Doug Delett enters his 7th season with the Utica Blue Sox and his 4th season as the team’s head coach. Delett was the pitching coach for the Blue Sox from 2016-2018, while also being promoted to assistant head coach in 2018, before getting the nod to become the Utica skipper in 2019 and carries a 81-50 record during that time.
The 2022 Blue Sox earned the second seed in the PGCBL playoffs under Delett’s direction and posted a 27-19 record. From June 13th to June 29th, the Blue Sox went on a tear, setting the league record for most consecutive wins in a row ever by a franchise in the PGCBL with 14. Delett continued his tutelage of the PGCBL’s best and brightest with multiple Blue Sox earning All-League honors for 2022. Among them, Dewey Roden (1B – Le Moyne & VVS High School) and Alex Canino (RHP – Limestone University) were named 1st Team All-PGCBL, while Ryan Enos (2B – East Tennessee State & Oriskany High School), Evan Esch (LHP – University of St. Thomas), and Will King (C – Eastern Kentucky) were all named 2nd Team All-PGCBL. The Blue Sox 5 All-PGCBL Honorees were the second most in the league.
After the PGCBL did not play in 2020 due to the pandemic, Delett led the 2021 Blue Sox to a divisional title, capturing the Central Division title with a 24-17 record, besting the Auburn DoubleDays in a late season race.
Delett’s first season as the head man in 2019 for the Blue Sox was a more than successful one, capturing the PGCBL West Division crown with a 30-14 record, and sending a league-high seven Blue Sox to the PGCBL All-Star game.
Delett is a Utica-area native, graduating from Whitesboro High School in 1977. While at Whitesboro he garnered a First-Team Central Oneida League selection in his senior year.
From there Delett made the short trip down the road to Mohawk Valley Community College. During the 1978 season he was a part of a MVCC squad that concluded the year as the 3rd ranked team in New York State.
Delett remained local following his college days, playing for the Utica Blue Sox from 1981-83 in the New York-Penn League as an independent organization. During his years with the Blue Sox, actor/comedian Bill Murray was one of the club’s owners.
Delett’s rookie season in Utica was a special one for the now Blue Sox head coach, getting the ball as the starting pitcher on opening day in 1981 against the Little Falls Mets. Two weeks later he threw a complete game against the same Mets team, only surrendering four hits.
After his playing days were over, Delett became the coach of the freshman team at JFK High School in Utica in 1984.
Delett made his return to coaching the game as an instructor 13 years ago, before returning to his former stomping grounds of Murnane Field as the pitching coach in 2016.