Russ Bove to Be Inducted into Killebrew Root Beer Southwest Florida Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame

FORT MYERS, Fla. (July 2, 2024) – Killebrew Root Beer and the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are proud to announce Russ Bove as the 2024 inductee into the Southwest Florida Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame.

Bove will become the 19^th member of “The Wall” inside of Gate 2 at the Lee Health Sports Complex. His induction ceremony will take place prior to the Mighty Mussels’ game on Friday, August 16.

“It’s certainly an honor to be a part of some of the all-time great scouts,” Bove said. “Most of the guys (in the Hall of Fame) I’ve either worked with or know fairly well. Just to be part of the group is a big-time honor.”

Bove (pronounced Bo-VAY) has spent over four decades in scouting, moving to Florida in 1986 to work for the Major League Scouting Bureau. He is currently in his second season as Special Assistant to the General Manager for the Houston Astros. With each of his stops, he spent considerable time working in his home state of Florida – scouting both amateur and professional baseball players across the west coast.

“Southwest Florida was always a very productive area,” Bove said. “There were times that you couldn’t go to a Big League game without there being a player from Tampa. The best thing about living in Florida as a scout, is that there’s always reasons to come home. Florida is where it’s at. There’s always something going on.”

Bove learned the finer details of scouting while with the MLB Scouting Bureau, observing some of the top talent in Florida and around the country, his reports winding up in the hands of all 30 teams.

“It was like working for the post office, the civil service job of baseball,” Bove said. “But you got to meet with them, assess signability and give the eye test.”

Russ’ first long-term job on the club side came in 1992, when he joined the Milwaukee Brewers as an area scout. Working under General Managers Sal Bando and Dean Taylor, Bove signed Ben Sheets, Steve Woodard, Ronnie Belliard and many other future Big Leaguers. He became a Major League Scout in 1999 and also served as the Brewers’ Southeast Supervisor and National Crosschecker.

After one season with the Montreal Expos in which he signed Ian Desmond, Bove followed Omar Minaya to his hometown New York Mets in 2005. Enjoying four consecutive winning seasons to start his tenure in Queens, Bove was the Mets’ Amateur Scouting Director and oversaw the acquisitions of Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese, Joe Smith, Josh Thole, Matt Harvey and many other successful players.

In 2011, Bove joined the Toronto Blue Jays as a special assignment scout. Working alongside Alex Anthopoulos, Ross Atkins and Perry Minasian, Russ went on several missions to scout amateur and professional prospects, playing a role in the acquisition of Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alek Manoah.

Throughout his many travels around the world, Russ has always found time to mentor the younger generation of scouts and continues to be considered a valued eye for talent by some of the sport’s best front office executives.

“I like the young scouts. I try and educate these guys so they don’t make the mistakes that I made,” Bove said. “I want to perpetuate scouting. I want it to keep going. I think it’s every one of our responsibilities to bring in people who want to give to the game and love the game as much as I do.”

Russ and his wife, Sandra, have made their home in Longwood, Florida after a move from Apopka in 2005.