Ron Roncetti

Sylvan Ron Roncetti (Ron)

• Born August 11, 1911 in Rome Italy
• Died February 28, 1992 in Toronto, ON Canada

Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Ron Roncetti came to Toronto with his parents when he was eight months old. As a youth, he developed a passion for baseball and played as a center fielder for the Toronto Lizzies during the 1920's. He played with Carmen Bush and Goody Rosen while with the Lizzies. He played with 2 other local teams in the 1930's before becoming one of Toronto’s top amateur coaches.

Roncetti created the Leaside Baseball Assocation in Toronto in the 1940's. The league fielded teams in the juvenile and junior levels. Under Roncetti's leadership these teams were quite successful; he lead Leaside teams to four consecutive city championships starting in 1953. Among Roncetti’s Leaside graduates was Ron Taylor. Roncetti also managed the Lizzie's senior team from 1957 and led them to city championships in 1958 and 1960.

Roncetti was also known for his long career as a pro scout, starting off in 1954 as a scout for the International League’s Toronto Maple Leafs. He worked his way up the ladder, working as a scout for the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos. He began a long career scouting for the New York Mets in 1973, and earned a World Series ring with the club in 1986. His last scouting gig was evaluating talent for the Toronto Blue Jays.

He was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame as a Builder in 1998. A local ballpark in the Leaside region of Toronto was renamed Taylor-Roncetti field in 1987, in honor of Ron Taylor and Roncetti.

Sources

• Canadian Ball Hall bio