John Dittrich was in Greensboro back in the days of the Greensboro Hornets minor league baseball team, and John was pure baseball man, and a true baseball promoter…John Dittrich loved the Bobby Bragan version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, and he would have it played over the public address system, at the old War Memorial Stadium, during the 7th-inning stretch of each Greensboro Hornets baseball game…The fans could feel free to sing along if they so desired…
John Dittrich was part of long line of Johns who worked with Greensboro baseball over the years, since you had John Dittrich, before him John Hopkins had run the team, and John Dittrich’s assistant manager was John Frey, who later led the team as the GM, and John Frey’s boss was John Horshok, plus you had John Tudor and John Parisi both working for John Frey…
But, with his out-going personality, and his ability to get close to, and reach the fans, John Dittrich was one good baseball promotions cookie…
John had the out-going and reaching out type persona that could get people giving their all, and laying their best on the line…You will hear from former Greensboro baseball general manager, assistant general manager, sales manager, and all-around chief cook and bottle washer, Rich Jacobson below, but that is how it has always been in the minor league baseball systems, you have to be a Chief Cook and Bottle Washer to make it work in the Minor Leagues, and that label fit John Dittrich perfectly…
The last time I saw John, he had left his job at the Greensboro Hornets GM, I think maybe a new ownership group had come in, and John loved Greensboro, and he didn’t want to leave Greensboro…So when I saw him for the last time here in town, maybe 25-30 years ago, he was over at the McFalls Pharmacy, there on Friendly Avenue…He was out McFalls Pharmacy to see if the pharmacist Rick Jump would lease him the Snack Bar space in the back of the pharmacy, and John Dittrich was going to get that Snack Bar up-and-running so he would have a place to work, and then he could stay and live in Greensboro, N.C.
Well, that idea did not fly, and John was soon on his way to another baseball city, in a long series of ‘Baseball Moves’ over the years…
Great guy, loved old Bobby Bragan, and for sure we all loved John, back when he was with us here in Greensboro…..He will be missed, but John Dittrich gone at age 73…..
RIP, and really, just get some rest….John Dittrich
**********from Baseball Digest, with Kevin Reichard on July 19, 2023 in Independent Baseball, Major-League Baseball, Minor-League Baseball, The Front Office
The Death of John Dittirch**********
It’s always a terrible day when we need to report on the passing of a baseball lifer: Longtime front-office exec and personal friend John Dittrich passed away today. He was 73.
I first met John before the launch of this site; he was helpful as general manager of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (independent; Northern League) when I was freelancing an article about ballpark financing for a Minneapolis-St. Paul business managing. When this site was launched in 2002 so John was an early supporter of our efforts, quick with advice and an insider’s perspective. We later spent time discussion his passion projects, like the restoration of LaGrave Field (which yielded hours of stories for the loquacious Dittrich, ranging from snakes in the old dugouts to the merits of fair poles vs. foul poles) for the modern Fort Worth Cats and his involvement with the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation. He loved every aspect of baseball, and he had a special passion for ballparks. But I wasn’t alone in this level of interest from John: He had plenty of friends in the industry and was proud to have served as an exec at every level of pro baseball, from MLB and MiLB to independent ball.
That experience included over 40 years in professional baseball, including four years with the Texas Rangers, a year in the Texas League office, three years in the National Association office in St. Petersburg. He was a general manager at every level of the minor leagues: Class AAA, Class AA, Class A, rookie and independent. He also served as a volunteer with the Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago. As he put it: two countries, 15 cities, 11 states and one province.
He retired to Tempe, Arizona, and was soon involved with spring training and Arizona Fall League games in Goodyear.
“John really set the standard for our team from the very beginning,” RedHawks chairman Bruce Thom told the Fargo Forum. “He got us started on the right foot and we’ve been rolling ever since. We owe a lot to John Dittrich getting us set on our way.”
He is survived by wife Lois, also a baseball lifer and frequently a front-office employee with John, serving as a ticketing and business manager. In recent years he persevered through medical issues that confined him to a wheelchair, but his enthusiasm for the game never dimmed, especially when it was time for spring training.
++++++++++from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.com, in Columbus, Georgia:++++++++++
Former Columbus minor league baseball teams general manager John Dittrich dies
BY MARK RICE UPDATED JULY 19, 2023 7:07 PM
Former Columbus minor league baseball executive John Dittrich has died. Dittrich, the general manager of the Columbus Indians and Columbus RedStixx from 1991-95, died Wednesday morning, according to Facebook posts from family and friends. The location and cause of his death wasn’t available before publication, but friend Ted Barker of Carrollton, Texas, wrote in his post that Dittrich was “surrounded by his family” when he died.
A spinal cord bleed in 2019 left Dittrich “paraplegic overnight and ultimately cut short his remarkable life way too soon,” Barker wrote. Dittrich was 73 and residing in Tempe, Arizona, according to online public records. No obituary or funeral arrangements have been announced.
JOHN DITTRICH’S IMPACT ON COLUMBUS Kathy Gierer, former official scorekeeper at Golden Park, noted Dittrich arrived in Columbus at a critical juncture in the city’s professional baseball history. She said that after the “ultra-successful” Mudcats moved to North Carolina following the 1990 season, the Columbus minor league franchise dropped from Class AA to Class A and changed major league affiliations from the Houston Astros to the Cleveland Indians. Dittrich, however, persevered through the transition.
“I always compared John to the ringmaster in a circus who was a born salesman,” Gierer wrote to the Ledger-Enquirer. “You felt compelled to buy tickets, sponsorships, or whatever he was peddling!! He was a master juggler with multiple balls flying through the air at any time of day or night. He always had to worry about the fans, employees, players … and the weather.” Gierer is grateful Dittrich respected the separation between their domains. Get unlimited digital access Try 1 month for $1 CLAIM OFFER “As official scorer, my job was intense and sometimes controversial,” she said. “Happily, John left me alone to do my job and never interfered, only providing support when needed.” Gierer also appreciates Dittrich and his family for their involvement in the Columbus area while they lived here.
“The now-grown-up kids, Robbie, Jenny and Jamey, along with John’s devoted wife Lois became a part of the fabric of our community,” she said. For example, Dittrich led the initiative that enabled the RedStixx to become Partners in Education with Mathews Elementary School, where Gierer taught before retiring. “The one-of-a-kind adoption ceremony was held at Golden Park with the entire school student body bused there for the occasion,” Gierer said. “The players and front office staff were frequent participants in a variety of Mathews activities.”
Former Golden Park public address announcer Steve Thiele called Dittrich “influential” in the community.
“He made himself known by joining several civic organizations and pushing baseball to really get people coming back to minor league baseball at Golden Park,” Thiele, a retired visual information specialist for the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning), said. “… People got to know John because he was a very easy guy to like, and he was well respected.” Dittrich sometimes would “get upset” and “emphatic” if the staff didn’t perform to his standards, but he never would belittle anyone, Thiele said. And no matter how frustrated Dittrich got with the multitasking operation of a game night, when Thiele played during rain delays the recording of Dittrich’s favorite song, “Minnie the Moocher,” he returned to his “awesome personality,” Thiele said.
Jim White, a retired executive from Tom’s Foods and Synovus, was a RedStixx season-ticket holder when he agreed to team owner Charlie Morrow’s request in 1995 to join the organization as vice president for finance of the baseball team and the minor league hockey team, the Columbus Cottonmouths. “I remember John as a long-term baseball man, a great promoter of the game, knew how to put people in the seats and entertain the fans,” White told the Ledger-Enquirer in a text message.
Former Ledger-Enquirer columnist Guerry Clegg, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker, Kennon, Parker, Duncan & Davis, told the L-E in an email, “I loved John’s passion for minor league baseball. He was my go-to for anything related to minor league baseball. What impressed me about John was how invested he became in every community where he worked. I think that was due to his positive nature in general. He was a huge asset to Columbus when he was here.”
In an email to the Ledger-Enquirer, Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce partner representative Rick Jacobson, who worked for the RedStixx as vice president for sales and marketing, described Dittrich as “stout a family man as I’ve ever known,” with a “tendency to leave cities and teams after their first successes, so he could open up new baseball territory. . . . He wasn’t a guy who liked to hang around ‘maintaining’ baseball franchises, having grown them to maturity.”
Former RedStixx radio broadcaster Mark Littleton, now president and CEO of Kinetic Credit Union in Columbus, told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email, “John was the perfect example of a baseball guy, a baseball lifer. He loved the purity of the game, especially at the minor league level. He was a baseball salesman and never missed an opportunity to promote the RedStixx in the Chattahoochee Valley. He was mentor to me and many others and will be greatly missed.”
JOHN DITTRICH: ‘A BASEBALL LIFER’ On his LinkedIn account, Dittrich also described himself as a “baseball lifer.” During 42 years as an executive at all levels of professional baseball, including four seasons in the front office of the major league Texas Rangers, Dittrich was general manager of more than a dozen minor league teams. His teams were affiliated with six major league organizations (Padres, Rangers, Reds, Yankees, Indians and Mariners). He also was assistant to the president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues for three years.
“He may be the only person to ever lead teams at AAA, AA, A, Rookie & Independent levels,” Barker wrote. And wherever baseball brought Dittrich — 14 cities, 11 states and two countries — he and his family made many friends, as evidenced by the GoFundMe page that raised $15,469 from 131 donors to help pay for the home modification he needed to accommodate life in a wheelchair.
Read more at: https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/article277454848.html#storylink=cpy