Rocco Constantino - 50 Moments That Defined Major League Baseball

50 Moments That Defined Major League Baseball

50 Moments That Defined Major League Baseball

Rocco Constantino

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Published by Rowman & Littlefield

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

www.rowman.com

Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB

Copyright 2016 by Rocco Constantino

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Constantino, Rocco, 1974 author.

Title: 50 moments that defined major league baseball / Rocco Constantino.

Other titles: Fifty moments that defined major league baseball

Description: Lanham : ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015043571 (print) | LCCN 2015046206 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442260542 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781442260559 (electronic)

Subjects: LCSH: BaseballUnited StatesHistory. | Major League Baseball (Organization)History.

Classification: LCC GV863.A1 C598 2016 (print) | LCC GV863.A1 (ebook) | DDC 796.357/64dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015043571

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

Acknowledgments

This book would not be possible without the people who introduced me to baseball and who passed on an appreciation for the games history. My earliest memories of the sport date back to 1981, when I was seven years old. I was introduced to the sport through Yankees games on New Yorks Channel 11, Phil Rizzutos commentary, and Mets games on Channel 9 with Kiners Korner . More importantly, however, my father Rocco and his twin brother Canio provided their own commentary as they ran their family video business while watching the games on a nightly basis. Their input was equally entertaining, provided stories about the games history, and contained significantly more cursing than the Yankees telecasts. Through the years, other people, like Ken Constantino, Ray Monahan, Jimmy Miele, Pat Barbone, Dan Constantino, Pop Roberto, Brian Sheridan, Paul Marcantuono, and Irene Constantino, have enhanced that love of the sport by being great baseball fans, always ready for a conversation about the games history.

In addition, I would like to thank Curtis Russell, P.S. Literary Agency, and Rowman & Littlefield for believing in this book and shaping the final project into a fantastic representation of baseball history. A great baseball fan himself, Curtis and his staff are the reason these stories are able to be shared with the fans who read this book. Thank you as well to Keith Allison and Arturo Pardavila, who took the brilliant action color photos and were generous enough to share them. The historic black-and-white photos were taken by famed Boston photographer Leslie Jones and provided by the Boston Public Library. Thank you to the Boston Public Library, Bob Cullum, and the Jones family for sharing these amazing photos with baseball fans worldwide.

This book would also not be possible without the incredible accomplishments and personal insight of former major leaguers. These athletes generously took the time to provide their own personal insight on life in the majors, giving vivid accounts of their own accomplishments, teammates, mentors, and places in the history of Major League Baseball. Thank you to the following players who shared their own personal reflections as major leaguers:

Rod Carew

Fred Lynn

Jim Wohlford

Rod Gaspar

Don August

Tim Leary

Brian Holman

Gregg Zaun

Eric Valent

Jeff Montgomery

Kelly Paris

Mark Dewey

Shawn Estes

Dave Borkowski

Don DeMola

Ted Power

John Stuper

Benny Ayala

Dave Schuler

Lary Sorensen

Jack Perconte

Rudy May

Jason Bergmann

Aaron Small

Paul Bako

Jeff Ballard

Brendan Harris

Juan Padilla

Don Slaught

Barry Bonnell

Scott Pose

Matt Walbeck

Barry Foote

Fred Valentine

Stanley Jefferson

Matt Galante

Adam Melhuse

Matt LaPorta

Ron Oester

Tim Crabtree

Kevin Mench

Mark Grant

Andy McGaffigan

Ted Barrett

Foreword

MLB All-Star Jeff Montgomery

Almost every great baseball fan can tell vivid stories from their younger years as they grew up watching and listening to their favorite team. For some, their dream of growing up to play for their favorite team eventually becomes reality. I consider myself one of the fortunate ones, as I had the unique opportunity to have that dream come true.

As a kid growing up in southern Ohio during the era of the Big Red Machine, it was easy to fall in love with the Cincinnati Reds and every player on the team. Even though there were not many televised games back then, it was easy to listen to every game on the radio. The voices of Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall were heard more frequently on my familys radios than anything else as they called Reds games throughout the baseball season. Although it has been roughly 40 years since listening to those games during the era of the Machine, I can still name almost every player on those teams and remember numerous heroic game-winning home runs or diving catches that helped the Reds win championships. I can also remember their uniform numbers and where they normally played, as well as where they hit in the batting order.

In grade school I always told people that I was going to grow up and play for the Cincinnati Reds. After being drafted in the ninth round of the 1983 draft by the Reds out of Marshall University and playing five seasons in the Reds farm system, I eventually made my major-league debut in Riverfront Stadium in August 1987. As a kid, our family would take summer vacation trips to Cincinnati for weekend games at Riverfront, so it had very special meaning to me. Not only was I making my debut in the uniform of my favorite team, in the only stadium in which I had ever witnessed a major-league game, but my manager was also Pete Rose, who was my all-time favorite player as a kid. For all these reasons I still consider my first day in the major leagues my favorite memory.

As you read through the various chapters of 50 Moments That Defined Major League Baseball , you will be reminded of some of the greatest moments in the history of the great game of baseball. Some of the quotes and stories from former players like me will shed some new light on the game as well. It doesnt matter if you grew up a Yankees fan or an Expos fan, partial to the American League or the National League, hearing stories that you likely have never heard will almost make you feel like you were in the clubhouse with the players as they are telling the stories. And even though the game is about wins and losses, batting averages, and ERAs, as a former player I still think back, and some of the greatest memories were not always between the white lines, they were the stories being told on the team bus, in the bullpen, in the clubhouse, or really anywhere a group of players would be hanging out together.

I was very happy to have the chance to contribute to this book. When Rocco asked me about the possibility of writing the foreword I was even more honored to have a chance to add more to a book that will provide great enjoyment to all those who read it and provide unique insight that is not always provided just by watching the game.