Scotch Plains Man to Be Honored for Contributions to Baseball

A Scotch Plains resident will be inducted into the Union County Baseball Hall of Fame in February.

The Union County Baseball Association will induct Don Zsak, along with Frank Araneo of Union, Richie Burke of Elizabeth and Bob Hoffer of Linden will be honored on Feb. 14 for their contributions to baseball in Union County during the 74th Annual Hot Stove League Baseball Dinner at the L'Affaire Banquet Center in Mountainside.

The dinner is sponsored by the Union County Baseball Association, in cooperation with the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Union County Department of Parks and Community Renewal.

The special guest speaker at this year's awards dinner will be Dale Berra, the former infielder for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros, and son of Yankee great Yogi Berra.

"We're delighted to have New Jersey native Dale Berra as the guest speaker at this year's Hot Stove League Awards Dinner," said Freeholder Chairman Daniel Sullivan. "We hope that family members and friends of all the new inductees into the Union County Baseball Hall of Fame and the scholastic award recipients will enjoy the Sunday afternoon ceremonies and support youth baseball in Union County."

In addition to the new Hall of Fame inductees, the Hot Stove League Baseball Dinner also will honor young athletes from local baseball leagues for their achievements in 2009.

Tickets for the dinner are $40, with proceeds going to help fund the Union County Summer Youth Baseball League for youngsters 8 to 15 years, and the Fall Teen League.

 Since 1937, the annual Hot Stove League Dinner has been the primary fund-raising effort for the Union County Baseball Association's summer and fall programs. Over the years, the awards dinner has honored many local and national baseball luminaries – including Phil Rizzuto of Hillside, Don Newcombe of Elizabeth, Joe Collins of Union, Jeff Torborg of Mountainside, Willie Wilson of Summit, Jake Wood of Elizabeth, and Elliott Maddox of Union.

Tickets for the 74th Annual Union County Baseball Association Hot Stove League Dinner on Feb. 14 are available for $40 and may be obtained by calling (908) 789-3686.