Santa Anita to Honor Baseball Scout Genovese
Santa Anita will honor longtime San Francisco Giant and Los Angeles Dodger scout George Genovese on Saturday by naming the 10th and final race “Happy 90th George Genovese,” as Genovese and a group of former major league players will celebrate the legendary scout’s 90th birthday in the track’s Turf Club.
Among those expected to attend are former sluggers Chili Davis and Jack Clark.
A former major league player and minor league manager, Genovese began scouting in 1964 and was responsible for the Giants’ signing Bobby Bonds, who succeeded Willie Mays in centerfield.
Genovese, who will turn 90 on Feb. 22, made his mark as a scout who spotted talent that was often below the radar, signing players such as Gladstone High’s Jack Clark, Chili Davis, Dave Kingman, George Foster, Matt Williams, Randy Moffit, Garry Maddox, Gary Mathews and many others.
A legend in the tight-knit world of scouting, Genovese is a member of the Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame and was a winner of the Professional Scouts Foundation inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, which was appropriately named the “George Genovese Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Although he has spent a lifetime in baseball, The Sport of Kings has long been a favorite of Genovese’s.
“My brother Vito played in Louisville many years ago and we all took a fancy to racing,” said Genovese. “When we were in New York, we used to always go to Belmont Park and we had some great times at Hialeah in Florida.
“I always appreciated the skills of the jockeys. I’ve seen them all from Ted Atkinson and Eddie Arcaro to (Bill) Shoemaker and (Laffit) Pincay. I love going to Santa Anita and I’m really looking forward to going out on Saturday.”
Genovese was hired by the Dodgers in 1995 and continues to scour Southern California’s vast baseball talent pool as a senior scout.