Here is a summary of the celebration !
Saturday, September 17 was the most wonderful day for my family, Reading Baseball, and me. From 9:30 am to 4:00 pm, it was a celebration of what we all did together for 35 years. My deepest gratitude to all my alumni players - those who attended the event and those who were not able to. Here is a summary.
The weather was picture-perfect, the field was the most spectacularly groomed it has ever been, and, I would estimate, 200 people, including 70 of my beloved alumni, were in attendance. The event was a special day for, as my brother Mike said, two intertwining families - the Reading Baseball Family and the Moscariello Family.
My mother, brother, wife, daughter, and son-in-law (to be soon) and I all had a great day. I really, really enjoyed before and after the actual event, talking to so many people that have been important to me in my career and life. How wonderful it was to see my HS coaches, John Hollingsworth and Gil Congdon, to see old friends, teammates, and colleagues, and to re-connect with Reading Baseball parents (there were a lot of Reading Baseball parents there which was much appreciated). And, I loved it, especially, when a former player would introduce me to his wife, child, or fiancee and say, "I want you to meet Coach."
Jeff Pierce and his team (Sheila Tully, Roy Sletterink, Joe D'Alessio) organized and orchestrated the event and did a truly amazing job, attending to every little detail perfectly. Jeff began the ceremony by speaking eloquently about the history of the field, about Newt Morton (the man), about and fabulous field improvements, and about how Reading Babe Ruth and RMHS Baseball collaborated so well over the years. Then two of my former players, Joe Picano '81 and Jim Lucci '85, unveiled the spectacular field sign designed by Jeff, created by Ann DiCicco, and installed by Pete Seibold.
Next, my brother, Mike, gave the most beautiful speech about our parents. Mike is awesome - he spoke from the heart with humor and emotion (and no notes!) and gave the perfect tribute to our parents. I lost it when he talked about us all "holding onto the rope for each other." Mike always knows just the right thing to say. Then, my beautiful daughter, Lea, cut the ribbon to dedicate the ballpark seats in honor of Sully and Irene Moscariello.
As we all moved and settled into the area near the third base line and foul territory, we were treated to a terrific rendition of our National Anthem sung by Gary d’Entremont’s wife, Nicole, and daughter, Eva. The crowd love them!
Next, attention was turned toward the first base dugout, which was dedicated in loving memory of alumnus Steve Sample. Dave Sample, Steve's father, put on Steve's #21 game jersey and spoke about his son in a heartwarming, moving tribute. Cole Tully and Corey DiLoreto then cut the ribbons at the dugout entrances to complete that dedication.
Then it was my turn to speak next. I really looked forward to this because it was my opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to Reading Baseball in any way throughout my career, to talk about my family, to tell memories and stories about our teams, and, most of all, to thank and talk fondly about my players.
I promised the crowd a "somewhat emotional, probably too long speech, filled with lame jokes and statistics..... so buckle up!". I delivered my promise on all accounts! I spent most of my speech thanking people who deserved to be thanked: parents, fans, friends, AD's, my teaching and coaching colleagues, DPW, local newspapers, and more. I got emotional when I talked about my family and thanked them. I did get to tell one funny story each about my mom and my dad, and that helped my get through. I certainly thanked our coaches, including Coaches Nelson, Morrison, Gray, Lucci, Zerfas, Farris, and Bryson, all of whom were there. Also I thanked everyone who donated to field improvements and especially to the seats for my parents, the scoreboard sign, and field sign. The field sign shows the "major" donors, which includes so many of you, your parents, and your teams. Yet I know so many of you also made significant contributions and I thank you for that. Your names appeared on the program at the event (I will eventually scan that program and post it here).
My favorite part of the speech was when I got to talk, with pride, about our great teams and players and some special memories that occurred on this very field. If you want to read the entire speech, click here.
But I would like to print here just the ending part of the speech for you all to see:
“I loved every minute of the 35 years I coached and am so grateful for every day I had on the field with my players.
Someone asked me recently what I thought was the number one reason for my coaching success. My answer was that, ‘I just flat out loved my players. Championships were nice, but the relationships we built then, and continue now, were much more important to me. As much as I cared about winning, I cared much more about building winners for life, in each of my players. As I look at the 70 or more of my players in the audience and see the husbands, fathers, and men they have become, then I know that I did a pretty good job.' "
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who attended the event but also to anyone who has intersected my life in any way, at any time. Please know that each of you have helped make me a better coach and a better person. I humbly accept the recognition, but enthusiastically share it with my family, friends, player's parents, coaches, and players - because we all did this together!”
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At the conclusion of my speech, two former players and longtime coaches and friends, Scott Farris '85 and Jason Zerfas '99, unveiled the fabulous scoreboard sign.
I think my favorite part of the event happened next when we gathered up all the alumni players and had them go to the scoreboard in left field for a group photo. The surprise is that I had gotten hold of the classic white game jerseys that most of you had worn in their RMHS days (thanks, Tom Zaya and Ted Bryson for getting the shirts for us). So you see a photo of all our guys, in the uniforms and on the field, where they played so well. I loved that because when I addressed the group, for those few minutes, I felt like I was coaching my players and team one more time.
Next up, we hosted a "Kids Game" where children of our alumni players and friends got to play ball on the newly dedicated field. What fun it was to see fathers and sons/daughters playing together on the pristine field.
And then the Alumni Game. We had 40 guys play (I had put out emails and FB messages to push you guys to get 30 players, and as, usual, you exceeded my expectations and created our biggest alumni game ever! Coach Bryson announced the name and YOG of each player as they ran out and lined up on the 1st base line. Ace kindly saved me for last, so I got to run the whole length of the line and fist bump with every player, another special moment for me.
The game itself was terrific, with hitting, defense, lots of laughs, and great camaraderie. What a thrill it was for me to watch players, from five different decades, enjoy and share their common experiences from their days with Reading Baseball.
Here is a complete roster of guys who played.
75: Ken Hollingsworth; 79: Jack Marlin; 81: Joe Picano; 82: Greg Bernard; 83 Jon Vedder; 84: John Barrett; 85: Jim Lucci, Scott Farris; 87: Gary d'Entremont; 89: Darnell Canada, Rich Foohey; 90: Joe Miller; 91: Franny McHugh; 92; Pete McHugh; 94: Chris Foley, Tom Fratto; 98: Dan Foley; 99: Jason Zerfas; 02: Kevin Donahue, Mark DeMasse; Rob DeMoura; 03: Chris Dolan, Dan Marshall; 04: Dennis DiCicco; Mark Andrick; 05: Mike DiCicco, Chris Zanni; Tim Melanson; 08 Tommy DeMasse; 10: Andrew Gray; 11: Jeff Covitz, Nick Scali, Zack Driscoll; Adam Halley; 12: Anthony DeSimone; Mac Cook, Paul Andrick, Drew Zaccardi; 14: Nick Clivio; 16: Dan Sletterink; 71: Coach Mosc
There were certainly plenty of alumni there who may not have played in the game. Here is where I am sure I will miss someone, but this is who I remember seeing; thanks for being there Mike Moscariello ’77, George Fennelly ’78, Pete Collins ’79, Steve Palladino ’82, Dave Gray ’83, Jim Burditt ’84, John Macaluso ’86 , Tom Zaya ’87, Paul Sumner ’91, Jim Murphy ’93, Dan Robinson ’94, Coley Foley ’94, Chris Donegan ’94, John Feudo ’95, Anthony Caporale ’95, Josh Driscoll ’95, Mike Thompson ’96, Ryan Carroll ’98, Dennis Gramolini ’99, Tim Bryant ’01, Steve Gath ’03, Eric Sample ’04, Brian Catanzano ’08, Sean McGoldrick ’08, Derek Strukel ’09, Jeff Wyer ’09, Ryan Carter ‘10. Also it was great to see my high school teammates and forever friends, John O’Keefe and John Brenton. Thanks very much, to all of you, for coming. I was thrilled that each of you approached me with kind word and a hug.
We played all afternoon, until 4:00, and finally wrapped up a day I will never forget. I will hold dear forever your handshakes and hugs, your kind words and congratulations, and especially seeing all of you -the players whom I love, on the field I love- enjoying a day to honor your old coach. I can’t thank you enough.
A couple notes:
A complete set of professional, beautiful photos were taken by Michelle Kramer (son, Mac is a 2013 alumnus). Michelle captured the complete day by taking over 400 pictures which can be viewed at
https://rmhsbaseballalumni.shutterfly.com/