|
Article Audio:
|
SCHENECTADY – Schenectady has lost a gritty pitching star whose performance long ago remains among the highlights of the city’s rich sport history.
Bill Masucci, who hurled Schenectady Little League to the 1954 World Series championship and later had great success as an area baseball coach, died Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, at the age of 81.
Masucci’s baseball coaching resume included a stint as Schenectady’s first varsity coach in 1991 after Linton and Mont Pleasant merged, and he guided the Patriots to the Big 10 and Section II Class A championships that year. He coached his final Schenectady team in 1992 and won another Big 10 crown.
“We grew up together, from little kids to adulthood,” said Jim Barbieri, a cousin of Masucci and his teammate in little league and at Linton. “He was such a wonderful, warm-hearted person. There’s a void in my heart. Hopefully when I die, I’ll see him so he can fill it up again.”
Masucci and the 81-year-old Barbieri, who resides in Spokane, Washington, shared a love for cooking and gardening, and, of course, baseball.
“When I visited Schenectady the first thing we’d do is get together,” Barbieri said. “Every time we had a great time.”
Some time ago Masucci was zipping fastballs and delivering hits for the Schenectady Little League team that lost in the 1953 Little League World Series final before going the distance that next magical summer.
“He was a tremendous player, and that carried into his coaching,” said Jerry Rosen, who played for Masucci at Linton, coached against him while at Mont Pleasant, and sided with him as Schenectady’s JV coach before taking over the program in 1993. “He was really competitive. He was intense.”
That was during game time, while before and after, the Ithaca College graduate and longtime city school district health instructor was a different guy who was always ready with a joke and quick to laugh.
“He was funny. He would bust your chops if you were playing for him or coaching with him,” Rosen said of Masucci, whose survivors include his wife Lana, children Deirdre, Amanda and Jim, and three grandchildren. “He was definitely a character. One of a kind.”
Masucci had one particularly special moment as a 12-year-old when he got the call in the 1954 World Series title game, and gutted his way to a 7-5 win over Colton, California.
“It was not only nerve-wracking for him, but also for us, and the city of Schenectady,” Barbieri said. “We wanted to get the game over with and be on top.
“I remember the year before when we were on a train after we lost [to Alabama 1-0 in the 1953 LLWS final],” Barbieri continued. “We were riding in the caboose and they [Alabama] were a little further up. Bill goes, we‘re not riding in the caboose again.’”
WINNING PITCHER
Masucci was in and out of trouble in the championship game after giving up eight walks, but the right-hander also struck out nine including the last batter he faced to clinch the championship.
“We had Billy Connors on the team and he finessed,” Barbieri said. “Bill Masucci was the bulldog. He’d rare back and fire as hard as he could.”
Masucci hit a two-run home run in the title game and also singled and walked. Schenectady never trailed after Masucci’s first-inning blast.
“Billy hurt his shoulder playing football [at Linton] and couldn’t throw after that, but he could hit, and hit with power,” said Barbieri. “I told him, ‘If you didn’t get hurt, you’d be in the big leagues right now.’”
Masucci and his Schenectady Little League teammates and coaches — including his dad, Lou — were inducted into the Schenectady City School District Athletic Hall of Fame on the 50th anniversary of the LLWS title in 2004, and the group also was honored with a legacy tribute when the Capital District Baseball Hall of Fame held its inaugural induction in 2011.
That team also featured the late Joe Loudis, a multi-sport standout at Mont Pleasant who would go on to coach successful basketball teams at Cohoes and Mechanicville.
“We were one pitch away from the championship not knowing what it would mean,” said Barbieri, who would later appear in the Major League World Series with the 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers. “We never realized how much it would mean to Schenectady. It never goes away.”
WINNING COACH
Masucci made his coaching mark at Linton and Schenectady over 19 varsity seasons starting in 1974, with his teams going 262-172. His last five teams went 93-33.
“I’ve had some real good kids and some outstanding teams,” Masucci said at the time of his coaching retirement. “The last five or six years have been particularly special. We did very well.”
“People loved playing for him,” said Rosen, who was on the Linton varsity in 1977 and 1978. “He had a good connection with his players.”
Linton’s 1988 club which featured Vince Polsinelli, Chris Allard, T.J. Verteramo and John Barber was among Masucci’s favorites. That season Linton went 17-8 overall, shared the Big 10 crown, and captured the only Section II Class A championship in school history.
“That group was special because there were no superstars on the team. They were a great group of kids who came in every game with the attitude that they weren’t going to lose,” Masucci had said. “That group had three or four different type of kids, yet when they got between the lines they were one group of kids. Not once did you hear any of them criticize anyone else. When someone made an error, the attitude was, ‘Don’t worry about it, we’ll get it back.’”
Masucci led his 1990 Linton team to a runner-up spot in the Class A sectionals, setting the stage for the 1991 Schenectady edition’s superb 24-3 campaign.
“He had a good feel of what you were good at, and he developed that,” Rosen said. “He wasn’t going to try to make you something you’re not.”
Masucci began his coaching and teaching career in 1963 at Colton-Pierrepont High School before moving on to Linton in 1965. He coached the Blue Devils’ JV for two baseball seasons before taking over the varsity in 1974.
“I played for him, coached against him and coached with him. He got his teams ready to play,” Rosen said at the time of Masucci’s coaching retirement. “He always knew what buttons needed to be pushed.”
Categories: -News-, -Sports-, Email Newsletter, News, Schenectady, Schenectady County, Sports
One Comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Thank you Bill for helping to put Schenectady on the forever sports map. Rest in peace my friend!