Harry Malory Minor

Harry Mallory Minor (March 7, 1928 – January 18, 2017) was an American professional baseball player, manager and scout. Listed at 6' 2", 210 lb., he batted and threw right handed.

Born in Long Beach, California, Minor graduated from Wilson Classical High School where he excelled in both baseball and football.

Minor began his career as a pitcher-outfielder for the Class A Riverside Dons of the Sunset League in 1947, where he posted a 6-10 record with a 6.29 ERA in 22 pitching appearances and also played 41 games at outfield. Overall, he hit a solid slash line of .299/.370/.462 with seven home runs and 47 runs batted in. Unfortunately, Minor never was able to rise above Triple A level in any of his minor league seasons, and those moments came only in the International League with the Buffalo Bisons, in 1950, and for the Ottawa Athletics in 1953 and 1954.

Minor earned that respect with a scouting sense that led to him being involved in the signing of numerous amateur players for the organization, including Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra, Mookie Wilson, Wally Backman, Kevin Mitchell and Kevin Elster, all of them members of the 1986 World Series champion Mets, Minor assumed control of the Visalia team during the final half of its season and finished 80-60, placing second in the Class A California League and losing in the league finals to the Stockton Ports.

In 1996, Minor earned the MLB Scout of the Year Award, and in 2007, he was recognized by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation with their George Genovese Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, Minor is a member of every Hall of Fame he was eligible for, having been inducted in the Long Beach Wilson, Long Beach Century Club and Long Beach Baseball Halls of Fame.