The late Ron Fiochetta, who put Altoona’s L.S. Fiore’s entry on the national All-American Amateur Baseball Association map during his 12 years as the franchise’s manager, will be one of five new inductees enshrined into the national AAABA Hall of Fame later this summer.
Fiochetta will be joined in this year’s induction class by former major league manager Buck Showalter, former major league relief pitcher and pitching coach Roger McDowell, and former major league pitchers Nelson Figueroa and Kurt Ainsworth.
This year’s induction banquet will be held on Saturday, Aug. 3 at the Frank J. Pasquerilla Center in Johnstown. The guest speaker for the banquet will be Roberto Clemente Jr.
Fiochetta, who died at the age of 51 in 1997, managed L.S. Fiore from 1984 through 1997, with two years off in 1992 and 1993 due to health reasons. He served as the team’s general manager in the 1991 season. Fiochetta led L.S. Fiore to 10 Altoona AAABA League championships, four AAABA Regional championships and a runner-up finish in the AAABA National Tournament at Johnstown in 1994.
A link to sports writer John Hartsock’s story in The Altoona Mirror on Fiochetta’s upcoming induction follows: