Got word just a few minutes ago that Bob Doss didn’t make it, he died this morning at 8:45am.
Our prayers continue to go out to his family, wife Phyllis, sons Randy and Andy, and daughter Sandy. I will have more details coming up in a few minutes. Bob Doss has died, RIP.
It just goes to show you, that Cancer will not be stopped, and that is a sad reality.
I have known Bob’s son Randy for many years. He works in the admissions department at Guilford College and formerly worked at Greensboro College in a similar capacity. Randy was a very good baseball himself back in his day and played for the Quakers while in school at Guilford and he attributes all of his baseball success to his dad Bob Doss. I have never met Bob’s other two children Sandy and Andy but I have a scrapbook full of Palomino baseball pictures at home that Bob loaned me many years ago and I will be sure and get them to Randy Doss.
Bob Doss was well-known for his hairpiece that he wore and he didn’t mind taking it off or tiping his hair to people he would meet out in public. Bob was famous for bringing the Palomino World Series to Greensboro and for his long-time support of youth baseball in the city. If you have any comments about Bob or thoughts for his family leave them in our comment box(like we did for Vic Sapp) or go to our fourum/message board link at the the top of the page and type in something about Bob in the Amateur category.
Sources are listing his age at 69 and we all know that Bob Doss worked with Amateur baseball, but that man, Bob Doss was real PRO.
I spoke with Johnny Smith long-time Palomino coach of the Guilford Patriots and he told me that Bob Doss is a man you can not replace when it comes to running the Greensboro Palomino baseball league. “Bob Doss did it all”, said Smith. “One man can not come in and do everything that Bob Doss did”. “Bob put Greensboro on the map when it comes to 17-18 year-olds playing baseball”. “Doss was the man that got it done and people across the United States and aborad knew Bob Doss”. Some very awe-inspiring quotes about Bob from Johnny Smith, a man who worked along side Bob Doss coaching baseball and running baseball leagues in Greensboro for over 30 years.
Doss worked vocationaly traveling and selling car wash supplies all throughout the Southeast when he wasn’t working the Palomino baseball circuit, but you would never know it unless you asked, because to most people in Greensboro and especially for the kids he helped get schloarships for college or the ones he assisted in getting professional baseball contracts, Bob Doss was Mr. Baseball in this town. Bob Doss ranks right up there with Charlie Harville when you think of people that were the kings of baseball in Guilford County. Bob Doss and Charlie Harville are probably getting a game organized several hundred thousand feet above us as this is being written.
As we said earlier, Bob Doss was the man behind the development of Amateur baseball on the Palomino level in Greensboro, but that man was a pro’s Pro.
Bob Doss has been a great friend of mine for going on 30 years. He was a great asset to our baseball community and will greatly be missed. He has touched the lives of many young men in the area and has offered them the opportunity to play at the next level. He will be greatly missed but Palomino will continue , just like he wanted.
Bob Doss will be missed by all people in the Greensboro community not just the baseball people. He helped put Greensboro on the map with all the baseball tournaments that he ran and those tournaments brought millions of dollars into our city and helped the economy.
It is a sad day and we need more men like Bob Doss. We will remember his family in our prayers and our thoughts go out to his widow Mrs. Phyllis Doss and his children should be proud of their dad and what he did for our town.
Thank-you Bob Doss
1/22/08
I had heard Bob Doss’ name mentioned for years when discussions turned to youth baseball in Greensboro. However I never actually met Bob until four years ago. Since then he impressed me with his tireless dedication to youth baseball in this area.
I’ll never forget my last conversation with Bob which was a few days before his surgery. He was to-the-point discussing his cancer. He then moved quickly to questions about my son’s upcoming senior season at Northwest and the work being done on the field there. It was obvious that he was more interested in talking about baseball than in talking about his illness. But, that was Bob.
He touched the lives of so many kids in ways that many players and parents will never know. For that he’ll be missed…for a long time.
Thanks, Bob.
While I never knew Bob Doss personally, I knew of his excellent work with our youth baseball programs. Greensboro and its youth lost a great man. While he is no longer with us, his legacy will live on through the countless lives he influenced and the wonderful memories his work created. You will be greatly missed.
Matt Lojko, Jr.
Mr. Doss was a wonderful man. He provided baseball opportunities for African Americans when some organizations pushed us away. He was always there to help kids regardless of their skin color or school affiliation. Over the past few years Bob has taken kids from schools all over the county to places such as Canada, Virgin Islands and Texas. For some of the players at Dudley it was the first time ever traveling outside of North Carolina for free. I had the honor of playing in the first Palamino World Series when Bob Doss bought it here. Bob was very instrumental in me becoming a High School, College and Palomino league coach. He always offered me advice and would always tell me the truth whether I wanted to hear it or not. I remember a conversation that took place just the past summer before a baseball game, I went and hugged Bob and asked him not to give up with his cancer battle and he replied that he couldn’t give up because somebody had to stay around and make sure that I didn’t misbehave. Bob Doss could always recite the number of kids that played in the Palomino league that went on to play college baseball or Professional baseball and when a kid signed a professional contract this past summer I went to Bob to ask him about the program and sure enough he had already updated his stats for the next person who wanted to hear the story. Bob was more than a Palomino Baseball Director, Bob was a friend. I love Bob Doss and I along with the Dudley family will truly miss him.
Larry Farrer
Dudley High School Baseball
Bob Doss got things done. Bob was not a talker he was a doer. Bob could get more done with less than anybody I have ever seen. He took youth baseball to a level in this town that we will never see again. Bob made things happen and it didn’t matter what he had to do, if it was helpinmg kids he made it happen.
Bob Doss will be missed by all and he can’t be replaced. There will only be one Bob Doss.
We were lucky to have him here in Greensboro.
To Bob Doss’ Family – My thoughts and prayers go out to you. Bob was a great man on and off the baseball field, and I will miss him. It will not be the same when I come back home to Greensboro and step foot on a baseball field with my team. He supported young men thoughout the country playing baseball and though we were the rivals, he always made me feel at home. Rest in Peace Bob, you will always be in my heart. (Lynnhaven Baseball).