Doug Delett enters his 6th season with the Utica Blue Sox and his 3rd 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.
Delett’s first season as the head man 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.
In 2021 Delett was able to once again lead the blue and white to a divisional title, capturing the Central Division title with a 24-17 record, besting the Auburn DoubleDays in a late season race.
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 12 years ago, before returning to his former stomping grounds of Murnane Field as the pitching coach in 2016.
DELETT ON THIS YEAR’S COACHING STAFF: “I believe we have a strong and very knowledgeable coaching staff ready to teach and develop these players so they can return to campus in the fall as better overall players. We are here to help these players get to the next level.”
DELETT ON HIS PHILOSOPHY FOR THIS YEAR: “I have to step up my game to be the best teacher and coach in the league. The number one priority is the players getting better when they leave us at the end of the summer and number two is making the program better as a whole.”