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. Known as "Rags," the southpaw once tossed a no-hitter for the New York Yankees before becoming one of the top Major League relief pitchers. He's now the pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants.

Lansford was a sensation at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara before turning pro. He went on to win an American League batting crown for the Boston Red Sox, and played for the Oakland A's and California Angels.

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.

Steib was an outstanding outfielder at Oak Grove High School before giving pitching a try under the tutelage of mound guru John Oldham at San José City College. He was so good at it he went on to become the ace of the mound staff for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Among the other past winners: Erickson, a outstanding pitcher at Homestead, posted a 16-7 record to help the Baltimore Orioles to a division title; Telford, played at Silver Creek and San José State, then with the Expos and Orioles; Langston, played at Buchser High School in Santa Clara, then with the Mariners, Expos and Angels; Gladden, played at Westmont, then with the Giants, Twins and Tigers; Bonds, played at Serra High School, now a superstar for the Giants; Jefferies, another Serra star who went on to play for the Mets and Tigers; Mussina, pitched at Stanford, then went on to star for the Orioles and Yankees; Johnson, played at Stanford, then with the Royals, Giants and Reds; Burrell, played at Bellarmine, now with the Philadelphia Phillies; and Helling, a Stanford pitcher who went on to the Texas Rangers.

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.