Now, Erickson and Winn will take their place alongside those legends when they're honored with special awards at the 22nd annual Santa Clara County Baseball Fundraisers Hot Stove Banquet on Jan. 30 at the San Jose Scottish Rite Center.

Erickson, a Major League stalwart, will be presented the Pitcher of the Year award at the Hot Stove event. He has distinguished himself with a 16-year career in the majors where he compiled a 142-136 record. His best season was in 1991 when he put together a 20-8 effort for the Minnesota Twins.

Most of his big league time has been with the Twins and the Baltimore Orioles before logging time with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2005 season. Erickson cut his teeth at Homestead High School before being recognized as Player of the Year in the Golden State Conference while playing at San José City College. He moved on to Arizona and set a school record for wins with 18 in 1989.

Winn, a trade deadline acquisition by the San Francisco Giants in 2005, will be honored as Player of the Year. Winn's 51 hits in September helped propel the Giants into the pennant race and earned him the National League Player of the Month award. He played ball at San Ramon Valley High School and was a two-sport standout--basketball and baseball--at Santa Clara University where he was All West Coast Conference in baseball in 1995.

Joining Erickson and Winn as award winners will be: Minor League

Player of the Year--Kevin Frandsen of the Giants' organization (Bellarmine/San José State University); Minor League Pitcher of the Year--Chris Key of the Seattle Mariners' organization (San José State); College Co-Players of the Year--Anthony Contreras (Piedmont Hills/San José State) and Adam Carr (San Lorenzo Valley/Oklahoma State University); Community College Player of the Year--Darrell Sales (West Valley College); Community College Pitcher of the Year--Kyle Woodruff (Leland/College of San Mateo); High School Player of the Year--Jason Codiroli (Mitty); High School Pitcher of the Year--Carlos Hernandez (Santa Clara); Scout of the Year--Gary Hughes (Chicago Cubs); Special Service Award--Jerry Fontanetti; Community Service Award--Randy Frey; Ted Barrett Amateur Umpire Award--Ted Kovach; Loyd Christopher Award--Chris Minaker (Stanford), Nick Epidendio (San José State) and Michael Lange (Santa Clara University; Frank Bettencourt Award--Stan Akerson (Leland); Outstanding Amateur Organization Awards--Palo Alto Oaks, Saratoga Little League and Santa Clara Red Sox; Outstanding Professional Organization Award--San Jose Giants; Sports Media Person of the Year--Dick Sparrer; and Special Honor Awards--Bill King and Larry Mullins.

The Hot Stove Banquet begins with no-host cocktails at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:45 p.m. and the awards presentation and raffle at 7:30 p.m. Ted Robinson is the master of ceremonies with special guest Bob Melvin, manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. 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 Scottish Rite Center is located at 2455 Masonic (off Curtner and Canoas Garden Drive) in San Jose. For reservations, call 408.446.3443.

Erickson and Winn join a cast of area superstars as Hot Stove winners, a list that--along with Righetti, Lansford, Caminiti and Steib--includes 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.

The late Ken Caminiti was a hitting star at Leigh High School and San José State University before reahing 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: 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 and is now a superstar for the Giants; Jefferies is 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 was a Stanford pitcher who went on to the Texas Rangers.