Barbieri to be Guest Speaker at the Eleventh Annual Schenectady City School District Athletic Hall of Fame Dinner

Jim Barbieri, captain of the 1954 Schenectady Little League World Championship team, will be the guest speaker at the Eleventh Annual Schenectady City School District Athletic Hall of Fame and Reunion Dinner.  The dinner and ceremonies will be held at Proctor’s Theatre on Monday, September 8, 2008.

Barbieri was also a member of the Schenectady Little League team that finished second in the 1953 Little League World Series.  He was a standout baseball player at Linton High School.  He played with the 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers, appearing in the World Series vs. the Baltimore Orioles.  He was inducted into the SCSD Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.

This year’s inductees are:

Joe Loudis  (Mont Pleasant HS – Class of 1960) – Loudis was also a member of the second place 1953 Schenectady Little League team in Williamsport and a member of the 1954 World Championship team.  He lettered in four sports at Mont Pleasant High School.  He has coached boys’ basketball at Cohoes High School and Mechanicville High School.  He has won 422 games, the most of any active boys’ basketball coach in Section II.  He was inducted into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame in March.

Peter Famiano (Linton HS – Class of 1962) – Famiano was a member of Linton’s 1960 New York State championship golf team.  He won the New York State Junior championship in 1961.  He played golf at the University of Houston and later on the South African PGA Tour.  He coached golf at Montclair State from 1979 to 1999.  He was the NJPGA Senior Player of the Year in 1994, 1995 and 2002.  He was inducted into the New Jersey PGA Hall of Fame in 2004.

John Grabowski  (Schenectady HS – Class of 1918) – Grabowski played seven years of Major League Baseball with the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers.  He was a catcher, who batted .277 on the 1927 Yankees. The ’27 Yankees finished with a 110-44 record, winning the American League by 19 games and sweeping the Pirates (4-0) in the World Series. Many consider them the greatest team in baseball history.  His teammates included Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  He was also a member of the 1928 Yankees.  The ’28 Yankees swept the Cardinals (4-0) in the World Series.  He will be inducted posthumously.  

Dinner tickets cost $45 and are available in the Schenectady High School Athletic Department office or by calling Bob Pezzano at 346-9297.