By DICK SPARRER
Who knew?
When Ken Caminiti was raining the outfield with line drives at Leigh High School...
Who knew?
When John Wetteland was running up the strikeouts at the College of San Mateo...
And who knew?
When Bellarmine's Pat Burrell and Leland's Jason Hardtke were making all-Central Coast Section teams...
Who knew that one day they would be baseball stars in the college and professional ranks? Well, the Santa Clara Valley Hot Stove Banquet awards committee had a pretty good idea. The committee will recognize the superstars at the 13th annual Hot Stove Banquet Feb. 3 at Lou's Village, 1465 West San Carlos St. in San Jose.
Caminiti, the National League's most valuable player in 1996, has been named the player of the year and Wetteland, the World Series mvp for the New York Yankees, is the pitcher of the year.
Burrell, a star third sacker for the Miami Hurricanes, has been picked as the college player of the year, and Hardtke, an infielder in the New York Mets organization, is the minor league player of the year.
Tickets are at $35. Festivities begin with no-host cocktails at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. Proceeds from the banquet benefit youth baseball programs in the area. For more information or reservations call 446-3443 or 245-1946.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 22, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.