For 22 years, Randy Mobley has served as president of baseball’s International League. Mobley is scheduled to appear at The Syracuse Chiefs’ 53rd annual Hot Stove Dinner on Friday, Feb. 1, at the Holiday Inn Convention Center, on Electronics Parkway, in the town of Salina.
The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with a silent auction of sports memorabilia, and the dinner program starts at 7 p.m.
The Chiefs, the local International League entry, is the top farm club of major-league baseball’s Washington Nationals.
A graduate of Ohio State University, Mobley began his baseball management career in the mid-1980s as an administrative assistant at the International League office and later in the now-defunct American Association. In 1989 he was elected president of the American Association, and in 1991 he became president of the International League.
The Chiefs’ manager, Tony Beasley, returning to Syracuse for the second straight season, will again attend the Hot Stove event. In 2012, Beasley led the Chiefs to a 70-74 record. Prior to arriving in Syracuse, Beasley was named a minor-league manager of the year three different times by Baseball America.
Chiefs pitching coach Greg Booker, back for his fourth season with Syracuse, is also slated to appear Friday. Last year, Booker guided Chiefs hurlers to a respectable 3.95 earned-run average, and his staff walked the fewest number of batters in the International League in 2012.
Several Nationals’ executives, including director of player development Doug Harris, director of minor league operations Mark Scialabba and assistant general manager Bryan Minniti, are also scheduled to attend Friday’s dinner.
This year’s Syracuse Baseball Wall of Fame class will be announced at the Hot Stove event, and that group will be inducted into the Alliance Bank Stadium Wall of Fame later this season. The Hot Stove will also feature a new Fan Fest complete with interactive games, activities, displays and photo opportunities.
Tickets for the Hot Stove dinner cost $55 for adults and $25 for children ages 12 and younger or $500 for a table of ten. Fans can buy tickets at Alliance Bank Stadium or by calling 474-7833 during business hours; syracusechiefs.com.
The Chiefs are celebrating 53 years of community ownership in 2013.
