Now, though, Byrnes and Simontacchi will take their place alongside those legends when they're honored with special awards at the 20th annual Santa Clara County Baseball Fundraisers Hot Stove Banquet on Feb. 3 at the San Jose GI Forum.

Byrnes, the talented center fielder for the Oakland A's, will be presented the Player of the Year award at the Hot Stove event. Byrnes was a diamond star for coach Chris Bradford at St. Francis High School before going on to UCLA and ultimately the A's. Byrnes is a former minor league Hot Stove winner.

Simontacchi, a starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, will be given the Pitcher of the Year award on Feb. 3. Simontacchi was an outstanding pitcher at Sunnyvale's Fremont High School and starred on the mound at De Anza College in Cupertino before turning pro.

The two join a cast of area superstars as Hot Stove winners, a list that—along with Righetti, Lansford, Caminiti and Steib—includes Scott Erickson, Mark Langston, Dan Gladden, Anthony Telford and Pat Burrell, who all played at local high schools; former Serra High School standouts Barry Bonds and Gregg Jefferies; and former Stanford sensations Mike Mussina, Brian Johnson and Rick Helling, among others.

Righetti, who once starred locally at Pioneer High School and San José City College, is among the former Hot Stove winners. He's now the pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants.

Caminiti was a hitting star at Leigh High School and San José State University before reaching the pros as a third baseman. He was a National League Most Valuable Player for the San Diego Padres and also starred for the Houston Astros.

Joining Byrnes and Simontacchi as award winners will be: Minor League Players of the Year—Mike Rouse of the A's organization (Valley Christian/San José State University) and John Gall of the Cardinals organization (Stanford); Minor League Pitcher of the Year—Brian Stirm of the Giants organization (Saratoga/West Valley College); College Player of the Year—Ryan Garko (Stanford); College Pitcher of the Year—John Hudgins (Stanford); Community College Player of the Year—Adam Carr (West Valley College); Community College Pitcher of the Year—Mike Drew (Saratoga/West Valley); High School Player of the Year—Robert Perry (Mitty); High School Pitcher of the Year—Ryan Muller (Live Oak); Scout of the Year—Tom Davis (Anaheim Angels); Service Award—Roy Jackson; Ted Barrett Amateur Umpire Award—Dave Nicewonger; Loyd Christopher Award—Shaun Epidencio (Mitty/Santa Clara University), Jose Amayo (Overfelt/San José City/San José State), Jed Lowrie (Stanford); Frank Bettencourt Award—Michael Gorski (Westmont); Outstanding Organization Awards—Morgan Hill Pony Baseball and Mitty High School.

The Hot Stove Banquet begins with no-host cocktails at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. and the awards presentation at 8 p.m. John Shrader of KNBR radio is the master of ceremonies. Tickets are $35 per person and $350 for a table of 10 ($300 per table of 10 for youth, high school, community college and college baseball groups). Proceeds from the event benefit area baseball teams and players. The San Jose GI Forum is located at 765 Story Road in San Jose. For reservations, call 408.446.3443.