Fick Selected by Cardinals for Scouting Job : Baseball: Former minor league catcher who coached Newbury Oaks to American Legion national title gains full-time job as supervisor of activities in Central and Southern California region.

Chuck Fick, who led the Newbury Oaks baseball team to the American Legion World Series championship last summer, has been hired by the St. Louis Cardinals as a full-time scouting supervisor.

Fick will be responsible for the Central and Southern California region.

Fick, a former minor league catcher with the Montreal Expos and Oakland Athletics organizations, was hired by national cross-checker Marty Keough.

Fick, 37, established the Newbury Park American Legion program in 1991. Last summer, the team merged with the Thousand Oaks team to become Newbury Oaks. Fick said he will not coach this summer.

After losing the first game of the double-elimination World Series tournament in Fargo, N.D., last August, Newbury Oaks won five in a row and finished with a record of 41-3.

During the Legion season, the colorful and animated Fick spoke openly of his desire to land a scouting position and hoped that winning a national title would help his chances. In 1989 and ‘90, Fick was a part-time scout with the Cincinnati Reds.

However, Fick said that Keough was unaware of the team’s Legion accomplishments when the latter agreed to an interview.

“Once he realized we’d won it, though, it helped close the (deal),” said Fick, who started with St. Louis on Jan. 1. “It wasn’t a factor at the beginning, but when they found out, it definitely didn’t hurt.”

Fick also is a part-time actor. He has had roles in several movies with baseball themes, including “The Naked Gun,” “Talent for the Game” and the recently released “Mr. Baseball.”

Fick was an assistant coach at Newbury Park High for the past two years and an assistant at Thousand Oaks High in 1987 and ’88. His brother, Robert, was the catcher at Newbury Park last season and for the Newbury Oaks team.

As a professional, Chuck Fick advanced to the triple-A level.

Fick also played in the College World Series at Pepperdine in 1979 and he played in the Senior Baseball League, for former professional players, in 1990 and ’91.

“I think when they realized that I’d played the game and been a successful coach, it only helped (my chances),” Fick said.