Ralph S. DiLullo (March 31, 1911 – August 9, 1999) was a professional baseball player, manager and scout whose career in the sport spanned 60 years. /ref>
DiLullo was a catcher in the minor leagues and later managed at that level in the
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
and
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
organizations for five seasons. He then worked for the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
as a scout and was responsible for the signing of pitchers Joe Niekro and
Bruce Sutter
Howard Bruce Sutter (; January 8, 1953 – October 13, 2022) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1976 and 1988. He was one of the sport's dominant relievers in the late 1970 ...
. He joined the
Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau The Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau is a centralized scouting resource that operates under the auspices of the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. Headquartered in Ontario, California, the MLBSB's efforts supplement the independent, prop ...
in 1975 and worked there until his 1993 retirement. He briefly re-joined the Cubs system in 1994, but soon retired once again.
Honors, awards and recognition
In 1986, he was named the East Coast Scout of the Year by the Scout of the Year Foundation. The Ralph DiLullo Award, handed out by the East Coast Scouts Association, and the Ralph DiLullo Memorial Award, handed out by the New York Professional Hot Stove League, are named in his honor. He was elected to the Professional Baseball Scout's Wall of Fame, located at
Richmond County Bank Ballpark
The Staten Island University Hospital, Community Park (SIUH Community Park) is a baseball stadium located on the north-eastern tip of Staten Island. The ballpark is the home of the Staten Island FerryHawks, a member of the Atlantic League of P ...
, in 2006. A book, ''Foresight 20/20: The Life of Baseball Scout Ralph DiLullo'', was written about him. Upon his death in 1999, Grahame Jones of the '' Los Angeles Times'' called DiLullo, "baseball's premier scout."
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.United States. His son, Ralph DiLullo, Jr., was a multi-sport star at Wagner College who spent two years in the minor leagues.http://www.wagnerathletics.com/hof.aspx?hof=105&path=&kiosk= Wagner Athletics]