Baseball
Matt Galante
Matt Galante, a 5-foot-5 All-American infielder from the Brooklyn sandlots and St. John’s University, spent a lifetime as a minor-league player and manager, major-league coach, and manager of the 1999 Houston Astros, who he guided to 97 wins and a division title. Galante played and managed 20 seasons in the minors, once hitting .342, before spending 16 seasons as a coach with the Astros and three with the Mets, and managed Team Italy in the (Read more...)
Frank Genovese
Frank Genovese, known as Chick, spent 20 years as a minor-league player and manager – once playing 269 consecutive games without an error – before becoming one of baseball’s most renowned scouts. As one of the first scouts to focus on Latin America, where he signed Hall of Famer Juan Marichal, Manny Mota, and the three Alou brothers – Jesus, Matty and Felipe – he helped change the face of the sport.(Read more...)
George Genovese
George Genovese, a slick-fielding minor-league shortstop and manager, made it to the major leagues for three games with the 1950 Washington Senators, before leaving his mark on the game as a scout. In four decades as a scout for the Giants and Dodgers, he signed more than 40 players who made it to the big leagues, including Jack Clark, Bobby Bonds, Matt Williams and two-time National League home run king George Foster.(Read more...)
Sebastian “Sonny” Grasso
Sonny Grasso, a three-sport athlete at Curtis High School, hit .355 and .321 in baseball’s minor leagues, but his baseball career was interrupted by World War Two and cut short by a shoulder injury. Grasso came home to coach at Augustinian Academy, Moore Catholic, the Catholic Youth Organization and the College of Staten Island, where he is the only coach to win CUNY titles in both softball and baseball.(Read more...)
John Hagemann
John Hagemann’s first baseball career, as a relief pitcher in the New York Giant organization, lasted a single season. The second, as a scout for the Expos, Braves and Phillies, lasted most of a lifetime. Hagemann signed a half-dozen major-league regulars including Staten Islander Jason Marquis, who won 124 big-league games, and was instrumental in the trade that brought Hall of Famer John Smoltz to the Braves. He is a member of the Pro Baseball (Read more...)