New York, N.Y. — The eighth annual Lou DeMartino Memorial Dinner was held on Friday evening with over 140 people packing the main gymnasium to help celebrate a pair of award recipients in memory of the former John Jay baseball coach. John Jay baseball alum Rick Hubert ('79) received the Distinguished Alumni Award, and Major League Baseball scout, Billy Blitzer earned the Lou DeMartino Lifetime Achievement Award.
Amongst the supporters at the dinner included friends and family of the John Jay baseball players, award recipients and alumni, along with a host of John Jay baseball supporters including many John Jay faculty, staff and administrators. Amongst those in attendance at the dinner included New York City Councilwoman Gale Brewer.
"I am very thankful for all the support we get each year from everyone which include family members, alumni as well as faculty and staff," said John Jay head baseball coach and Director of Athletics, Dan Palumbo. "John Jay baseball can never have the success it has without its constant support.”
Hubert, who played under DeMartino from 1975-78 and was a member of the baseball program's first of many City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) championships (1978), was honored with the Distinguished Baseball Alumni Award, given to a John Jay baseball alumni who thrived as a member of the Bloodhounds baseball program.
“Before Lou DeMartino took over the program, John Jay baseball was not much of a program. But he turned everything around,” said Hubert. “If it was not for Lou, I don't think the program would have what it has today, so many championships and so much continuity.”
Blitzer, a lifelong baseball enthusiast and longtime friend of DeMartino, earned the prestigious Lou DeMartino Lifetime Achievement Award, given to an individual who has exemplified commitment to the sport of baseball.
Blitzer, a lifelong New Yorker, ironically played and coached against DeMartino coached teams. He played college baseball for conference rival Hunter College, and upon his graduation from there in 1976, Blitzer proceeded to coach the program the following season. Since then, he has served as a Major League Baseball (MLB) scout, where he has worked for the MLB Scouting Bureau in New York City from 1975-82 before working as a scout for the Chicago Cubs from 1982 to this day. In his years of scouting, Blitzer has discovered talented baseball players including Alex Arias, Shawon Dunston, Doug Glanville, Derrick May, Jamie Moyer, Rolando Roomes, Gary Scott, Greg Smith and Pete Zoccolillo.
“It is a special and tremendous honor to win such an award in honor of Lou DeMartino who was a very dear friend of mine,” said Blitzer. “And to join the list of honorees who have won this award before me (including Lou Santos '09, Don Landolphi '08, Mel Zitter '07, Gil Bassetti '06, Dan Gallagher '05, Fred Calaicone '04 and Joe Russo '03), and they are all people I know, it's such a privilege.”
The Lou DeMartino Memorial Dinner generally serves as the last official day of the offseason for the John Jay baseball program. Practice officially begins on Sunday as the team prepares for the 2010 season on a quest to compete for the conference championship for the fourth time in five seasons. Last season John Jay was regular season co-champions with an 8-2 record in CUNYAC play.
John Jay baseball has won CUNYAC's top prize 10 times in the program's illustrious history.
DeMartino, a member of the John Jay Athletics Hall of Fame, was a legendary baseball coach for the Bloodhounds. He coached the program from 1974 to 1999 amassing 424 career wins and guided John Jay baseball to conference championship seasons in 1978, 79, 82, 83, 84, 85, 96 and 99. He also led the program to the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament in 1982, 84, 85, 86, 96, 97 and 99, which included winning the tournament in 85. The former Bloodhounds skipper also earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III tournament in 1996 to become the first John Jay athletics program to achieve that feat.
