SAN FRANCISCO -- George Genovese, the scout who signed a veritable All-Star team of players for the San Francisco Giants, died Sunday in a Burbank, Calif., hospital. He was 93.
Genovese was widely considered to be baseball's most astute scout -- ever. Mining the mother lode of talented prospects that formerly proliferated across Southern California, Genovese either directly signed or prompted the drafting of more than 40 Major Leaguers during his 1964-95 tenure with the Giants.
Outfielder George Foster, the 1977 National League Most Valuable Player with Cincinnati who began his professional career in the Giants' system, was a Genovese signee.