Toms River High School Baseball Star Makes Biggest Deal of his Lifetime

In October, the Los Angeles Angels hired  former Major League pitcher and Toms River High School North graduate Jerry Dipoto a five-year contract to become General Manager of the team. Dipoto became the 11th General Manager in club history.

“What a thrill this is,” said Dipoto. “I am excited and honored to be part of one of the premier franchises in baseball. The club’s success in the last 10 years isn’t just notable, it has catapulted the Angels into one of the top organizations in baseball.”
Dipoto, 43, began his professional career after his selection by the Cleveland Indians in the third round of the 1989 First-Year Player draft. He would eventually make his Major League debut on May 11, 1993 for the Tribe. During a career that included time with the Indians (1993-94), New York Mets (1995-96) and Colorado Rockies (1997-2000), the Toms River, New Jersey native compiled a 27-24 record with 49 saves and a 4.05 ERA. Forced to retire during spring training 2001 due to a bulging disc in his neck, Dipoto was immediately appointed Special Assistant to the General Manager for the Rockies.
His front office experience continued with two seasons working in the Scouting Department for the Boston Red Sox from 2003-04 before returning to Colorado as Director of Player Personnel in 2005. He joined the Arizona Diamondbacks prior to the 2006 season as Vice-President, Player Personnel and was responsible for the organization’s scouting efforts and evaluation of players at all levels. On July 1, 2010 he was appointed interim General Manager of the Diamondbacks and retained that position until the Also included in the transactions were left-handed pitching prospects Tyler Skaggs and Patrick Corbin, both top draft selections by the Angels in 2009, and lef

t-hander David Holmberg, ranked by Baseball Americas as the eighth-best prospect in the White Sox organization. He also mov
ed Chris Snyder to Pittsburgh in a five-player trade and Chad Qualls to Tampa Bay for minor-league pitcher Matt Gorgen on July 31.
On December 8th, DiPoto made Major League Baseball headlines when he signed three time National League MVP ad nine time all-star free agent Albert Pujols to a $240 million dollar, ten year contract.  ESPN called the “Transaction of the Year”.  Albert’s career performance clearly speaks for itself,” said Dipoto. “He has proven to be the best player of his generation.”   Dipoto currently resides in Fountain Hills, AZ with his wife Tamie, daughters, Taylor and Jordan, and son, Jonah.

Photo Credits: Top Left, Jerry Dipoto, courtesy of Major League Baseball.  Right: Photo by Michael Noirot, Battlefield Portraits, battlefieldportraits.com.

Posted by Ocean County News on Jan 27 2012. Filed under Community, Headline News, Photos, Schools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.