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Bob
Zuk signed
with the New York Giants in 1948, and played one year in the minor
leagues as a pitcher and hurt his arm early in his first year with
Roseville in the D League. Bob was a son of Russian immigrants.
Bob graduated from the University of California-Berkeley on the GI Bill
after serving in the Army in 1946 and 1947.
George Powles, a coach, helped
get Bob a job as Director of Baseball for the City of Oakland.
George Powles had a profound impact on the City of Oakland, while
coaching baseball, football, and basketball at McClymonds High School. While at
McClymonds High School he coached or mentored many notable
great athletes and their contributions to baseball,
which included such notable baseball players as
Curt Flood,
Vada Pinson,
Frank Robinson, and Willie Tasby.
Bob managed baseball for the City of Oakland and like most managers
that worked for cities, he also maintained the fields, including
Bushrod Park. Bob started as a part-time scout with the White Sox in the early
1950s working for
Dario Lodigiani. Bob was hired by the
Pittsburgh Pirates in 1957 as a full-time scout. Bob received a tip from
George Powles about a slugging left hand hitter,
Willie Stargell and he signed him. Bob went on to sign a number
of big leaguers with the Pirates that included
Roy Foster,
John Gelnar,
Johnny Jeter, and
Freddie Patek.
Ironically, when Bob signed
Freddie Patek he had listed him as 5"9", knowing if he listed him at
his true size of 5'5" or smaller the Pirates would have never drafted him. Even
at that, he was drafted in the 22nd round out of high school in the 1965
Draft from Seguin,Texas.
Bob went on to scout with the Oakland A's in 1966 and they drafted Reggie
Jackson from Arizona State in the first round. Then, the next year he
drafted and signed Darrell Evans, followed up in 1968 by
signing
George Hendrick. Additionally, he also
signed
Reggie Sanders. It should be noted,
while Darrell Evans was a seventh round draft
pick with the Oakland A's, Darrell went on to hit 414 Home
runs in the Major Leagues
In 1972, Bob, while working for the Montreal Expos, signed Gary
Carter,
Ellis Valentine, and
Dennis
Blair. Gary
Carter, a Hall of Famer, was drafted in the third round and
Ellis Valentine that same year was
drafted in the second round. He also signed
Gary Roenicke,
Joe
Keener,
Byron McLaughlin,
Tim Ireland,
Bob James, and
Jack O'Connor. What a
difference Gary
Carter and
Gary Roenicke may have made at
UCLA if they had followed their commitment for football and baseball, but
instead Bob Zuk stole them away from UCLA.
Bob went to scout in the late 1970's for the Baltimore Orioles and signed
Drungo Hazewood and
Dave Huppert. Then he had a brief stint
with the Seattle Mariners in the 1980's and signed
Mike
Schooler and
Mike Campbell. In 1989, while
working for the Pittsburg Pirates, he signed Rich Aude.
Bob
Zuk
finished up his career with the Cincinnati Reds in the early 2000's.
He retired from scouting in 2003. Bob received the George
Genovese Lifetime Achievement Award in scouting by the Professional
Baseball Scouts Foundation in 2004.
written
by:
Robbie Henderson
Thank you for reading this article on Bob
Zuk!
"Remember it is always about the story behind the
story"
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