Tony DeMacio originally came to the Valley in 1967 to play in the Valley League. During his time in the Staunton area, DeMacio was the Coach and Late General Manager of the Staunton Braves during the Late 70s and Early 80s. After his stint at Riverheads High School, Tony changed career paths and became a professional baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves starting in 1983.
In was during his early stint as the Braves area scout for the upstate New York area and New England that he found one of the greatest left-handed pitchers of all-time–Tom Glavine. Glavine who later became an MLB Hall of Famer was the first player that he signed. DeMacio stayed hot for the Braves, his last sign before taking a job with the Clevland Indians in 1991 was Chipper Jones. His first and last signs for the Braves were two of the most iconic Braves to ever don the uniform.
From 1991-1994 Tony scouted for the Clevland Indians in various roles from National Crosschecker to ML Scout in ’94. In 1995 he was hired by the Chicago Cubs as their Crosschecker for the Southeast. He stayed with the Cubs up until 1999 when he was named as the Scouting Director of the Baltimore Orioles. He was the Scouting Director until 2004. In 2005, Tony went to the Pittsburg Pirates as their national crosschecker. He stayed with the Pirates for two seasons before returning to the Braves in 2007 as a major league scout. He remained as a Major League scout with the Braves through the 2009 season and was elevated to their Director of Scouting in 2010. He remained with the Braves until 2014.
During his long career in baseball, Tony DeMacio received many achievements. In 2002 he was named the Mid-Atlantic Scouts Executive of the Year. In 2005 he was named to the Mid Atlantic Scouts Hall of Fame. 2008, he received the Eastcoast Scout of the Year for the Scout of the Year program. In 2014, Tony was a recipient of the George Genovese Achievement Award given as the highest honor in Scouting; and in 2018 he was inducted into the professional baseball Hall of Fame.
Mr. DeMacio has signed many players over the years. While it’s impossible to name them all, Tony has been involved in the scouting and signings of Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Manny Ramirez, Paul Shuey, Kerry Wood, Jon Garland, Erik Bedard, Nick Markakis, Brian Roberts, Willie Harris, Andrelton Simmons, Nick Ahmed, Alex Wood, Evan Gattis, Tommy LaStella, Brandon Dury, and Phil Gosselin.
While the man has achieved many a great honor, it is the pleasure of the Valley Baseball League and its members to bestow yet another. Welcome to the VBL Hall of Fame and the Hall of Fame Class of 2023.