid era should be excluded from the Hall of Fame because of the drug’s ubiquity during that time.

“Steroids were around for everybody back then, so they should all be there, not just one guy,” he said. " If one person was doing it, all right, but everyone was doing it, so they should be in there.”

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Dick Teed, former Brooklyn Dodger and longtime scout passes away at 88

Dick Teed wore the Brooklyn Dodger uniform for only one at-bat in the major leagues, but the experience left memories that lasted a lifetime. Teed struck out in his only plate appearance against Milwaukee Braves pitcher Max Surkont on July 24, 1953, but he didn’t go down without a fight.

''What I'll always remember,'' he said Richard Goldstein of the New York Times in 1982, ''is that I was up there challenging Surkont. I struck out, but I went down taking good cuts.''

Teed, who stayed with the Dodgers organization as a scout for 17 years, passed away August 17, 2014, in Newport, Rhode Island. He was 88.

Dick Teed Signed Photo / N. Diunte

A native of Windsor, Connecticut, Teed was a three-sport star at Windsor High, excelling in baseball, soccer, and basketball. Shortly after his 1944 graduation, he entered the Marine Corps, serving for over two years during World War II. His tour included action in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. After completing his military duty, he signed with the Dodgers in 1947. They started him at the bottom of their farm system with their Class D team in Thomasville, North Carolina.

He moved quickly through the ranks, reaching AAA with Montreal by 1950. Only one step away from the major leagues, Teed saw the light at the end of the tunnel approaching.

“If I improve my batting somewhat, I think I have a pretty good chance of sticking,” he said to the Sunday Herald in 1950. “They tell me my catching is satisfactory.”

While Teed became a top-notch receiver, the Dodgers were looking for a way to remedy his struggles at the plate after he hit only .222 at St. Paul in 1951. During spring training, they found a solution – switch-hitting.

He spent the whole season at Mobile in the Double-A Southern Association in 1952 working on hitting from both sides of the plate. A natural righty, Teed improved his batting average to .273.

“I’ve got more confidence this time after what I did at Mobile,” he said to the Sunday Herald in 1953.

With Roy Campanella and Rube Walker ahead of him and the Dodgers returning from a World Series appearance, there was little room for Teed on the roster. He returned to Mobile to start the 1953 season, but when Rube Walker injured his left hand in July, it was Teed's chance for the major leagues.

“Everything seemed different in the big leagues - magnified,'' he said to the New York Times. ''The lights were brighter, the crowds were larger. I even thought the sound of the pitches hitting Campy's glove was louder.”

After striking out in his aforementioned debut, Teed remained positive about his chances for redemption.

''I wasn't down, I figured there'd be another day,'' he said.

Sadly, that opportunity never came. Teed rode out his stay with the Dodgers on the bench until Walker returned. The Dodgers sent Teed back to Mobile and despite spending over another decade in the minor leagues, it wasn’t enough to warrant another call to the big leagues.

"I went back to Mobile and finished the season," Teed told the Hartford Courant in 2013. "My only complaint is that I never really got a chance to show what I could do."

After finishing his playing career in 1963, Teed coached in the Philadelphia Phillies organization from 1964-1967, winning a division title with Spartanburg his final season as a manager. In 1968, he turned his attention to scouting, working with the Phillies until 1977. That is when he returned home to the Dodgers organization.

As a Dodgers scout in the Northeast, his first major coup was Brooklyn’s own John Franco from St. John’s University.

I will miss Dick Teed, he believed and took a chance on me. I will never forget him for that. My prayers are with his family.
— John Franco (@TEAMFRANCO45) August 21, 2014

He also helped the Dodgers to ink an unknown first baseman from Norristown, Pennsylvania, who was selected with the Dodgers’ last pick in the 1988 draft.

Teed, who was on his way to Montreal to sign another Dodgers’ prospect, met Mike Piazza in the Philadelphia airport to sign him for $15,000. It was an unlikely setting for a signing, but such was the life of a traveling scout.

He stayed with the Dodgers as a scout until retiring in 1994. In 2001, he was inducted into the National Scouts Hall of Fame. His grandson Bryan Barnoswki kept the family tradition alive, playing minor league baseball for the Boston Red Sox from 1999-2003.

Even though he had only a brief stay in the majors, Teed told me during a 2008 interview that being a member of such a legendary team was the highlight of his career.

“How could you get a better lineup than what they had?” he asked. “Campy, Hodges, Snider, Reese, Jackie ... what a team. I didn't play long, but I enjoyed it. I was in baseball 49 years and that was my best experience; being in the dugout and the locker room just for the short time I was there. It gave me a lot of memories.”

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