BUZZARDS BAY – The baseball game that ensued seemed the very definition of the word anticlimactic.
On the heels of capturing his first conference baseball title since 1982 – and the third in all sports at the school since that same year – the last regular season home game for Massachusetts Maritime Academy head coach Bob Corradi was a whirlwind of emotion Sunday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field.
Standing next to senior co-captain Bobby Rosano, Massachusetts Maritime Academy head baseball coach Bob Corradi bid farewell to hundreds in attendance at Sunday’s game between the MASCAC Champion Buccaneers and the Massachusetts College of the Liberal Arts.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports Photos
Hundreds of alumni, family, school administrators, friends, fellow coaches and current players from both the Buccaneers and the visiting Massachusetts College of the Liberal Arts streamed down Academy Drive to the very heart of the Buzzards Bay campus to bid farewell to the region’s most widely known, successful and beloved baseball icon, their mentor, their friend, their counterpart, their peer, their confidante.
After 43 seasons in the sun, standing side-by-side along the third base line with his loyal baseball Buccaneers, Sagamore’s most well-known son Robert E. Corradi was forced to don dark sunglasses in contrast with even darker clouds blanketing the late-April sky above.
The tears welled in “Coach C’s” eyes.
In tear-jerking pre-game ceremonies, Corradi hugged and honored his five baseball seniors – Tyler Smith, Bobby Rosano, Zac Cooney, Greg Downs and T.J. Notarangelo… His grandchildren — Maxx and Maci Corradi and Shawn and Ryan Wallace – enveloped him in a giant hug at home plate after each tossing out ceremonial “first pitches” to their beloved grandfather… he wrapped his arms around the shoulders of MMA President Rear Admiral Richard G. Gurnon and Commandant of Cadets/Vice President Capt. Edward Rozak… he received an honorary bat from the Massachusetts College of the Liberal Arts baseball coaching staff …he waved to the cheering crowd, trying everything possible to mask the overpowering weight of his decision this year to retire from his position as the school’s first and only athletic director as well as its baseball head coach.
Corradi’s uniform number 12 was permanently retired and will hang upon the outfield fence next season. Capt. Rozak and Rear Adm. Gurnon presented Corradi with a citation from the Massachusetts State Senate.
Foul Ball! Five Years in the American League (1984) author Allison Gordon wrote that “baseball’s greatest moments don’t always happen on the field.” But Sunday afternoon, in spite of its conclusive intent, the on-field pre-game ceremonies planned long before there was even a glimmer of a Buccaneer championship title run this season, became one of those rare, endearing, unforgettable moments. (see accompanying game story)
“I never though this day would come,” Corradi said in a postgame reception in the school’s gymnasium, his voice cracking and barely above a whisper. “But it has. My heart’s broken… but I’m very, very thankful.”
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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