2020 Banquet Honorees
Banquet Honorable Awards
Frank Bettencourt
For 40 years, he was head baseball coach at M-A, leading the Bears to a numerous Peninsula championships. Frank was also the high school coach for Bob Melvin. In 1988, Mr. Bettencourt, who was a physical education instructor, retired from teaching. But he continued to coach at M-A until 1994. In the last few years of his life, Mr. Bettencourt worked as an assistant coach at South San Francisco High, coaching until just three weeks before his death, despite deteriorating health. "Baseball was his passion," said by many and he was enormously respected among his peers, considered the "dean of baseball" on the Peninsula by fellow coaches. Mr. Bettencourt was the first coach admitted to the M-A Hall of Fame in its first year. Mr. Bettencourt grew up in Atherton, later moving to Mountain View.
Ted Barrett Umpire Award
Ted Barrett is a graduate of Los Altos High School and had a 28+ year career as a Major League Umpire and was a Crew Chief for MLB umpires. Ted retired in 2022 He attended Foothill Community College and graduated from California State University - East Bay in 1988. He has worked many Division, League Championship, and World Series games, and was behind the plate for the perfect games pitched by David Cone of the NY Yankees and Matt Cain's of the San Francisco Giants. Read More At: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Barrett
Kathy Wolff Women in Baseball Award
Kathy Wolff worked for Stanford University for many years and ultimately found her home in the Athletic Department. She began working for Stanford Baseball in 1987 and spent the next 21 years immersed in the operations of the baseball office. She worked closely with Mark Marquess, his coaches and staff, along with players and their families. She was the behind-the-scenes force to the program and a beloved member of the Stanford baseball family. Kathy Wolff passed away on June 11th, 2008. Read More At: https://www.paloaltoonline.com/sports/2008/06/12/stanford-baseball-program-loses-longtime-administrative-associate/
Mission Statement
We are a 501 c3
Non-profit
Organization
Tax ID# 81-4306319
Hot Stove of Santa Clara Valley committee's commitment to the baseball community of Santa Clara Valley is to provide an opportunity for the baseball coaches and players to participate at the highest level and ensure recognition for their efforts.
This annual banquet is the event at which the committee recognizes and honors the accomplishment of the deserving participants within our community.
Funds provided from this banquet go directly to youth, high school, amateur, and collegiate baseball programs within the greater Santa Clara Valley.
History of the
Hot Stove
Origins of the meaning of Hot Stove as described from MLB.com
In the early days of baseball, the Hot Stove Season referred to an actual baseball season: Hot Stove Leagues, in which MLB players would stay in shape by playing baseball in their hometowns while staying warm with actual hot stoves.
The term soon expanded to become a kind of predecessor to the water cooler -- on a cold day, fans would gather around the hot stove to discuss their favorite team.
Current Hot Stove of Santa Clara Valley Banquet
Besides being held throughout our country for years during the cold winters, the idea of Hot Stove Meetings in Santa Clara Valley was brought to our area by the University of Santa Clara in the mid to late 1970’s. The banquet was held each winter until the early 1980’s at which time they stopped having them.
Then in 1984 and due to a decision by the Cupertino Union School District to disband all after school sports, two parents and educators themselves stepped forward to create a way to generate monies to keep all CUSD after school sports in the middle grades funded. Jim Hemphill and Dave “Obie” Obenour took the Hot Stove concept from SCU and moved forward in bringing it back to raise money for all of the after school sports programs. In addition, they gathered volunteers to sell a hard cover book for the 1985 Super Bowl at Stanford called “Super Bowl by the Bay” plus had a couple of sections in the stadium where volunteers could sell peanuts for additional funds.
After two years the school district figured out a way to get the funds to keep after school sports at their schools in place. It was at that time that Jim and “Obie” decided that they would keep the Hot Stove going but only to raise monies for schools and amateur baseball programs that were in need. With the help of our current committee and numerous others in the past to include Joe Gagliardi, Barry Colla, ex-MLB player Eddie Bressoud, professional scout Rick Schroeder, Terry Hardkte, Al Talboy, Flo Sullivan, Margaret Obenour, Harry Changnon, and the former University of Kansas Head Baseball Coach Richie Price. These banquets have been a mainstay of our baseball world in the greater Santa Clara Valley each year since 1985.
Thanks to everyone for their support and enthusiasm to keep the Hot Stove of Santa Clara Valley Banquet going strong.
Committee
Dave "Obie" Obenour
Co-Founder
Known as “Obie,” Dave Obenour received numerous awards during his 30 years serving De Anza as athletic trainer, 1970-2000. He also served as head athletic trainer for the San Jose Earthquakes Soccer Club (1974-1980) and on the medical staff of Olympic, World Cup Soccer and other high-profile events. "Obie", called by some “the best PR person De Anza College has ever had,” also is a member of the St. Francis High School Athletic Hall of Fame. "Obie" has served as the president and vice president of the Santa Clara Valley Baseball Hot Stove committee with a total 27 years of continued service for this event.
Alex "Sandy" Wihtol
President, MLB Alumn/Cleveland
Sandy Wihtol assumed the role as President & CEO of the Hot Stove of Santa Clara Valley at the end of 2018. Sandy had played baseball at Homestead High for Jim Hemphill who was the co-founder of this event and also played at De Anza College before signing with the Cleveland Indians. His long journey in baseball included 9 seasons professionally and parts of 3 seasons at the major league level with the Indians. For 16 seasons he was the off campus head coach at Los Altos High School winning one CCS championship and two runner-ups during his tenure there. In addition, Sandy was named the SJ Mercury Coach of the Year in 2007 and also named California Coach of the Year for medium sized schools in the same year. He has been a licensed and full time Realtor since 1986 working with Intero Real Estate Services along the SF Peninsula including the greater south bay.
Bill Hutton, Executive Board
Sr. Player Liaison
For 35 years Bill Hutton coached Archbishop Mitty Baseball. Bill finished his career at Mitty with a record of 648-319-4, which places him in the #3 spot all time in the CCS and #13 all time in the state of California. He continues to teach in the Mathematics Department at Mitty H.S. Over 200 of Bill’s players advanced to college or professional baseball. Bill’s teams won or shared 7 WCAL baseball titles and were runner-ups 5 times. His teams won 4 CCS titles and advanced to the CCS finals 3 other times. The Monarchs won a state championship (2010 voted by Cal Hi Sports) and one National Title (2010 voted by Rivals Sports and Perfect Game Baseball.) Bill was selected the Mercury News Coach of the year 4 times, was the Western Region Coach of the year 4 times, and was the National Coach of the year runner up in 2010. Bill is a member of the Archbishop Mitty Athletic Hall of Fame, the California Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, and the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Jason Pintar, Executive Board
Hot Stove SCV Attorney
Jason Pintar graduated from the University of Utah in 1996, earning a B.S. in Business Marketing and a B.A. in Political Science. Jason then moved to the Santa Clara Valley and graduated from the Santa Clara University School of Law in 1999, receiving his Juris Doctorate. Shortly thereafter he began his career in family law and estate planning in our area. Jason has volunteered his time to the Hot Stove committee with overseeing our legal needs as well as raising his two children with his wife here in San Jose.
Mark Wilson, Executive Board
Baseball Community Liason
In 2020, Mark Wilson retired after concluding his 38th year with the SJ Giants organization, including 30 as the team’s General Manager. Mark was a two-time California League Executive of the Year and the 2014 recipient of the Bowie Kuhn Award, presented annually to an individual who demonstrates the highest level of support of the baseball chapel program. Mark also won the 2014 Larry MacPhail Award for the most outstanding club in creative marketing and promotional efforts. Mark built a continued relationship with local high schools and the annual CCS Baseball Championship. The San Jose Giants retired only their second number ever, #38 in honor of their longtime General Manager.
Jim Seimas, Executive Board
Santa Cruz Sentinel Sports Editor
Jim Seimas, a graduate of Westmont High School and San Jose State, is in his 24th year as a professional sports writer in the Bay Area. The assistant sports editor and baseball beat writer for the Santa Cruz Sentinel, he has won more than 20 APSE national writing awards and brings a wealth of knowledge and connections to the Hot Stove committee. Seimas, a former Hot Stove award winner and Great Sausage Race entrant, lives in San Jose.
Rusty Weekes, Executive Board
Fund Raising Director
Venture Partner Kiso Capital, Non-Profit Development Consultant, Executive Director Bronco Bench Foundation Santa Clara University Athletics, Vice President of Sales Viacom, TCI, AT&T, Comcast ,College Football Coach, Pacific and Santa Clara University, College Baseball Coach, Santa Clara University, High School Football Coach Bellarmine College Prep, St Francis HS, Moreau High School, Hayward, CA, WCC 2time All League Baseball, Santa Clara University, Captain 1971 SCU Baseball, All League WCAL Baseball 1966 & 1967. Board Member San Jose Arena Authority Board, San Jose Sports Authority Hall of Fame, Diocese of San Jose Development Board.
John Schenone, Executive Board
Youth Leagues Liaison
John graduated from Bellarmine College Prep and earned a Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, from UCLA. He then worked in the procurement department at Varian Medical Systems in Palo Alto for 30 years. For the past 15 years, he has volunteered his time at Union Little League, located in San Jose. He has served as manager, coach, umpire, and has been a member of the league’s Board of Directors, serving in various roles, including four years as president. He has been director or co-director of many District 12 postseason tournaments. He currently lives in Santa Clara with his wife, Dori.