Bill Jaquith

The Damascus Oaks are the only inherited team in DelCal history. Bill Jaquith for whom the Jaquith Division is named was my older cousin. Bill was an original DELCAL member and after a short absence resumed play. Between us only Larry spans a longer period of DELCAL managership. Bill loved baseball and strat-o-matic but did not follow the minor leagues the way many of the league members did and do. So after awhile in his second term, he asked me to take over as general manager – making trades and drafting while he played all the games. I later assumed the team upon his death.

Bill was born in Syracuse, NY in the early 1930’s. He was just back from a post-war stint in the Army in Germany when I was born in 1949. My parents and sister, and Bill’s parents and our maternal grandmother all lived together in a large house in the city. Later, both families were to live for nearly a decade in separate but nearby houses in the suburbs of Syracuse until my father got tired of shoveling snow and we moved to Phoenix in 1963. I was to return to the East in 1972 after graduating from college. In all those years Bill’s father, Clark was, a key person in both our lives. Clark was a truck driver who had one passion – fishing. He owned a cabin on a fairly large lake in northern NY near the tiny village of Rossie. There, Bill, I, and other generations including his kids spent a lot of time. I was up there every weekend from June-Sept from the time I was born till I moved west at age 11. When I returned East as an adult I spent all my long weekends and vacations there. It was at camp that Bill and I spent a lot of time fishing, playing pinochle, and talking baseball. It was in the mid 1970’s that I introduced him to strat-o.

Bill was a custodian for the Syracuse schools, married and had 5 kids. After a number of years he divorced his wife. For numerous years, after their retirement his parents wintered in Florida and Summered in New York. During this time Bill continued to live in Syracuse. Eventually, his parents remained in Florida and as their health declined, Bill also moved to Florida. I last saw him last around 1988 at his father’s funeral. It was not long after that, that Bill also died, in his sleep, in his early sixties, due to a combination of ailments. While in Florida, they lived in an isolated community of Astor near Ocala, with Bill mostly working nights and helping his parents during the days.

DELCAL was one of the few outlets he had and he loved it. His team in his first tour was the Rossie Tiggers, and the 2^nd team was the Astor Tiggers. The origin of the town names are explained by where he lived. As for Tigggers, the Syracuse AAA team was a Detroit farm club and he became a Tigers fan.

My GMing the team brought us together despite my being in Maryland with a young family and we spent a lot of time on the phone. He was a great guy and DELCAL an important part of his life. I am delighted and appreciative that the division is named after him.