Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Blackaby attended Canton, Illinois, High School, where he was a multi-sport standout athlete. He played baseball and football at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign before signing with the Braves in 1961. His nine-year professional career included 1,073 games in minor league baseball, punctuated by his two trials with the Braves in the closing weeks of the 1962 and 1964 campaigns, when MLB rosters expanded to 40 players. In his debut on September 6, 1962, he doubled in his first MLB at bat against Ernie Broglio of the St. Louis Cardinals.[1] He had entered the game as a pinch hitter for Braves' catcher Bob Uecker, who later became both a film and television actor and Baseball Hall of Fame play-by-play broadcaster. Blackaby collected only two other hits in the majors, both singles, in 25 at bats over his two brief trials.
After his playing days were over, Blackaby was part-owner and general manager of the Phoenix Giants of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Cloutier, originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin, is a former professional baseball player. He has been the Marketing Director in the Alaskan Summer League for the past fifteen years and has worked with such baseball luminaries as Tom Seaver, Barry Bonds, and Randy Johnson
Mike currently calls Salt Lake City home.
Dickson spent his first four years in professional baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates' farm system , 1958 with Douglas Copper Kings. And until he was drafted by the Colt .45s, a first-year expansion team, after he won ten games in the Class B Three-I League in 1961.
He debuted for Houston in July 1963, and in his third appearance he earned his first major league save with 11⁄3 innings of scoreless relief, preserving Bob Bruce's 4–2 victory over the Milwaukee Braves on July 5.[1] He gave up no runs and only one hit in his first four outings, but poor performances against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 20–21 and the Pirates on July 30 inflated his earned run average to 9.31 by the end of the month.[2] On January 20, 1964, Dickson was traded with another young pitcher, Wally Wolf, to Cincinnati for veteran infielder Eddie Kasko. He worked in only four early-season games as a relief pitcher for the 1964 Reds, but gained his first major league victory on May 5 against the Pirates. He then won nine games as a reliever for Triple-A San Diego and was selected by Kansas City in the 1964 Rule 5 draft that November.
Dickson spent all of 1965 on the Athletics' roster, appearing in 68 games, fourth-most in the American League. He won three of five decisions, one of only two Kansas City pitchers to post a winning record for a 103-loss, last-place team. He registered no saves. He then began 1966 with the Athletics, and was less effective in 23 appearances with a 4.86 earned run average. On July 24, 1966, he was given his only major league starting pitcher assignment against the Washington Senators. Staked to a 4–0 lead in the first inning, he pitched well for the first three frames but then ran into trouble in the fourth, surrendering four runs, two coming on a home run by former teammate Ken Harrelson.[3] Dickson earned a "no decision" in that contest, but he was sent down to Triple-A after that game and spent the remainder of his pro career in the top level of minor league baseball, retiring after the 1970 season.
All told, in 1421⁄3 innings pitched in the majors, he allowed 135 hits and 77 bases on balls with 86 strikeouts. He won five of eight decisions and added three saves.
Led strikeouts in four different countries. Skipper of the 2003 Cananea team of the Arizona-Mexico League.
Married Gretchen Jackson in 1959; four children
Grandson of William Rockefeller, former president of Standard Oil. Father M. Roy Jackson, who passed away when Roy was 8, was an avid foxhunter responsible for bringing Penn-Marydel foxhounds to this country. His mother, Almira Rockefeller, and stepfather Hardie Scot got into racing in the 1950s. Roy stopped riding as a kid and instead began playing football and became a three-sport athlete in high school.
Employed by Kidder, Peabody & Company before going to work for the Philadelphia Phillies organizational training program. Eventually purchased several minor league baseball teams and became commissioner of the Eastern, Pacific Coast and International leagues.
Pitcher for the 1958 Tucson Cowboys and led the Arizona-Mexico League with 158 strikeouts.
Bisbee Copper Kings.
Team ownership from 2007-11.
Paul was innovative, hard working and was always tinkering with ways to get fans to the ballpark with different types of promotions.
He also wasn't afraid to take a chance with a promotion during his time with the El Paso Diablos.
Paul had a major impact on minor league baseball and was well respected by his peers. He was named the Texas League Double-A Executive of the Year five times, the Sporting News Double-A Executive of the Year four times and was also the feature of many national articles on the team's success.
Steve operated the NBC World Series and Wichita Wranglers based at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium for 17 years.
In the early 1970s, Miles Wolff raised a concern about having a career befitting a graduate of Johns Hopkins University. That concern was unfounded. Over the course of half a century as a commissioner, executive, and owner in minor and independent leagues, Wolff had a profound impact on both the sport and business of baseball. In 2014 John Thorn, the official historian for major league baseball, and Alan Schwarz published a list of the 100 most notable people in the history of baseball. Wolff was number 79, just behind Hank Greenberg.2
In 2020, Dan Moushon stated that Wolff jump-started minor league baseball, showing that a franchise could be fun and profitable, with his 1980 purchase of the Durham Bulls.3 He was then instrumental in bringing the classic baseball film Bull Durham to the screen. Wolff also applied his acumen to various other minor league franchises — not to mention entire leagues. While the journey has been somewhat rocky, there is no doubt that independent leagues have become a significant component of baseball. Today, in 2021, there are four indie circuits — the Atlantic League, Frontier League, Pioneer League, and American Association — that are considered partners of major league baseball. Other independent leagues are also functioning. All of this is mainly because of the vision Miles Wolff had in 1990.
Even more, he boosted the game as a publisher. Baseball America, which he bought in 1981 and sold in 2000, remains the most comprehensive source of all things baseball. After substantial research, in 1993 Baseball America published the first edition of The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, edited by Lloyd Johnson and Wolff.
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