By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Saturday was a busy day.

Returned home at 11 after watching sandlot games and checked my emails.

There were some from San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, Seattle, St. Louis, Phoenix, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit and Ottawa.

All had the same sad news: Gary Hughes has passed at the age of 79.

Saturday become a very sad day.

Hughes was a legendary scout with five World Series rings. The good scouts have special eyes, meaning that they have the ability to project four or five years down the road. Hughes had those eyes.

Hughes was a man with a big heart and an even bigger personality. He joins Jim Fregosi, Wilbur (Moose) Johnson, Dallas Green, Howie Haak, Bobby Mattick and Huey Alexander upstairs on my Mount Rushmore of scouts. No doubt they are sitting around discussing “the state of the game.”

He was a man who signed his emails “love ... Gary.”

I told one scout how we are losing too many people we know and love. His reply: “I guess it seems like we are losing more than our share, but as I was telling my wife, we know so many people throughout the world, from our lives involved in baseball, it probably seems disproportionate.

“Life is hard right now, but I’m certainly happy I’m still a part of it.”

Another quoted Fregosi who would answer if someone asked how he was doing?

“As long as I don’t hear lawn-mowers cutting the grass above me, I’m doing well.”

One night in New Orleans over bowls of gumbo, Hughes nicknamed my friend Tracy Ringolsby and myself as “The Bickersons,” because we often argued. (“He started it.”)

The Bickersons was at the time a radio and TV show starring Don Ameche (later Lew Parker) and Frances Langford, who portrayed a husband and wife team. His wife Kathy asked, “Which one of your gets the last word ... he’s Francis.”

We eventually cut down on the disagreements.

Heard from Donald Campbell, who took over running the Ottawa-Nepean Canadians when I left the capital, as well as covering the Montreal Expos.

“We gave Gary the best smile of the night award in Cooperstown in 2012,” Campbell said.

Why was he smiling so much?

“Ah, dopey ... because you were being honoured.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2020

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

There are good days and bad days for writers in spring training.

For me most of them were bad since I had worked nights since I was 17 and spring training meant early mornings.

One early morning in the spring of 2004, it was a little of both for me:

Inside the Florida Marlins clubhouse at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter I spoke to right-hander Josh Beckett of the defending World Series champs. He agreed to an interview and said he’d be back in 10 minutes.

Four months before that morning manager Jack McKeon went to Beckett, on three days rest to close out the Series. The right-hander became the first starter to pitch a complete-game shutout against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in a World Series clinching game, since Lew Burdette of the 1957 Milwaukee Braves.

As I stood and waited suddenly the clubhouse was empty. A clubhouse attendant came over and told me that I would have to leave “writers are not allowed in the clubhouse when the team goes out for stretching and batting practice.”

The Toronto Blue Jays did not have that rule in their clubhouse at the time. I pleaded ignorance. I explained how I’d arranged to talk to Beckett and was waiting for him. “Sorry,” the clubby said. “You have to leave.”

So out I went and about 10 steps from the door my phone rang. It was Gary Hughes, a Marlins executive, returning my call from the night before. The conversation went like this:

Hughes: “How’s it going?”

Me: “Not so good. I was just ejected from your clubhouse.”

After asking what the clubhouse man looked like, Hughes said: “Look I want you to turn around, march back in there and give your phone to the guy. I want to speak to him. Now! You come all the way from Dunedin and he kicks you out? I’ll settle this.”

So in I go, full of confidence and hand the phone to the clubby, who did a lot of listening and finally said “No, no, I am not saying that.”

Making my second exit from the clubhouse I asked Hughes what was that all about?

Hughes: “That was my son Michael Rock ... when you gave him the phone I told him to kick you out again. But he wouldn’t do it.”

That is Gary Hughes’ sense of humour..

* * *

The long-time scout and executive wears loud Hawaiian shirts in the button-down executive world needs a laugh right now. He also needs a prayer as well. Now, is a moment to think of Hughes who is battling health issues. Keep him in your thoughts.

And the baseball world has been reaching out to the popular Hughes, who played left field for Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif.

The shortstop on that club was Jim Fregosi, who used to say when Hughes was around: “I told him to play on the warning track ... I’ve got everything else.” When Hughes wasn’t in ear shot Fregosi would praise Hughes’ eye for talent.

Hughes was elected to his high school’s hall of fame as his team won his coach’s first championship.

“It’s been overwhelming and exhausting,” Hughes said. “People have been calling and asking ‘anything I can do to help?’ It’s been so gratifying.”

The day after the US Thanksgiving Hughes received 147 texts.

Outfielder Kevin Dean, the first player Hughes ever drafted (in the first round, 15th overall in 1986 for the Montreal Expos) phoned on Father’s Day to wish Hughes well. “And he didn’t even know I was sick,” said Hughes.

Another Expos draft pick former infielder Delino DeShields, who passed on a hoops scholarship to Villanova, the defending national champs, called as well.

* * *

Hughes has been the scouting director of the Marlins and the Expos. Blue Jays general manager Gord Ash once tried to hire him as an assistant GM.

Working for the New York Yankees he signed John Elway from Stanford. Hughes remembers Elway starting off “0-for-19 or 1-for-19,” at class-A Oneonta, but within six weeks, was leading the team in every offensive category including stolen bases. Elway had a left-handed swing which was perfect for Yankee Stadium. He played 42 games at Oneonta season and returned to school as planned.

Scouting for the Marlins, Hughes chose right-hander John Lynch, who threw the first pitch in Marlins’ franchise history at class-A Erie in 1992. Lynch worked 38 1/3 innings in nine games for Erie and Kane Country in 1992-93. He switched to football playing 15 years with the Tampa Bay Bucs and the Broncos. Seven straight years Lynch has been overlooked by NFL Hall of Fame voters despite the fact he is on the Ring of Honor for both the Bucs and Broncos.

* * *

Hughes has worked as a scout or executive, for the San Francisco Giants (1967-1972), New York Mets (1973-1976), Seattle Mariners (1977), Yankees (1978-1985), Expos (1986-1991), Florida Marlins (1992-1998), Colorado Rockies (1999), Cincinnati Reds (2000-2002), Chicago Cubs (2002-2011), Boston Red Sox (2012-2018 and the Arizona Diamondbacks (2018-2020).

* * *

Hughes and I sat together watching Canada during the Athens Olympics in 2004? I asked him if he had experienced any of the local food?

“Yes, I take the light rail system three stops up and there is a Pizza Hut on the corner.”

One game early into the Olympics second baseman Stubby Clapp (Windsor, Ont.) made a diving play and lined a ball into the gap. Clapp was 31, three years removed from his 23-game stint with the St. Louis Cardinals, and a Blue Jays minor leaguer.

Hughes then asked for a cap autographed by Clapp. Now, as a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America you are not allowed to ask for autographs or souvenirs. But this was international ball and Hughes was a pal, so we acquired one through one of the coaches.

Why did Hughes want the cap? “Because isn’t it the greatest baseball name ever? And I love how hard he plays the game.”

In the semi-final with Canada holding onto a narrow lead (and me rooting for the Maple Leaf) against Cuba I asked Hughes: “Well, what do you think?”

He was working for the Cubs then under GM Jim Hendry. Hughes had hired Hendry from the Creighton University Blue Jays. At his first draft Hendry’s job was to go to the store and bring in fat-free Fig Newtons for Hughes.

Now they were together. Together at Wrigley Field a lot of nights.

“You know, about 50 nights a year Jim Hendry asks me that the same question late in a game and about 50 nights a year I answer ‘It’s tough to win a ball game.’”

Canada lost to Cuba as Kevin Nicholson’s three-run, game-tying home run bid died on the track. Watch the replay the Cuban third baseman hangs his head expecting the ball to clear the fence.

A ball game is an awfully difficult thing to win.

* * *

Besides those already mentioned, Hughes signed Brad Arnsberg, Rex Hudler and Brett Gray (Petrolia, Ont.) after his 25-game strikeout game for the London Werewolves in a win over the Chillicothe Paints with the Reds.

Hughes told GM Jim Bowden he had signed Gray and Bowden asked “when did you see him?”

Hughes answered “I saw he struck out 25 last night.”

For 17 years, scouts writers and others have been flying into Denver on a November Thursday, taking a charter bus to the University of Wyoming and seeing a hoops game and a football game. I made the first 15.

One cold windy night I asked to sit in the press box. Hall of Fame scribe Hal McCoy, Hughes and I sat in the warm auxiliary box. I asked what do we do if we are questioned? “We’re from the Merced Onion,” Hughes said. “I’ve got the column, Hal is doing the gamer and you have the notes.”

In the early years we purchased membership to the Cowboy Joe Club which entitled us to a soda and some pulled pork before the game. One year the student asked for my Cowboy Joe Card. I didn’t bring it and turned.

First person I ran into was Hughes. “You need the card, we can’t get in,” I told him.

“The Cowboy Joe Club card? I never leave home without it,” said Hughes sounding like Karl Malden in the American Express commercial.

* * *

One year a dear friend became seriously ill. It was a near-death experience. The Blue Jays were in Bradenton when the call came. After filing my stories, I had two choices take the four-lane Highway 75 or Highway 19 with all its stop lights. That would be like choosing between the Gardiner Expressway or the Lakeshore. I took 19 and at each light looked up a phone number and gave people the news.

Arriving at the hotel hours later than normal, I phoned Hughes to say, “I have a feeling we’re missing someone ... someone I should have called. Someone really important.”

There was silence before Hughes replied: “Well, when you think of that person ... give ‘em a call.”

Thanks.

* * *

The highly respected Baseball America named Hughes one of the top 10 scouts of the 20th century. He has five World Series rings one for each of his children: from the Yankees in 1978-79, two from the Red Sox (2004 and 2007) and the Marlins (1997).

“I’ve had a good career, had a lot of success, know a lot of people, my son Sam scouted for the Cubs for 26 years before joining the New York Yankees,” Hughes said. “But Michael Rock knows more people than anyone in our family. He’s the longest serving member of the Marlins.”

And he leads the family in ejecting writers too.