Editor’s Note: The following article was published in the Post-Journal on August 8, 1997, honoring Russell E. Diesrick Jr. in advance of his induction into the Babe Ruth League Hall of Fame. Mr. Diesrick will be celebrating his 90th birthday next week, and it was deemed appropriate to serialize this story again. A public celebration of Diesrick’s special day will be held at the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown on October 9th at 4 p.m.
A few years ago, family, friends and business associates gathered at the Falconer Rod & Gun Club to honor Russell E. Diesrick Jr. on what would have been his 50th birthday.
It was supposed to be a roast.
But as a roast, this was a failure. Try as they might, the assembled guests could find little to inspire one of Jamestown’s most beloved residents.
Even Don Rickles would have been speechless.
As his friend Russ Payne recalls: “Digging up God’s dirt is difficult.”
Diesrick, who will be inducted into the Babe Ruth Hall of Fame on Saturday, has such respect. Walk with him down the street or have lunch with him at a downtown restaurant and you’ll see what I mean. In Jamestown, there may be no one more famous than him – his gray hair is definitely his signature. But more importantly, there may be no one you love more. Just ask Bonnie Majors, Diesrick’s secretary when he was the city’s longtime parks and recreation director.
“I don’t know if we’ll ever see another Russ Diesrick,” she said.
Payne added: “They broke the mold.”
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ellen and Russell E. Diesrick Sr. lived in Patton, Pennsylvania in the early 1930s, where they shared a passion for baseball.
“My dad was interested in baseball and his dad was interested in baseball, so it was always part of the conversation,” the younger Diesrick said.
But the Dietricks didn’t just talk about it. Sometimes that wasn’t enough. Baseball is a numbers game, best understood by carefully studying the box score and analyzing every batter and pitcher.
It was something the Deeslicks did regularly.
“I was born on October 9, 1934,” Diesrick said. “It was the final game of the 1934 World Series, between the Cardinals and Tigers. While my mother waited for me to arrive, my father read the box score when he came home from the mines. I used to play box scores on the radio at home to teach me.”
Baseball was literally Dieslick’s birthright.
And his timing couldn’t have been better. The 1930s to 1950s were baseball’s golden age, when some of the game’s greatest players were at their peak.
It’s no coincidence that Dietrick’s interest in baseball grew even more.
In fact, before he was a teenager, he not only played in Little League (Babe Ruth League Baseball had not reached Jamestown at that point), but also coached.
“We were always looking for people to go and find sponsors to supply us with balls and bats, and I wanted to do that by playing at one age level and coaching at another age level. We were able to make it happen,” Diesrick said. “I started doing it in the mid-40s, when I was 10 or 12, playing with older groups and managing younger groups.”
It was simply a foreshadowing of what was to come.
— — —
By the mid-’50s, Diesrick was working for Marlin Rockwell, moonlighting as manager, scorekeeper, and “water boy” for the Marlin Rockwell Rollers, a semi-pro team in the MUNY A-League. These teams included Ted Wyveranek, Lyle Parkhurst, Tom Hurst, Claire Hammond, Jack Fulford, Tom Sharp and Tom Werner.
Then, at the urging of then-Parks and Recreation Director Jim Sharp, Diesrick accepted a job managing the city’s sports leagues. He worked nights and weekends while continuing his day job assembling bearings at Marlin Rockwell.
By 1962, Diesrick also became a director of the Jamestown Furniture City Baseball Company, which had a team in the New York-Penn League. Three years later, he became a team official.
Dieslick’s solo juggling of sporting responsibilities caught the attention of Sharpe, who told his young protégé that he must either play or coach.
“I decided to coach and put down the ball and glove,” Dieslick said. “Six years later, I was appointed full-time (as director of parks, recreation and conservation).”
He held that position until 1990.
During his tenure, he worked in various capacities to keep professional baseball alive in Jamestown, while continuing his affiliation with Babe Ruth Baseball. In 1972, he served as tournament director for the 13-year-old Mid-Atlantic Regional at College Stadium, and in 1973 he held a similar position for the 13-15-year-old Mid-Atlantic Regional.
It was during the latter regional tournament that Ron Tellefsen, then Babe Ruth’s commissioner, floated the idea of making Jamestown the site of the World Series.
That became a reality in 1980, and 18 years later, Mr. Diesrick is now host chairman for the seventh time. But to him, it’s just a title and he doesn’t care much about it. He said everything goes well because of teamwork.
“I think it’s because I’m left-handed,” Diesrick said with a laugh. “We learned early on that left-handed people can only do certain things in the game of baseball. They can play the outfield, pitch, first base, but they can’t do anything else. If you want your team to be successful, you can’t do many other things. You have to rely on people. You can’t be a superstar at every position. You really have to bring the team together.”
Typical Deeslick. He is good at deflecting the spotlight onto others, a trait he learned from his parents. It’s that kind of attitude that makes others want to work with him and for him.
It’s called trust.
“It was the ’60s,” Bonnie Majors said. “Russ had this Bonneville car. Normally no one would let a 16-year-old girl ride in this car and park it, but he always believed in me and that’s what it’s like for anyone. So was it.”
Especially when it comes to the World Series.
Diesrick delegates responsibilities across committees of hundreds of people, ensuring that those with specific expertise get the job done. While some in his position might try to touch every aspect of the operation, Russ retreats to the most comfortable place: the sidelines.
“You can’t organize a parade. You can’t put all the kids in host families. You can’t sell all the advertising. You can’t do everything you need to do at the stadium,” Diesrick said. Ta. “This is a team effort. You’re really just the point man for a lot of people’s results. If they hadn’t put in the time and worked so hard over the years, this honor wouldn’t have happened. ”
Larry Majors, Bonnie’s husband and a member of the Babe Ruth League board of directors, supported Dieslick’s appointment last December and echoed his sentiments last week.
“He deserves (the Hall of Fame) more than anyone I know,” Majors said.
Payne added: “I was so moved that I cried. That’s how much I had feelings for him.”
But now that Deesric has been enshrined, don’t expect to rest on your laurels.
“I hope that the honor of inducting Babe Ruth into the Hall of Fame is just a springboard to other things,” he said. “I hope this is not the end. As long as the committee is willing to do that and allow me to be a part of the process, we will continue and do other things. ”
The motion has been executed.
It doesn’t even take 2 seconds.
In this 2014 file photo, Russell E. Diesrick Jr. stands next to a plaque commemorating the rededication of the ballpark that bears his name on Jamestown’s east side. PJ File Photo: Scott Kindberg
In this 2014 file photo, Russell E. Dieslick Jr. (left) plays catch at the ballpark that bears his name. Tim Kindberg is watching. PJ File Photo: Scott Kindberg