March 2013: Volume 13 - Issue 6

ALUMUNI NIPPED 48-46"

By Joe Koerner

Take a pair of playmakers like Gus Alfieri (Faculty) and Dick Alcock (Alumuni). Add the likes of Jack Clarke,

Chris Coletta & Frank Coletta Jim McKinstry Steve Dushnick Bill Meyer JackTucker Dick Solby. Mix well with the fine officiating of Varsity basketball coach Ed Petro and you come up with a better than average court caper. "Well worth the going tab" said the court buffs who watched the Faculty cop the duke for the 2nd year in a row, And as figured in this 12th of an annual series, held last week at the Sr. High gym, Alfieri took high scoring honors with 24 points. Other scorers in double figures were Alcock, Coletta and Tucker. But the big scorer as expected was the Alumni Sports Dinner Fund (scheduled for May). Alumuni prexy Joe Naso and dinner chairman, Howie Finnegan had a merry old time stompin' the lid on the strong box after this one. Dick Hogan coached the frontrunners and Bill Schrimpe the Alumuni.

DON'T FORGET DEPT

Another annual donneybrook is scheduled for this Sat. night at the Jr. High Boys gym. Sr. High Faculty vs the Jr. High, with all proceeds going to the P.T.A. Scholarship Fund. Don't miss this court rivalry. It's for a good cause.

UP & COMERS

Former Comet baseball coach Army Tomaine, now coaching at the Old Country Rd. School is heaping for a distinction few other High School coaches could rival in a lifetime. Three of his former players on the 1961 baseball championship squad are starting to shake the minor league mud off their spikes and are making their way steadily toward the bigtime.

Gary SanossianGary Sanossian, former Comet smokeball artist, is winging his way through the Western League with an impressive 12-10 record (177 strikeouts in 165 innings). An open door policy is going for him this year as a result of recent trades made by his parent club the Kansas City A's. Recently they' traded 2 of their starting hurlers for outfielder Rocky Colavito. The move could give Sanossian his big opportunity.

Bob CeroneAnother former Comet great, "Lopating" toward. the majors is Bob Cerone the curve ball artist. Cerone is almost certain to get the "Starkist Tuna" treatment from Yogi Berra, this spring.

Chris ColettaAnd last but by no means least comes former comet outfielder Chris Coletta, Don't let this youngster pass by unnoticed. He's a Red Sox farmhand and after a great rookie year earned a jump' in status. The Sox to protect their interests put him a short whistle step away from the majors. & the club that buys him now (for an. $8,000 price tag) must put him on their major league roster. This could happen in the days ahead and if not this spring the worst thing that could .happen to Coletta is another year of seasoning in the minor league.

Editor Note...

Christopher Michael Coletta (born August 2, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired professional baseball player (corner outfielder) who played one season for the California Angels of Major League Baseball. Coletta was also with the Boston Red Sox organization and had an impressive career in the International League. He played for the now defunct Louisville Colonels - the AAA farm club for Boston at that time. He was teammates with (among others) Carlton Fisk and Jim Lonborg during that period of his career.

In fact, Coletta was in the Red Sox minor-league system for ten seasons (1963-72)--- from age 18 to age 28. In 1963, he hit .312 for Waterloo (Class A). In 1964, he hit .326 for Winston-Salem (Class A). Promoted to Class AA in 1965, he hit .318 for Pittsfield --- then in 1966, he hit .311 for Pittsfield. During these four seasons, his on-base percentage was around .400, and his slugging percentage always over .435, all healthy numbers given the low offensive output of the era. After a poor season in 1967, he hit .314 for Savannah (Class AA) in 1968, at which point he was finally promoted to the Class AAA Louisville team. Coletta then was stuck in AAA Louisville for four seasons despite some superb statistics. He hit .294 in 1969, .332 in 1970, .311 in in 1971, and .319 in 1972 (with on-base percentages around .400, and slugging percentages around .450).

In mid-August 1972, about a week after turning 28 years old, Coletta was finally liberated from the (at the time) dysfunctional Red Sox organization --- he was traded to the Angels for Andy Kosco --- so that the Red Sox could employ a journeyman (Kosco) in their (failed) attempt to win the AL East that year.
In his month-and-a-half stint with the Angels, Colleta hit .300. His OPS+ (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage normalized to the league average) was 130, meaning his performance was 30% better than the league average. Because 1972 was such a poor season for batting in general (remember that the DH was instituted in the AL the next year because scoring was down so much), translating Coletta's batting average to an "average" season (average ballpark, average runs scored, etc.), Coletta would have hit .353 under those circumstances.

On August 20, in a game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Coletta managed a rare feat by banging out two hits in the same inning (top of the fourth).
On September 24, his 8th-inning homer off Jim Perry broke a 1-1 tie and provided the winning margin in the Angels 2-1 win over the Twins (in what turned out to be his second-to-last major league at bat). For the month and a half, Coletta got 31 plate appearances and hit that one homer and had 7 RBI. Pro-rated over a full season (600 plate appearances), this would equate to 19 HRs and 135 RBIs.

Despite this rather impressive showing, the Angels sent him back to the minors in 1973. Given that he was turning 29 that year (which was old for a player at that time), they thought he was too old to invest much time on. He was traded to the Phillies organization later that season, and then after being released, played for the Red Sox organization again. In his final four minor league seasons (1973-76), Coletta hit .284, .306, .271, and .273.

AND SPEAKING OF COMERS

Jim McKinstry

Jim McKinstry is holding his own as a member of the New York Jets professional football team.

Mike Clair

Mike Clair former Comet court wizard is hunting for a Varsity berth this year with St. John's University.

Jim ErwinThe dark' horses on the Comet horizon are Larry Wesolko (football) and Jim Erwin (baseball). Both of these youngsters have their Sr. year ahead of them and from all signs (or so says our crystal ball) the prospects are good, in both cases.

DlS'N DATA

• Welcome to the old-timers club for Grandma Dot Seide who joined the fold last 'Nov. 26th.
• The proud parents letting Blue Cross fade the action welcome 7 lb. 1 1/2 oz., Craig Alan Hatcher at the Flushing Memorial Hospital. Time 10:43 a.m.
• A new record for the Diaper Derby event. The proud parents are Thelma and Jack Huteher
• Good luck also to Andy Koehler and Elizabeth Gay who returned to the Bldgs, & Grounds fold a few days back.

Lot's of good luck folks.