The Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame has planned a Hugh Bedient Centennial Banquet for Oct. 20 at the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown.
The banquet will honor Bedient, a Falconer native, who as a rookie pitcher for the 1912 Boston Red Sox compiled a sterling 20-9 record while leading his team to the World Series championship. In the World Series, Bedient was magnificent, pitching 18 innings in four games with a 0.50 earned run average.
The Hugh Bedient Centennial Banquet will closely replicate a similar banquet that was held 100 years ago. Bedient was welcomed back to his hometown with a parade witnessed by more than 25,000 Chautauqua County residents and was feted with a reception and banquet on Oct. 22, 1912. The event was held at the Odd Fellows Lodge on Main Street in Falconer.
Article Photos
The 1912 Boston Red Sox pitching staff included, from the left, Larry Pape, Falconer native Hugh Bedient, Buck O’Brien, Charley Hall, Ray Collins and Smoky Joe Wood.
Submitted photo
The featured speaker at the Hugh Bedient Centennial Banquet will be Dick Berardino, a player development consultant for the Boston Red Sox. Berardino was a coach for the Jamestown Falcons when it was a Red Sox affiliate in 1968-70. A renowned speaker and storyteller, Berardino has been an integral part of the Boston Red Sox organization for 45 years.
A highlight of the Hugh Bedient Centennial Banquet will be the presentation of the Society for American Baseball Research 1912 American League Rookie of the Year Award to Bedient's grandchildren.
The master of ceremonies for the event will be baseball historian Greg Peterson, who will present a video he has made about Bedient.
Dinner will be provided by Vicki McGraw of Elegant Edibles Catering, who is planning a similar menu to that of the original 1912 banquet. A cocktail hour hosted by the Hugh Bedient Celebration Committee will begin at 6 p.m. with the banquet to follow at 7 p.m.
Tickets to the Hugh Bedient Centennial Banquet are $30 and are available by calling Russell E. Diethrick Jr. at 665-2265, Sam Ognibene at 450-0663 or Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame president Randy Anderson at 640-6219.